Q & A with Raul Sheen...

Almost lost in the excitement and success of the University of Washington women's cross country team was the hiring of former Long Beach State sprint coach Raul Sheen (left, with vault coach Pat Licari/photo by Paul Merca) to lead the Huskies in the sprints and hurdles.

Sheen will have a good core of runners returning on the men's side, including NCAA scorer and Olympic Trials 400m qualifier Jordan Boase, along with Jeff Gudaitis, Ryan Hamilton, Joe Turner, and Randy Bacon. Add to the mix Cal State Northridge transfer Kenjamin Jackson, and the Dawgs appear solid on paper.

The Huskies may have some depth issues with the women, but will be led by NCAA qualifier Falesha Ankton and Syreeta Martin. Newcomers to look out for include Garfield's Bianca Greene, and Shadle Park's Jordan Carlson.

The Huskies open the 2008-09 season on December 6th with the UW Indoor Preview at the Dempsey Center.

paulmerca.blogspot.com looks forward to talking to Sheen soon. In the meantime, here's a link to an article from trackshark.com.