Washington and SeattleU open up 2025 harrier campaign with dual meet Tuesday at Magnuson Park...
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| Josephine Welin (331), Chloe Foerster (326) and Julia David-Smith (325) lead at last year's UW/ SeattleU dual won by the Huskies 15-50 (Paul Merca photo) |
The University of Washington opens its cross country season Tuesday morning with the annual dual meet against Seattle University at the gravel oval that surrounds the grass soccer fields of Warren G. Magnuson Park, just north of the UW campus.
Action gets underway with the women's 5 kilometer race at 9 am, followed by the men's 8 kilometer race 45 minutes later.
Washington enters the meet ranked number 8 in the USTFCCCA national women's pre-season poll, while the men are ranked number 21 in the coaches' pre-season poll.
Meanwhile, Seattle University is coming off a season where their women's squad finished fourth in the Western Athletic Conference championship meet. The Redhawks were 17th at the NCAA West Regionals in Colfax, the team's best finish in school history.
In contrast, the Redhawk men were ninth of nine teams at the WAC championships, and 30th of 31 teams at the NCAA West Regionals.
Washington returns NCAA championship competitors Julia David-Smith, the World University Games champion, along with Maeve Stiles, their top finisher at the NCAA championships. Also back are Chloe Foerster, and Ella Borsheim.
The Dawgs add Arkansas transfer Mia Cochran, who finished one spot out of an All-American placing in 41st.
Big Ten 10000 meter champ Evan Jenkins is expected to be the lead Dawg this season, along with Tyrone Gorze, Nathan Neil, and Jamar Distel.
SeattleU, which is making the jump from the WAC to the West Coast Conference, will have Azalea Groleau and Diana Camargo Solis as its projected lead runners on the women's side. Groleau was seventh at the WAC championships, while Camargo Solis was 17th.
The Redhawks have a lot of questions on the men's side. Jeremy Posdon was their top returning runner from the WAC championship meet, where he placed 51st.
In the West Coast Conference coaches' pre-season poll, SeattleU is projected to finish eighth in the women's conference championship meet, while their men are projected to finish ninth.
If the past is any indication, it's expected that the Huskies will treat this race as a glorified tempo workout, with emphasis on running as a pack.
Tuesday's meet could also mark the Husky debut of touted freshmen Owen Powell and Josiah Tostenson, both of who broke four minutes in the mile at Mercer Island HS, and Crater HS in Oregon.
SeattleU will next race on September 12th at the Cougar Classic in Colfax, hosted by Washington State, while the Huskies will go to their training camp before racing on October 3rd in Chicago at the Loyola Lakefront Invitational.
NOTE: The sports information offices of the University of Washington and Seattle University contributed to this report.
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