THE WEEKEND AHEAD: Most Washington D1/D2 schools in action; pro contingent in Cali for The Ten...

Four of Washington's five NCAA Division I schools open the 2024 outdoor track and field season Saturday with meets in Spokane, Corvallis, and Tucson.

With most of the schools on spring break either this week or next, Washington State opens with a split squad meet, with the majority headed to Tucson for the Arizona Spring Fiesta meet, hosted by the University of Arizona at Drachman Stadium.

Multi-event specialist Lee Walburn (Paul Merca photo) of the Cougs is entered in the high hurdles in Arizona.  The meet will also feature Seattle native Lyricc Lopez of the Cougars, who will run the 400 hurdles against his old Arizona squad.

Those who stayed behind will join nearly full squads from Eastern Washington and Gonzaga at the Sam Adams Classic, hosted by Whitworth University in Spokane.

Seattle University will make the drive down Interstate 5 to Corvallis for Saturday's Oregon State PNW Invitational, hosted by Oregon State University.

Closer to home, Central Washington heads west to Tacoma for their season opener at the PLU Open, hosted by Pacific Lutheran University, where they'll see both Saint Martin's and Seattle Pacific, both of whom will compete in their second meet of the outdoor season.

THE TEN GOES SATURDAY NIGHT IN SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO...

A small group of runners with Washington ties are headed to San Juan Capistrano, California for Saturday night's running of The Ten at JSerra High School, as they shoot for either the Olympic Games qualifying standard (27:00.00m/30:40.00w) or the US Olympic Trials standard (27:45.00m/31:30.00w).

With very few opportunities to run a 10000 on the track worldwide, former Seattle resident and Brooks Running executive Jesse Williams has put together a field with the intent of giving runners an opportunity to hit the standard, which includes hired pacers and wave lights inside the railing set to the appropriate pace,

There are two sections of The Ten for both men and women, a TrackTown section and a Paris section.

Gonzaga alum James Mwaura along with Seattle resident Tom Anderson are entered in the TrackTown section.

In the Paris section, Washington alum Amy-Eloise Neale of Great Britain will shoot for the Olympic standard of 30:40.00, while fellow Husky alums Brian Fay of Ireland and Jack Rowe of Great Britain, along with Kirkland native Dillon Maggard of the Brooks Beasts aims for the men's standard of 27:00.00.

For the Paris Olympics, the 10000 is a straight final, which means that there are only 27 spots available, thus the relatively tough time standard. Additionally, up to eight spots on the line are reserved for athletes who qualify via the cross country world rankings.

The TrackTown section of the men's 10000 goes at 8:08 pm, while the women's Paris section is scheduled for 8:58 pm. The men's Paris section closes out the meet at 9:35 pm.

Flotrack ($) is streaming the meet.

The link to live results is available here.

NOTE: Sound Running and the sports information offices of Washington State, Eastern Washington, Gonzaga, Seattle University, Central Washington, Seattle Pacific, and Saint Martin's contributed to this report.

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