Quick notes on Scott Roth, the passing of the legendary Grete Waitz, & USTFCCCA rankings...

Some quick stuff this morning:


The Pac-10 Conference named Scott Roth (left/photo by Randy Miyazaki, trackandfieldphoto.com) as its men's field event athlete of the week for his efforts at the Mt. SAC Relays over the weekend, in which he cleared 18-9 1/4 (5.72m) to set a new University of Washington outdoor school record in the event, and take the US outdoor lead in the event.

Roth's clearance earned him the `A' Standard necessary to compete at the 2011 IAAF World Championships starting in August in Daegu, Korea should he earn a spot on Team USA.

This is the second week in a row that a Husky has earned one of the four weekly Pac-10 track and field honors. Sophomore James Alaka earned the men's track distinction last week. Roth is the first Husky men's field athlete to earn the honor since Will Conwell in 2006, and the first UW pole vaulter since Walker got the nod in 2002.

Sad news out of Norway, as the great Grete Waitz passed away from cancer at the age of 57.

Waitz was a nine-time winner of the New York City Marathon, won the 1983 IAAF world championship in the marathon in Helsinki, earned a silver medal in the 1984 Olympic marathon, and was truly one of the pioneers of the women's distance running movement.

Here is a link to the New York Times' article on Waitz' death…

The current USTFCCCA national rankings were released Tuesday, and there are no changes in the top five men's and women's teams.

Florida, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Florida State and LSU lead the men, while Texas A&M, LSU, Oregon, USC, and Clemson lead the women.

Washington State's women's team is ranked #20, while the Washington Huskies dropped out of the top 25.

The Huskies will compete in the Oregon Relays this weekend, while Washington State stays at home and hosts the Cougar Invitational.

NOTE: The University of Washington, Washington State University, Pac-10 Conference, and the USTFCCCA contributed to this report.

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