Dawgs in Eugene, Cougs in Tempe, while majority of Washington schools compete in Greater Spokane...
 |
| Sprinter Haley Jacobson of the Huskies is entered in both the 100 & 200 at Saturday's Pepsi Team Invitational in Eugene (Paul Merca photo) |
For the majority of Washington’s nine Division I and II schools, this weekend’s emphasis will be placed on scoring points, as opposed to chasing regional or national qualifying marks. Of course, if athletes attain those standards while competing, so much the better.
The University of Washington heads to Eugene for Saturday’s Pepsi Team Challenge, which has traditionally involved at least four teams, but for this year, only involves the host Ducks and the University of Kentucky.
This is one of three appearances that Washington will have live on the Pac-12 Network this season, as the UW-WSU dual meet on May 2nd will be televised as well as the Pac-12 championships.
The first field event starts at 1:30pm, with a few running events falling outside the TV window, which begins at 3:30pm and continues until the 4 x 400 relays at 5:30pm.
Scoring for the meet is taken to 6 places, going 7-5-4-3-2-1, with relays 7-5-4, and only two individuals per school scoring.
Washington State will send a majority of its squad to Tempe, Arizona for Friday and Saturday’s Sun Angel Classic, led by Pac-12 400 meter hurdles champ CJ Allen, and multi-event specialist Alissa Brooks-Johnson.
Brooks-Johnson is entered in the both the 100 and 400 hurdles, as well as the long jump and javelin.
The Greater Spokane area is where the rest of Washington’s Division I and II schools will congregate, as Spokane Falls Community College hosts the annual Northwest Scoring Clash, also known as Washington Versus the Region (WAR VIII), as the combined programs of Central Washington, Gonzaga, Saint Martin’s, SeattleU, and Washington State go against schools from Oregon, Idaho, and Montana.
Just west of Spokane, Eastern Washington University hosts the annual Pelluer Invitational Saturday, featuring a double dual meet between the Eagles, the Idaho Vandals, and the Montana Grizzlies.
Eastern’s only home regular season meet is a dry run for next month’s Big Sky Conference championships, and will give those athletes from Idaho and Montana an opportunity to compete on the track before the championship meet.
Among those expected to compete Saturday are Big Sky Conference triple jump leaders Phillip Puccino (48-5.25/14.76m) and Morena Mannucci (39-1/11.91m) of Eastern Washington; and Stephanie Wells of Montana, the conference leader in the javelin at 153-8/46.84m.
Eastern’s NCAA qualifier Jordan Arakawa will go in the men’s hammer, as will Big Sky indoor champ Trenton Osborn (men’s LJ), and Tierra White (women’s HJ).
EWU women’s coach Marcia Mecklenburg previews the Pelluer Invitational in this video courtesy of Eastern Washington. She does not say what events her “Big Five” distance runners—Big Sky cross country champ Sarah Reiter, world junior championships steeple finalist Paula Gil-Echevarria, Katie Mahoney, Catie Arrigoni, and Berenice Penaloza will run Saturday.
paulmerca.blogspot.com will be on site to cover part of WAR VIII, and the Pelluer Invitational Saturday.
Western Washington is off this weekend, while Seattle Pacific travels north to Burnaby, British Columbia for the Emilie Mondor Invitational, hosted by Simon Fraser University.
The link to the live webcast of the Mondor Invitational is available here.
Comments