USC to compete in College Station
For South Carolina, the Texas A&M Challenge this weekend is more than a track meet; — more than the Gamecocks traveling to the school that swept both the men's and women's NCAA Indoor Championships last year.
It is a trek to the site of this year's NCAA Indoor Championships — a place at which many Gamecocks are hoping to be able to compete.
With the SEC Indoor Championships looming next month and the ultimate goal of an NCAA championship in mind, USC will be looking to match talents with some of the best runners, throwers and jumpers in the world in College Station.
The next few weeks will present the long and daunting tasks with several different meets against a plethora of top-tier talent.
"A meet like A&M's allows us to start testing ourselves for our championships," coach Curtis Frye said. "The next three weeks, we got A&M, then we go to New York next week, and then a week after that we go to Arkansas. That's a tough run of events. You get to see if you can improve. They get tougher as you go."
With the grind of the long season already being felt, this weekend's meet is a good barometer to see where the Gamecocks are headed this season. On the men's side of things, seniors Mike Zajac, thrower, and Antonio Sales, sprinter, will have to lead a very young squad while the No. 22 women look to climb up the national polls. Texas A&M is currently No. 2 on the women's side and No. 3 on the men's.
At last year's Texas A&M meet Zajac, Sales and sprinter Lakya Brookins had strong showings as juniors. This year as seniors, all eyes will be on them to lead the Gamecocks and put up strong times and set the tone for future meets.
Frye thinks his team is up to the task.
"They've been there before," he said. "That's where the national championships have been held, and it'll benefit them to see where they rank getting ready to take on the SEC championship in a month."