Oregon State set to host Pac-10 cross country championships Saturday...

CORVALLIS, Oregon--Conference titles are up for grabs Saturday as the Washington & Washington State men’s and women’s cross country teams head for Corvallis to run in the 2007 Pac-10 Championships.

The ninth-ranked Husky women will look to go toe-to-toe with three other top-10 teams and stay the course for an NCAA berth, while the Husky men have a great opportunity this weekend to make a move on some of the nation’s top teams.

The meet will be contested at the Trysting Tree Golf Course, home of Oregon State. The men’s race begins at 9:30 a.m. and the women start at 10:30 a.m.

Pac-10 Championships Schedule (All Times Pacific)
Men’s 8K Race: 9:30 a.m.
Women’s 6K Race: 10:30 a.m.

Pac-10 Championships Preview: This year’s Pac-10 Championships are highlighted on both the men’s and women’s side by the current unanimous No. 1 team in the nation. Oregon on the men’s side and Stanford on the women’s side each received all 13 first place votes in the most recent coaches’ poll. Both are the defending Conference champions, and the Stanford women are the defending NCAA champions.

The women’s field can easily claim to be the toughest conference in the nation, as the ninth-ranked Huskies are only fourth in the rankings among Pac-10 teams heading into the meet. The women’s field boasts No. 2 Oregon, No. 5 Arizona State, and the No. 9 Huskies. The Big Ten is the only other conference with four top-10 teams, but No. 6 Michigan is its highest-ranked member.

On the men’s side, the Huskies will face five ranked opponents, starting at the top with Oregon, and followed by No. 8 California, No. 15 Stanford, No. 19 UCLA and No. 25 Arizona State.

Top individuals on hand include Stanford senior Arianna Lambie, who will attempt to become the second woman ever to win three consecutive Pac-10 titles. Oregon junior Galen Rupp (pictured above, /photo by Paul Merca) is the defending men’s champion, however he has yet to compete this year, after an extended summer season, which included running at the IAAF World Track & Field Championships in Osaka, Japan.

"The top five teams are ranked in the top 30 in America, UW just fell out of the rankings, and I think us and UW are really close to each other," WSU Head Coach Jason Drake said. "If anyone messes up or has an off day we can sneak in and beat them. I think both teams are stronger than we've had in the past few years and we're excited to see what happens."

"The top four teams are all ranked in the top 10 in America," Drake said. "We want to try to close in on the gap a little bit but it will tough for us. There are the top four and then everyone else is racing for fifth, and I feel our women are better than the rest of the conference. We are hoping to be in that top five."

The following are the projected entries listed by Washington and Washington State for Saturday’s race in Corvallis:

WASHINGTON MEN

Name Yr. Hometown (High School)
Austin Abbott Jr. Chehalis, Wash. (W.F. West)
Chris Ahl So. Seattle, Wash. (Bishop Blanchet)
Riley Booker RFr. San Diego, Calif. (University City)
Brian Govier RFr. Mercer Island, Wash. (Mercer Island)
Jon Harding Jr. Issaquah, Wash. (Issaquah)
Caleb Knox Jr. Mill Creek, Wash. (Jackson)
Max O’Donoghue-McDonald Fr. Seattle, Wash. (Seattle Prep)
Carl Moe Sr. Auburn, Wash. (Auburn-Riverside)
Kelly Spady So. Mukilteo, Wash. (Kamiak)
Colton Tully-Doyle So. San Diego, Calif. (Rancho Bernardo)

WSU MEN: Cougars will have 10 competitors in Corvallis...senior Andrew Jones looks to improve on his team-leading performances...WSU will also look to seniors Alex Grant, Drew Polley, and Chris Williams, as well as sophomores Dominic Smargiassi and Dan Geib for strong performances at the championships...other competitors for the men include senior Chris Concha, sophomore Sam Ahlbeck, redshirt freshman Luke Lemenager, and freshman David Hickerson.

WASHINGTON WOMEN

Name Yr. Hometown (High School)
Brooke Anderson So. San Diego, Calif. (University City)
Andrea Brown Jr. Bellingham, Wash. (Mt. Baker)
Anita Campbell Jr. Vancouver, B.C. (Aldregrove)
Katie Follett So. Fort Collins, Colo. (Fort Collins)
Anna Imperati So. Portland, Ore. (Jesuit)
Marie Lawrence Fr. Reno, Nev. (Reno)
Amanda Miller Jr. Wenatchee, Wash. (Eastmont)
Trisha Rasmussen Sr. Phoenix, Ariz. (Mountain Ridge)
Lauren Saylor Fr. Clovis, Calif. (Buchanan)
Dani Schuster Jr. Kennewick, Wash. (Kamiakin)

WSU WOMEN: Nine women will compete for the Cougars Saturday...leading WSU is sophomore Sara Trané who hopes to improve on an already strong season...seniors Isley Gonzalez and Collier Lawrence, and junior Meghan Leonard should place well for the Cougars...sophomores Chelsea VanDeBrake and Lisa Egami, as well as freshman Ashlee Wall have a chance to score...also competing for WSU are redshirt sophomore Marisa Sandoval and freshman Amanda Andrews...six of the Cougar runners competed last year at the Pac-10 Championships.

Results will be posted at osubeavers.com, and at www.pac-10.org.

NOTE: The sports information offices of the University of Washington, Washington State University, the University of Oregon, Oregon State University and the Pacific-10 Conference all contributed to this report.