ON TAP THIS WEEKEND: Dawgs & Zags in Chicago; all four Washington D2 schools race Saturday...

Three meets comprise the weekend's schedule, as seven of Washington's nine Division I and II schools are in action Friday and Saturday.

DAWGS AND ZAGS HEAD TO CHICAGO FOR LOYOLA LAKEFRONT INVITATIONAL...

The Washington men and both Gonzaga squads head to Chicago for Friday's Sean Earl Lakefront Invitational at the Sydney Marovitz Golf Course, hosted by Loyola University. 

Action gets underway at 7 am Pacific with the women's 6k, then 40 minutes later with the men's 8k.

The Washington men, who entered the USTFCCCA NCAA Division I pre season coaches' poll unranked, pulled off one of the biggest surprises of the young season by finishing third at the John McNichols Invitational on this year's NCAA championship course in Terre Haute, Indiana, beating twelve nationally ranked teams.

In addition to the number 13 Huskies, nationally ranked teams in the field include number 11 Wisconsin, and number 24 Tulane.

The Huskies who ran last week in Terre Haute will sit out Friday, as the team looks to find out who will be the best combination when the championship season begins at the end of October. 

Thomas Diamond (Paul Merca file photo) will lead the UW squad, along with Owen Powell, who makes his Washington cross country debut. Both raced extensively over the summer in Europe and were held out of the meet in Terre Haute.

Arizona and Cal Poly from the West Region will also have teams entered in the meet.

Wisconsin finished ninth at last week's McNichols Invitational.

The Zags opened the season three weeks ago by scoring a perfect 15 in winning the Clash of the Inland Northwest meet in Spokane Valley, led by second year runner Dylan Weniger, as their top five finishers ran an impressive 1-5 split of 13 seconds.

In the women's race, Gonzaga will face number 12 Northwestern, number 20 Virginia, and number 24 Minnesota in the field.

The Zags also scored a perfect 15 at the Clash of the Inland Northwest meet, led by first year runner Sloan Dickson, while sitting out NCAA qualifiers Logan Hofstee and Jessica Frydenlund.

Frydenlund was sixth in this meet last year, while Hofstee finished 17th.

Like the men, the women will also face Arizona and Cal Poly in the field out of the West region. For Gonzaga, this will be the first meet facing former coach Jake Stewart, who left the school to become the new coach at Cal Poly in early August.

Stewart was replaced on an interim basis by McKenna Hansen, a former Gonzaga assistant.

There is no live stream available for the meet. 

The link to live results is available here.

ALL OF WASHINGTON'S D2 SCHOOLS, PLUS SEATTLE U RACE SATURDAY...

In Ferndale, Western Washington, the defending Great Northwest Athletic Conference champions on both the men's and women's side, becomes the final school of the nine NCAA Division I and II schools to open their season, as the Vikings host the Bill Roe Classic at Hovander Park.

The meet starts at 10 am with the women's 6k, followed by the men's 8k an hour later.

Western Washington enters the weekend ranked number 9 in the men's national D2 coaches poll.

In addition to the host Vikings, Central Washington and Saint Martin's will enter teams in the meet.

While both the Wildcat and Saints' men's squads are in a rebuilding mode, Central Washington, who have aspirations of qualifying for the Division II championships in Kansas in December, look to test themselves against Western Washington.

Western is the pre-season favorite to defend its women's title, while Central was voted second in the GNAC coaches' poll.

The link to live results will be posted here.

In the other meet of significance this weekend, Seattle Pacific and Seattle University travel to Monmouth, Oregon for the Mike Johnson Invitational.

The Falcons will face fellow GNAC squads from Alaska Anchorage and Northwest Nazarene in addition to host Western Oregon.

SPU will race on the course that will host the GNAC championship meet on November 7th. 

Action gets underway with the men's 8k at 11 am, followed by the women's 6k at 11:45 am.

Seattle Pacific opened the season two weeks ago, as their women won the Puget Sound Invitational led by first year runner Esther Paulson, who won the individual crown in 18:26 over the 5k course.

Their men finished fourth in the meet, led by Avery Erickson's fifth place finish in 15:32 for 5k.

SeattleU's men's team was sixth, while their women were ninth at the Saint Mary's Invitational in Concord, California last week.

Jeremy Poseidon was the Redhawks' top runner in the men's 8k, finishing 16th in 23:42, while Diana Camargo Solis placed 38th overall in 21:45 over the 6k distance.

The meet will not be streamed; the link to live results is available here.

NOTE: The sports information office of Loyola, Washington, Gonzaga, Western Washington and the Great Northwest Athletic Conference contributed to this report.

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