Washington women ranked #3 in national USTFCCCA poll...
The United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association's (USTFCCCA) 2010 national preseason poll was released Tuesday morning, with the University of Washington women's squad (left/photo by Paul Merca) ranked third.Reigning NCAA champion Villanova received all twelve first place votes and 360 points, with Florida State garnering second in the poll with 339, with Washington third with 337 points.
While Washington loses NCAA runner-up Kendra Schaaf (transfer to North Carolina) and Katie Follett (graduation) from last year's NCAA third-place team, the Huskies reload with what is touted as one of the best freshman recruiting classes in recent memory, with Foot Locker champ Megan Goethals from Michigan, and Nike Cross Nationals champ Katie Flood leading that group.
Washington returns NCAA All Americans Mel Lawrence and Christine Babcock to the squad.
On the men's side, Stanford is the organization's pre-season number one team with 349 points, despite only picking up four first place votes. Reigning national champ Oklahoma State is second with 339 points, but has seven first place votes. Northern Arizona and Oregon are tied for third with 329 points.
The University of Washington opens the season on Friday with a dual meet against Washington State in Ephrata at Ephrata High School on the surrounding soccer fields, then has its home opener or September 18th at Lincoln Park when it hosts the Sundodger Invitational.
Washington will host the Pacific-10 Conference championships on Saturday October 30th at Jefferson Park Golf Course in Seattle.
The USTFCCCA release is available here.
The link to the USTFCCCA pre-season poll is available here.
ZAGREB MEET SLATED FOR WEDNESDAY IN CROATIA...
Meanwhile in Zagreb, Croatia, the European season begins winding down with the Zagreb meeting on Wednesday, and former Washington Husky Ingvill Måkestad is entered in the women's 800.
Måkestad earlier claimed the Norwegian national record in the 800, running 2:00.82 on August 10th in Goteborg, Sweden at the Folksam Grand Prix meet.
Another former Husky, three-time US Olympian Aretha Thurmond, is entered in the women's discus in Zagreb, where she will go against a field that includes Sandra Perkovic of Croatia, who is one of the meet's headline attractions.
The star headliner of the Zagreb meeting is Tyson Gay, who is entered in the 100m, where he is on a collision course to meet Jamaica's Nesta Carter, the co-world leader this season with Gay at 9.78.
The IAAF's meet preview is available here.
The start list for Wednesday's Zagreb meet are available here.
SINOPEC ANNOUNCED AS IAAF SPONSOR...
The IAAF announced the addition of Chinese petroleum supplier China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) to its roster of sponsors.
In a deal brokered by Dentsu, the IAAF Marketing Agency, Sinopec becomes the first international Chinese corporation to be involved with the IAAF at an international level.
The addition of Sinopec as an IAAF partner, although currently for only a limited number of competitions, is the latest step in the international diversification of the IAAF’s portfolio of sponsors following the integration of Korea’s Samsung and Russian bank VTB in recent years.
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