Things we missed from earlier in the week...

Couple of items we missed while en route home from Spain:

The USTFCCCA released its outdoor pre-season rankings earlier this week, and the University of Washington men's squad was ranked #21, and the Washington Sate women's team ranked #22.

Washington was ranked based off of the strengths of pole vaulter Scott Roth and javelin thrower Kyle Nielsen, along with decathlete Jeremy Taiwo.

Washington State earned its national pre-season ranking primarily off of javelin thrower Marissa Tschida, who is the leading returning thrower in the nation, along with fellow javelin thrower Courtney Kirkwood, high jumper Holly Parent, and 800 meter runner Anna Layman.

Heading the charts to start the season is the men of Florida and women of Texas A&M. The Gators are fresh off their second-straight national indoor title, while the Aggies, like their male teammates, will look to take third-straight national outdoor crowns.

For the second-straight year, the national men’s preseason rankings have the Gators at No. 1 and Texas A&M at No. 2.

Likewise on the women's side, for the second-straight year, the top three women’s preseason outdoor teams are No. 1 Texas A&M, No. 2 Oregon, and No. 3 LSU. Texas A&M’s women, like the school’s men, are back-to-back national outdoor champions.


Here's the link to the USTFCCCA press release...

In our preview of the Stanford Invitational, we stated that Jessica Pixler of Colorado was making her Buffalo debut, when in fact that's not true.

The Seattle Pacific graduate and current Colorado grad student, who has one outdoor season of eligibility remaining, won the CU Potts Outdoor Invitational last Saturday in Boulder, running 4:29.55 in a solo effort.

Courtesy of media partner RunnerSpace.com, here is video of her race.



Pixler will run the 5000m at the Stanford Invitational.

Finally, here's a link to a new blog post written by Vancouver's Kara Patterson, as the American record holder in the javelin gets prepared for the 2011 season.

In between training at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, she volunteers her time as a tour guide at the OTC, as well as the San Diego Humane Society.

In a recent email exchange, Patterson informed us that she's now being represented by Swedish agent Daniel Wessfeldt, who also represents Ingvill MĂĄkestad and Ebba Jungmark.

The agency's web site is here...

By the way, we'll post a gallery of photos on our Facebook page that we haven't had a chance to from last Sunday's IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Punta Umbria. Please stay tuned!

NOTE: The USTFCCCA contributed to this report.

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