Light cross country schedule this week; features on Justine Johnson & Mattie Suver...

This weekend will be a light schedule for the state's nine NCAA Division I & II schools, with only Seattle Pacific and Saint Martin's in action at the Saint Martin's Invitational on Saturday in Lacey.

Western Washington, which originally planned to enter its squad in the meet, has opted to hold an intra-squad competition and not make the trip to Lacey.

In this week's USTFCCCA Division II regional polls, the Western Washington men's squad is ranked #6 in the West region.  

On the women's side, the Vikings are ranked #7 in the West poll, while Seattle Pacific is ranked #9.

All five NCAA Division I schools are idle this week, with Washington having started fall quarter Wednesday.

Washington is currently ranked #7 in the current USTFCCCA Division I poll.

The UW Daily, the school's student newspaper, ran a piece on the Huskies' Justine Johnson (left/photo by Paul Merca), a fifth year senior who has emerged as a leader.  You can read the piece here.

Former Eastern Washington standout Mattie Suver, who ran for Team USA at last spring's IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland, is entered in the New York City Marathon on November 3rd.

The New York Road Runners has a piece on Suver, who now lives in Colorado Springs, and is part of the American Distance Project group based in that state.  You can read her story here.