All five Washington D-I schools set to race Friday...

All five of Washington's NCAA Division I schools are in action Friday in their final tuneup before the conference championship meets in two weeks.

The University of Washington will travel to Madison, Wisconsin for the Wisconsin adidas Invitational on the Thomas Zimmer Championship Course, where they will face 38 other men's teams and 41 other women's squads.

On the women's side, the #24 Huskies face #14 Arizona, #27 BYU, #10 Cal, #30 Clemson, #22 Florida, #23 Iowa, #9 Iowa State, #15 Michigan State #21 Minnesota, #7 New Mexico, #13 North Carolina and their old friend Kendra Schaaf, #25 Notre Dame, #12 Oregon, #28 Princeton, #2 Providence, #6 Stanford, #8 Syracuse, and reigning NCAA champ Villanova, in what will be the toughest test of the season.

The men's field includes #23 Arizona State, #6 BYU, #28 Florida, #16 Georgetown, #7 Indiana, #26 Michigan, #17 Minnesota, #25 New Mexico, #13 Northern Arizona, #29 North Carolina, #9 NC State, #10 Oregon, #14 Princeton, #24 Providence, #4 Stanford, #21 Syracuse, #27 Texas A&M, #22 UCLA, #19 Villanova, and the #2 ranked hosts from Wisconsin.

The men's 8k and women's 6k races are contested on a course that features an exterior loop of approximately 2,500 meters and an interior loop of 1,000 meters. Both loops cover the area's rolling hills and valleys, while the outside loop also runs through a section of dense woods.

The UW press release previewing the meet is available here.

Washington State, whose men's squad is currently ranked #20 in the most recent USTFCCCA poll, will travel to Spokane to face Division I foes Gonzaga and Eastern Washington at the Inland Northwest Classic hosted by Spokane Falls Community College over an 8k course for the men, and a 5k for the women.

"(This will be a ) tune-up, really. It just gives us another opportunity to race and get a little bit closer to our competitive edge. If we didn't race, it would be a month between Notre Dame (and the Pac-12s). It is just too long to not compete," said WSU coach Pete Julian.

Here's Julian's preview of the meet, courtesy WSU Sports Information:



SeattleU will send most of their team to Oregon City, Oregon on Friday to run in the Mike Hodges Invitational, hosted by Clackamas Community College, as the men will run 4 miles, and the women 5k.

The University of Washington will send some athletes who are not running in Wisconsin to the Hodges Invitational.

The entry list for the Hodges Invitational is available here.

HARRIER NOTES: Western Washington's men's squad moved up to #19 in this week's USTFCCCA Division II poll from #21, while its women's team dropped one spot to #16.

In Division III, Whitman's women's team is ranked #26 in this week's poll, down one spot.

The link to the current USTFCCCA polls for Division II & III are available here.

NOTE: The sports information offices of the University of Washington, Washington State University, Seattle University, Clackamas CC, and the USTFCCCA contributed to this report.