WSU's Jeshua Anderson looks for fourth straight Pac-10 400 hurdles title...

Conference championships take center stage this week, as Washington and Washington State head to Tuscon for the final Pacific-10 Conference track and field championships.

The Cougars' Jeshua Anderson (center/photo by Paul Merca),  the three-time Pac-10 400 meter hurdles champ, has the opportunity to become the eighth man in conference history to win an individual event four times, a feat accomplished by Oregon's Steve Prefontaine (1970-73, 3 mile); Cal's Rick Brown (1971-74, 880); USC's Randy Williams (1972-75, long jump); Washington's Scott Nielson (1976-79, hammer); USC's Balazs Kiss (1993-96, hammer); USC's Jerome Davis (1996-99, 400m); and, Arizona State's Aaron Aguayo (2004-07, steeplechase).

His quest begins Friday night at 8:35 pm, with the finals the next day at 8:10 pm.

Javelin thrower Marissa Tschida from WSU looks to repeat as conference champ, as she won last year with a mark of 173-3 (52.80m).

For the Huskies, who already enter the meet with a conference champ in Jeremy Taiwo, who won last week's decathlon, their best opportunities for adding to their total lie with pole vaulter Scott Roth, the current American leader in the event at 18-9.25 (5.72m), and one of the two javelin throwers in Kyle Nielsen (239-11/73.13m) or Joe Zimmerman (239-9/73.09m).

The Huskies' 4 x 100m relay team, which ran 39.93 at Husky Stadium, could surprise and pull the upset over favored UCLA, which has run 39.78 this season.


Washington State's press release is here. A link to Washington's press release is here; in the meantime, here is the Pac-10 Conference preview of the meet.

FOX Sports Net will provide a two-hour delayed telecast of the meet, starting on May 19th.

The Eastern Washington Eagles will head to Sacramento for the Big Sky Conference meet.

Both the men's and women's team placed fourth last outdoor season – a best-ever finish for the women. While the Eagles have a number of athletes who could claim titles in their respective events, head coach Marcia Mecklenberg says that it will take a team effort to achieve another high placing.

Six Eastern athletes who have previously won Big Sky titles will compete in the championships this week, including four men and two women. The women's 4x100 meter relay team will also go for its third-consecutive title. Junior Brad Wall won the 400 meters in 2010 with a school-record time of 46.78. Senior Aaron Mettler was the champion in the javelin in 2008 and 2009. Senior Stephen Praast won the outdoor high jump in 2009, while junior Adam Stewart claimed the indoor title that same year. Junior Brianna Okoro will try to defend her 200 meter title. Erica Chaney won the weight throw this past indoor season.


Eastern's release is available here.

Seattle University heads to Orem, Utah for the Great West Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships, hosted by Utah Valley University.

Headed into the championships, Dylan Burnett (Lynnwood, Wash.) is ranked first in the GWC in the javelin with his school record throw of 63.49 meters (208-4), which is more than six meters farther than his nearest ranked competitor. Michael Van Nuland (Newcastle, Wash.) is ranked second in the 3000 meter steeplechase after setting a school record time of 9:28.97.

Emily Walters (Olympia, Wash.) is ranked third in the long jump (5.56m), and fifth in the triple jump (10.99m), and also set a school record in the 100 meter hurdles in 15.13, each of which she will be competing in over the next couple of days.


The Redhawks' complete meet preview is available here.

Western Washington, Central Washington and Seattle Pacific head to Monmouth, Oregon for the Great Northwest Athletic Conference meet this weekend, with the Falcon women favored to win yet another team title.

The Falcons, ranked #8 in the current USTFCCCA Division II poll, got off to a great start in their quest for a GNAC title with their 1-2-3-4 finish in the heptathlon last week.

Links to their press releases will be up when it is available.

paulmerca.blogspot.com will cover the Pacific-10 Conference championships from Tuscon, Arizona, and will post tweets (twitter.com/paulmerca70601) on the web site as well; tweets are located on the right hand side of the web site.

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