All nine Washington D1/D2 schools in action this weekend...
All nine Washington Division I & II schools are in action this weekend, with the University of Washington and Washington State University heading to Eugene for the Pepsi Team Invitational, a four way scoring meet featuring Texas A&M and host Oregon.
Seattle University and St. Martin's will compete in the Willamette Invitational in Salem, while Eastern Washington heads to Boise for the All-Idaho Cup Friday and Saturday hosted by Boise State.
Gonzaga will stay close to home and participate in the Sam Adams Invitational in Spokane, hosted by Whitworth, while Western Washington, Central Washington and Seattle Pacific head to Tacoma for the JD Shotwell Invitational, hosted by the University of Puget Sound.
For both the host Oregon Ducks and Texas A&M, both of whom are ranked in the top five in the latest USTFCCCA women's (UO #2, TAMU #3), and men's (TAMU #1, UO #4) polls, this meet may be an early indicator of how things will play out in two months when Oregon hosts the NCAA championships.
The international scoring system will be in place for the Pepsi Team Invitational, which allows schools to score a maximum of two competitors in each event (one team per relay). Individual event scoring is 9-7-6-5-4-3-2-1. Relays will be 9-7-6-5.
Events to watch involving the Cougs and Dawgs include:
WOMEN:
In the 400, Washington State's Shawna Fermin goes against the Ducks' Phyllis Francis and Chizoba Okodogbe;
The 1500 will see Oregon's Becca Friday from Bellingham and teammate Jordan Hasay go against Husky senior Christine Babcock (above/photo by Paul Merca);
The steeplechase features UW school record holder Mel Lawrence, granted a sixth year of eligibility, against Megan Patrignelli and Taylor Wallace of Oregon, and the Cougars' Caroline Austin;
Oregon's Chancey Summers and Lauren Crockett go against Washington State's Holly Parent, who redshirted in 2012;
Perhaps the field event of the women's competition to watch is the javelin with the Cougs' Anna Adamko and TAMU's Kendall Munoz, with the Huskies' Jordin Seekins in the mix.
MEN:
The 100 features Oregon running back De'Anthony Thomas, and the Aggies' Michael Bryan in the field. Washington's James Alaka, dropping down to the 100 for the first time this season could sneak up into the fray. Alaka and Bryan are also entered in the 200;
In the 400, Rainier Beach HS grad Michael Berry of Oregon goes against TAMU's Ricky Babineaux;
The 1500 features the Ducks' Matt Miner and Elijah Greer against the Huskies' Joey Bywater and Todd Wakefield of the Cougars, the surprise winner of the MPSF 3000 in late February;
In the pole vault, the Huskies' JJ Juilfs returns to his hometown to find the magic that won him the Pac-12 title on this pit;
The triple jumps has four 50-footers entered including Kasen Covington of UW and Stephan Scott-Ellis of WSU;
The javelin features the top two finishers in last year's US Olympic Trials, Sam Humphries of TAMU and Sam Crouser of Oregon. The Aggies' Devin Bogert and Joe Zimmerman of the Huskies will also have something to say.
The meet, which starts at noon (first running event 12:50 pm) will be webcast on the Pac-12 Live Stream at pac-12.com. The accepted entries are available here.
NOTE: Saint Martin's officially elevated Chad Colwell (above/photo courtesy Saint Martin's University) as head track and cross country coach this week, after holding the interim title for the last four months after Julie Sullivan stepped down.
Before joining the Saints in September as an assistant in charge of the sprints, hurdles, high jump, javelin and multi-events, he was the head track/XC coach at Great Falls in Montana, and served as an assistant at Portland, Duke, Cal Poly/Pomona, and Eastern Oregon.
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