THE WEEKEND AHEAD: Dawgs & Zags hit the relay circuit, while other Washington D1/D2 teams stay in state...
After the trip to Southern California by all nine Washington Division I and II schools last weekend, here's where they are competing, with the exception of SeattleU, which is off:
The University of Washington, and more specifically, its middle distance group, head to Philadelphia for yet another appearance at the Penn Relays.
The Huskies have left Philadelphia the last two years with a Penn Relays wheel, winning the men's 4 x mile and distance medley relays last year, and the women's 4 x 800 in 2024.
Thursday, Washington's Julia David-Smith (Paul Merca photo) is entered in both the college women's 1500 and 5000; however, it's projected that she will be pulled from one of those races, given that the 1500 is scheduled for 6:10 pm local time, and the 5000 is at 7:45 pm local time.
Josephine Welin is entered in the 5000 with David-Smith, while Anna Terrell is scheduled to run Thursday's 400 hurdles.
Friday, Washington has teams entered in both distance medley relays, and the two longest races--the men's 4 x mile, and the women's 4 x 1500 on Saturday.
The Huskies will also run a women's 4 x 800 on Saturday.
No Washington men are scheduled to contest an individual event.
Flotrack ($) will stream all three days of the Penn Relays.
Gonzaga's men and women head to Des Moines, Iowa for the Drake Relays, which for the Zags, begins Thursday.
The men are running a 4 x 1600 relay on Friday at noon local time, and a distance medley on Saturday afternoon, while the women will only run a distance medley relay.
The only ones competing in an individual event are Charlotte Dillon, Anna Grabowski, and Logan Hofstee in Thursday night's 5000 meters, and 400 meter runner Greta Dani Friday night.
On Saturday, Sam Ellis, Waleed Suliman and Joe Waskom, all of whom ran in Tuesday's USATF Road Mile championships, are entered in the invitational men's 1500, which is part of World Athletics' Continental Tour.
Washington alum Claire Yerby is entered in the invitational women's mile.
Finally, former Pullman resident and reigning world chamnpion Katie Moon, along with Washington alum Nastassja Campbell, are entered in Saturday's invitational pole vault.
Moon, who finished second in Monday's Vault at Jordan Creek to long time rival Sandi Morris, looks to get the win in her first outdoor competition of 2026.
Media partner RunnerSpace.com ($) will stream all three days of the Drake Relays, except for a two hour window on Saturday (Noon-2pm Pacific time) when the majority of the World Athletics Continental Tour events will be shown on CBS Sports Network (channels 412/1303 on Seattle Comcast).
In Pullman, Washington State plays host to the Cougar Classic Friday, featuring local schools, most notably, Eastern Washington, Central Washington, and Idaho.
The first event at Mooberry Field on the WSU campus are the women's javelin, women's pole vault, and men's long jump at 10 am.
Action on the track starts at high noon with the women's, followed by the men's steeplechase.
At 11 am, the bronze statue of Henry Rono (WSU Athletics photo) will be dedicated on the north end of Mooberry Track.
WSU Director of Cross Country/Track Wayne Phipps and WSU Vice President and Director of Athletics Jon Haarlow are scheduled to make comments during the 30-minute ceremony. The statue depicts Rono wearing his WSU uniform and was created by WSU alum and former Cougar tennis player Ott Jones.
During his time at WSU (1976-81), Rono dominated college distance running during his cross country and indoor-outdoor track career (1976-81), winning six NCAA titles and setting six collegiate outdoor records and four indoor marks.
In 2016, Rono was named the Pac-12 Men's Track & Field Athlete of the Century while in 2022, he was inducted as part of the inaugural class into the USTFCCCA College Hall of Fame.
In Bellingham, Western Washington plays host to the two-day Pee Wee Halsell/Ralph Vernacchia Invitational at Civic Stadium Friday and Saturday.
In what is essentially the final regular season meet for all four Washington Division II schools, the host Vikings go into the meets with the men's team ranked number 17 nationally and the women just outside the n national top 25 in NCAA Division II at number 32.
Competition opens Friday with the women's discus at 9 am and closes with the running events at 7 pm. Saturday's Vernacchia schedule begins at 9:30 am with women's hammer throw and concludes with the 4x400 relays starting at 6 pm.
NOTE: The Penn Relays, Drake Relays, and the sports information offices of Washington, Gonzaga, Washington State, Central Washington, and Western Washington contributed to this report.
paulmerca.blogspot.com may receive a commission for any purchases made from links clicked. Please support this site and our sponsors by clicking on the links. You can also support the site by clicking the yellow "Buy Me A Coffee" link below.
Comments