Trojan Candy rushed to USC four hours before the annual USC Salute to Troy was to begin. I made it to Soni McAlister Field at 2:00 pm in time to get a voucher for a replica Women of Troy 2016 NCAA Championship banner.
Then, after putting my bags on the bench, I walked over to the Galen Center upstairs gym to watch and take pictures of the USC 2017 Women of Troy Volleyball Team. They were playing a USC Alumni Team. Trojan Candy recognized three of the alumni. They were Katie Fuller and two 2017 USC graduates, Christopher Orenic (5/13/2017) and Taylor Whittingham (1/8/2017).
It was hard to recognize our 2017 Women of Troy Volleyball Team. They all wore jerseys without names.
FIGHT ON, Women of Troy Volleyball!
Now it was time for Trojan Candy to walk back to Soni McAlister Field to watch the USC Women of Troy Soccer Team play in their season opener versus UC Davis. When I arrived, the score was 0-0. I saw that the new 2016 NCAA Women's Soccer Championship Banner was hung up by our 2007 NCAA Championship Banner. Here is a picture of both of our NCAA Championship banners. FIGHT ON, Women of Troy Soccer!
The match was fast moving. The action seemed to be mostly on the opponent's side of the field. That's good! We scored a goal at 21:41. I didn't get a picture of the goal, but here are two action pictures. We went into halftime ahead 1-0.
During the halftime, Trojan Candy got in line to get my Championship Replica Banner. Thank you, USC Marketing Department and FIGHT ON!
After halftime, it was time to walk over to the Loker Track Stadium to check in for the Salute to Troy event. At 2:30 pm there were already quite a lot of Trojans standing in line. After checking in, I stood in line under the shade of a sparse tree waiting for my family to come.
While in line Trojan Candy met Senior outside linebacker Uchenna Nwosu's dad Henry and mom Amara.
Unknown to me as I was waiting in line, friend Sandy Johnston, whose husband Rex Johnston is a USC football alumnus, had a friend who took pictures at the pre-Salute to Troy football alumni reception in Heritage Hall. The next 10 pictures of alumni of various USC Football Teams were taken by Liz Matheny. Thank you, Sandy and Liz!
My family arrived around 4:30 pm. They included my two grandsons Zane and Kane, who live in Northern California. The gate opened at 5:30 pm and everyone rushed into the stadium to find their tables. After locating their tables, some went to get their food and others lined up for one of the three autograph lines. My daughter Kelly and I roamed around with Zane and Kane seeking autographs from players who were entering the stadium. This is when Trojan Candy took galores of pictures.
The USC players started walking into the stadium a few at a time. Redshirt Freshman Defensive Lineman Liam Jimmons (2/3/2016) was one of the first ones.
Then, Trojan Candy saw a familiar face. Quincy Watts (2/1/2014), with a big smile on his face, waved at me. I walked my two grandsons over to meet him. Trojan Candy took this picture of Zane and Kane with the Assistant Coach-Sprints, double 1992 Olympic Gold Medalist. FIGHT ON! Quincy!
More USC players walked on to the field. Trojan Candy took one picture after another of my grandsons getting their autographs.
Now, it was back to the field. It was hard for Trojan Candy to keep up with all of the action. The boys and their mom Kelly got one autograph after another.
What an unbelievable USC autograph session!