Former USC/UCLA stars named to track and field's Dual Meet Hall of Fame

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Angela Williams isn't a household name. If you spotted her 5'2 frame holding her newborn on an ordinary day, you'd never guess she had a legacy. But today she became a member of the Dual Meet Hall of Fame, which honors the best track and field stars from UCLA and USC. And as Williams walked into USC's storied Heritage Hall to be inducted Tuesday, you could see the Olympian emerge.

"This award instills in me that I'm really appreciated all the hard work that I did while I was here and the things that I accomplished, more and more comes later you know?" she said. "And you don't think at that moment when you're doing what you're doing that there's more to come."

Williams has also been inducted into the USC's overall Hall of Fame. but she said the Dual Meet Hall of Fame is different, because the event meant so much to her in college.

"You get this boost, it's almost as if this same feeling when I was at the Olympics or something."

Kevin Craddock, a alumni of UCLA who graduated in 2010 and is currently a professional hurdler said the rivalry is unlike any other.

"You have two major universities in one city, going at it. There's no rivalry like the UCLA/USC rivalry," Craddock said. "Between the two schools there are many many Olympians and many many medals."

UCLA's track and field program has not existed as long as their Trojan counterpart, but the Bruin Women still lead the Dual Meet Series while the Trojan Men have the edge over UCLA. Sam Nicholson, a member of the USC track team in the 1950s, moderated the event Tuesday and introduced the inductees.

"To be a member of any kind of Hall of Fame at either USC or UCLA means you have to be one of the best in the world because that's the type of athlete that both schools have had," Nicholson said.

Track and field might not have the same visibility as other collegiate sports, but to the Olympian runners and Hall of Famers who came out of these two universities in Los Angeles, the rivalry is just as intense.

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