Dawgs at Dellinger; Wazzu at Griak Saturday...

The University of Washington cross country teams, led by Canadian Anita Campbell (left, /photo by Paul Merca) head south to Oregon to compete in the high-powered Bill Dellinger Invitational in Springfield on Saturday, while other members of the Husky harrier squad will run in the Willamette Invitational up the road in Salem.

Besides the Huskies (12th) and the host Ducks (fifth), the Dellinger’s 15-team men’s field features five other teams that competed in the 2006 NCAA Cross Country Championships – Wisconsin (second), Cal Poly (13th), Portland (18th), UCLA (23rd) and Alabama (31st) – and will be joined by Colorado State, Duke, Georgia, Marquette, New Mexico, Ohio State, Utah State and UTEP.

In the just-released USTFCCCA college coaches polls, Wisconsin is ranked #1, with Oregon #3, UTEP #6, Portland #11, Alabama #17, UCLA #21, Cal Poly #22, and the Huskies staying at #30.

Saturday’s 15-team women’s race field features five top-30 NCAA team finishers from 2006, including No. 4 Arkansas, last year’s meet champion that later finished fifth in the NCAA Championships. Additional returning 2006 NCAA Championships women’s team qualifiers include Georgia (15th), BYU (22nd), Colorado State (24th) and Wake Forest (27th).

In the recently released USTFCCCA poll, the No. 24 ranked Ducks are one of six top-30 ranked women's teams that will be on-hand Saturday. The high-caliber field features No. 4 Arkansas, No. 15 Georgia, No. 17 Washington, No. 18 BYU, and No. 21 Colorado State, Other teams slated to compete include Marquette, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon State, Portland, UCLA, Utah State, UTEP and Wake Forest.

While the majority of the Husky team will run in Springfield, another group of UW runners will run in the Willamette Invitational, competing against other Northwest colleges, including Central Washington, Pacific Lutheran, Puget Sound, Seattle University, Spokane CC, Everett CC, Gonzaga, and a partial team from Washington State.

The majority of the Cougar cross country team will head east to Minneapolis to run in the Roy Griak Invitational, one of the country’s top invitational meets.

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