Cougars and Huskies head to Los Angeles to open outdoor season...


With the indoor season firmly in the rear view mirror, Washington and Washington State opens their outdoor season Saturday in Los Angeles.

The Cougars head to Westwood for a dual meet against the UCLA Bruins in newly renovated Drake Stadium, led by NCAA scorer and MPSF 800 champion Jesse Jorgensen (above/photo courtesy Washington State University).

Nearly all of Washington State's front line athletes will be in action.  On the women's side, Ruby Roberts will double in the 800 and 1500; Shaquana Logan, who has outdoor track eligibility remaining, will go in both the 100 and 400 hurdles; and Charlotte Muschamp is entered in the triple and high jumps.

Sophomore pole vaulter Kristine Felix, the reigning Pac-12 champion, looks to have a strong start to the outdoor season, after finishing second in the MPSF indoor championships in Seattle.

Besides Jorgensen, the men's squad will have Jacob Sealby, the fourth place finisher in the 400 at the MPSF indoor meet in action.  Drew Jordan and Andrew Kimpel, who finished fifth and sixth in the 5000 at the MPSF, will run that event against the Bruins.  PJ Benedictus will double in the long and triple jumps, while multi-event specialist Dino Dodig is entered in the long jump, 110 hurdles, and discus.

Courtesy of Washington State, here is WSU coach Rick Sloan's preview of the meet.



Washington will split their team, with a predominantly sprint and field event group heading across Los Angeles to USC and the USC Invitational, and a group primarily composed of distance runners and a few sprinters and multi-eventers head down Interstate 5 to Eugene for the Oregon Preview meet at Hayward Field.

At USC, javelin throwers Carson Fuller and Quinn Hale make their 2014 season debuts for the Dawgs, along with Ashley Alexander and Brooke Brown on the women's side.  NCAA 400m hurdle semifinal qualifiers Kayla Stueckle and Gianna Woodruff make their season debut over the long hurdles at USC.

NCAA indoor pole vault qualifiers Jax Thoirs and Diamara Planell Cruz will be in action in LA, along with reigning Pac-12 and MPSF triple jump champ Kasen Covington.

In Eugene, distance runners Aaron Nelson, Katie Flood, and Megan Goethals are expected to make their outdoor debuts on Saturday.

Besides the Huskies, Western Washington, Seattle University, Seattle Pacific, and Gonzaga will send athletes to the Oregon Preview meet.

The USC Invitational will be televised by the Pac-12 Network, while the Oregon Preview meet will be streamed online via goducks.com.


Other schools in NCAA Division II in action this weekend include Saint Martin's at the Lewis & Clark Spring Break Open meet in Portland, and Central Washington in Hermiston, Oregon for the Eastern Oregon Team Challenge meet.

NOTE:  The sports information offices of the University of Washington and Washington State University contributed to this report.

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