All nine Washington schools, plus some pros, head to SoCal for meets in Walnut, Azusa and Long Beach...
If you plan to catch all nine Washington Division I and II schools in action this weekend, Southern California is the place to go.
If that's the plan, make sure that your Apple or Google Maps app is open, and you have your web browser pointed to the meet's web site(s) so you have the most up to date time schedules.
Action gets underway Wednesday, as combined events specialists Teko Cates (Paul Merca photo) and Sofia Cosculluela compete in Walnut, California at the Mt SAC Relays decathlon and heptathlon meets on the campus of Mount San Antonio College. The rest of the Washington sprints, jumps, vault and throws group joins them on Friday for the main portion of the Mt. SAC Relays, which goes through Saturday.
Washington's Hana and Amanda Moll will begin their 2026 collegiate outdoor campaign at Mt. SAC, as they skipped the Stanford Invitational two weeks ago after competing at the Maurie Plant meet in Melbourne, Australia at the end of March.
The Mt. SAC Relays is southern California's premier meet for the state's high school talent, and also attracts many of the nation's top colleges, university teams, as well as pros.
All nine Washington schools will have representation at the Bryan Clay Invitational starting Thursday not very far from Walnut on the campus of Azusa Pacific University in Azusa. It's approximately an eight mile drive to both campus locations.
Host school Azusa Pacific will have many of the nation's top Division II schools in the field. However, the meet's format, particularly in the evening sessions, are geared towards middle and long distance runners, similar to want Stanford does outdoors and Washington indoors, with paced races, along with a sprinkle of pro talent.
Among pros from the state entered at Bryan Clay include Washington alums Joe Waskom and Sam Ellis.
If you're a distance fan, Thursday's session consists of the 10000 and steeplechases. The 800 and 5000s take center stage on Friday, while Saturday's session is all 1500s, with the final heats happening around 10 pm. From 10 am to 4:20 pm is essentially a full on track and field meet, with primarily Division II teams competing.
The other big meets happening in Southern California are the Pacific Coast Invitational and the Beach Invite.
The Pacific Coast Invitational happens on Thursday, while the Beach Invite happens on Friday and Saturday, with both meets hosted by Long Beach State University at Jack Rose Track.
Western Washington has some of their sprint group entered in the Pacific Coast meet.
The start list and link to live results for the Pacific Coast Invitational is available here. Accepted entries for the Beach Invite have not been posted as of this writing.
WASHINGTON SQUADS, WESTERN WOMEN OUT OF TOP 25...
Both University of Washington track and field teams dropped out of the national top 25 in the third iteration of the USTFCCCA Division I National Track & Field Rating Index released Tuesday, as the Huskies were off last weekend.
The Washington men were rated number 21, and the women at 25 after their performances at Stanford and the Texas Relays.
The top five men's teams this week are in order: Georgia, LSU, Texas A&M, Texas & Ole Miss, all out of the Southeast Conference.
With Tennessee at number 6, the top six teams in the country are all from the SEC.
Oregon at 7, Minnesota at 8, Nebraska at 9, Michigan at 13, Penn State at 14, number 16 USC, and number 21 Iowa are the Big Ten men's teams in the top 25.
The women's rankings has as its top five in order: Georgia, Texas A&M, BYU, LSU, and Texas.
Big Ten women's squads in the top 25 include: number 7 USC, number 10 Nebraska, number 19 Minnesota, and number 20 Oregon.
In the Division II Rating Index, the Western Washington men's team dropped three spots from number 10 to number 13.
While the Vikings competed last week in Langley, BC at the Battle of Sparta, they had no marks in the national top 20 that would factor into an improved ranking.
Grand Valley State, Minnesota State, Pittsburg State, Colorado School of Mines, and West Texas A&M are the nation's top five D2 men's teams.
Besides the Vikings, Northwest Nazarene is the only men's team from the GNAC in the national top 25, coming in at number 20.
In this week's Division II women's ranking index, no teams from the Great Northwest Athletic Conference are represented.
Western Washington's women's team, which entered last week at 24, dropped out of the national top 25, despite a national top ten mark in the 4 x 400 relay, set at the Battle of Sparta.
The Vikings improved upon the 3:42.76 time they ran last week at the UCSD Triton Invitational in La Jolla, running 3:41.74. The running order of Bec Bennett, Casie Kleine, Jayda Darroch, Kennedy Cook was slightly different than the team that ran in La Jolla. In La Jolla, Cook was third, Darroch was second, Kleine led off, and Bennett was on the anchor.
The national top 25 women's D2 teams are in order: West Texas A&M, Pittsburg State, Grand Valley State, Missouri Southern, and Minnesota State.
NOTE: The sports information offices of Mt. San Antonio College, Azusa Pacific, and Long Beach State contributed to this report.
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