The road to nationals goes through Terre Haute for UW & WSU harriers Saturday...

Both Washington and Washington State will send their cross country squads to Terre Haute, Indiana for Saturday’s Brooks Pre-Nationals race, Hosted by Indiana State, the race takes off at LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center.

The Brooks Pre-Nationals is the final regular season meet for both the Cougs and Huskies, making it all the more imperative to build momentum.

Washington's 12th-ranked women and 27th-ranked men will both be on hand, looking to stand out from the 166-team crowd by knocking off a few highly-ranked squads.

Both the men's and women's races are divided into two seeded sections, Blue and White, that have the teams divided equally to ensure top competition in each race. The Cougar men will face off against 79 other teams, including eight of the top 10 teams in the nation and 26 teams of the top 30 teams will compete...Oregon (No. 1), Stanford (No. 5), UCLA (No. 19), Arizona State (No. 20), and Washington (No. 27) will all compete from the Pac-10.

The WSU women's team, led by Collier Lawrence and Sara Trane (pictured above, /photo courtesy WSU Sports Information) is one of 76 teams expected to take part in the event with 23 of the top 30 teams in the country represented, including Pac-10 rivals Stanford (No. 1), Oregon (No. 3), Arizona State (No. 6), and Washington (No. 12)...8,000m men's races will begin at 11 a.m. and 11:40 a.m. ET...women's 6,000m races will follow at 12:20 p.m. and 12:55 p.m. ET.

Both Husky squads continue a steady climb up the rankings since the first polls were released. The Husky men have moved up three spots to No. 27 after their initial No. 30 ranking, while the women's team has ascended from the 19th spot all the way up to 12th in the nation in the Oct. 9 poll.

The Oregon men received 10 of 13 first place votes this week to lead No. 2 Wisconsin and No. 3 Colorado. Regional rankings place the UW men fifth in the difficult West Region that features four Top-20 teams including Oregon and No. 5 Stanford.

The women's West Region is even stronger, as No. 1 Stanford, No. 3 Oregon, and No. 6 Arizona State are ranked ahead of the Husky women.

Here are the assignments for the two men’s and women’s races:

11:00 a.m. Men’s 8,000 Meter Blue Race: Air Force, Alabama, Arizona,
BYU, California, Cincinnati, Clemson, Columbia, Dartmouth, Dayton, Duquesne, Florida
State, Georgia, Indiana, Iona, Iowa, Iowa State, IUPUI, Kent State, Louisville,
Miami/Ohio, Michigan State, Montana State, Morehead State, Northern Arizona,
Nebraska, New Mexico, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Mississippi, Portland, Tennessee,
Tulsa, UCLA, Villanova, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming. (39)

11:40 a.m. Men’s 8,000 Meter White Race: Arizona State, Belmont, Cal
Poly, Coastal Carolina, Colorado, Cornell, Eastern Michigan, Eastern Kentucky, Florida,
Georgia Tech, Illinois, Indiana State, Kansas, Lamar, Liberty, Marquette, Michigan,
Minnesota, Mississippi State, Montana, NC State, Notre Dame, Oakland, Ohio U., Penn,
Princeton, Providence, Southern Illinois, Southern Utah, Stanford, Syracuse, UC-Santa
Barbara, Utah State, UTEP, William & Mary, Western Kentucky, Washington State,
Weber State, Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Yale. (40)

12:20 p.m. Women’s 6,000 Meter Blue Race: Akron, Boston College,
Butler, Central Michigan, California, Cincinnati, Coastal Carolina, Colorado State,
Columbia, Dartmouth, Eastern Kentucky, Florida State, Georgetown, Indiana, IUPUI,
Kansas State, Loyola (IL), Marquette, Michigan State, Minnesota, Mississippi,
Mississippi State, Montana, Montana State, Northern Arizona, NC State, Nebraska, New
Mexico, Notre Dame, Penn, Rice, Stanford, Tulsa, UC-Santa Barbara, Utah State,
Virginia, Washington State, Wisconsin. (38)

12:55 p.m. Women’s 6,000 Meter White Race: Arizona, Arizona State, Ball
State, Baylor, Belmont, BYU, Colorado, Duquesne, Florida, Georgia, Georgia Tech,
Illinois, Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas, Kent State, Liberty, Louisville, Michigan, Morehead
State, Oakland, Ohio U., Portland, Princeton, Providence, Purdue, Stony Brook, UAB,
UCLA, UNC-Chapel Hill, UNLV, William & Mary, Western Kentucky, Washington,
Weber State, Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Wyoming, Yale. (38)

The sports information offices of Indiana State University, the University of Washington, and Washington State University all contributed to this report.