Huskies, Cougars & Falcons at Stanford Invite...

Even though I'm nine time zones away, it's no excuse to skip over what the home teams are doing.

Most of the action centers at this weekend's Stanford Invitational, as both Washington and Washington State, as well as Seattle Pacific, will send athletes to Palo Alto.

"We knew heading into the year that we would be a much stronger overall team during the outdoor season and that is what we have been keeping our focus on," said head coach Greg Metcalf. "What Scott, Katie, Colton, and Mel achieved indoors was great for our program but they are ready to head outside. We expect to add some firepower outdoors and now that the Dempsey season has ended it will be fun for our student-athletes to go travel together and gel as a team."

Two of Washington's top seniors, Anita Campbell and Falesha Ankton (left/photo courtesy University of Washington), both only had outdoor eligibility remaining so they were forced to compete unattached in the Dempsey and train through the winter months.

Both will now be critical to the team's success outdoors. Campbell is the defending Pac-10 Champion at 10,000-meters, and was third in the event at last year's NCAA Championships. Ankton is UW's top hurdler, having scored at Pac-10s and reached the national meet in 2008. She set PRs in the short hurdles indoors running unattached and competed at the USA Indoor Championships in February.

The Huskies will also add a pair of All-Americans back into the fold, as javelin throwers Kyle Nielsen and Brooke Pighin get to let loose after watching their teammates compete all during the indoor season. Nielsen was sixth at NCAAs last season while Pighin was seventh, and both will be eyeing a higher spot on the NCAA podium this year.

Here's Washington's release, and here's Washington State's release...

Across the Bay at the University of California, several athletes from Washington State and SPU are competing a the Cal Multis meet.

Here's host school Cal's release on the first day of the meet...