The track season rolls on ahead, as a big weekend of meets is headlined by the 84th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays and the Arcadia Invitational.  Here are some of the big meets this weekend:



2011 Arcadia Invitational - April 8, 9 Los Angeles, CA

Coverage

LOS ANGELES - One of the biggest high school meets of the year, particularly on the distance side, is here.  If this edition is anything like the previous star-studded affairs, we should be in for a treat.  The 2-mile battles are always the highlights here.  Last year's boy's 3200 race, in particular, featured 16 runners under 9 minutes! Video here   Meanwhile, the women's race had 4 under 10:40. Video here

The meet will have a LIVE WEBCAST starting at 4:30 on Friday afternoon.




84th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays - April 6-9 Austin, TX

Video - Texas Men Getting Ready for Texas Relays
Live results
Full coverage (Races, Interviews, etc.)

AUSTIN - Former Longhorns Sanya Richards-Ross and Leo Manzano highlight a large number Olympians and World Champions slated to at the 84th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays. Richards will run a leg of a 4x400m relay while Manzano will run in an invitational 800m on Thursday night at 6 p.m. and the Jerry Thompson Mile.

Joining the Texas Exes will be a group of athletes that have combined to win nine Olympic Gold Medals and 17 World Championship Titles.

In the men's invitational 4x100m, squads will feature Terrence Trammell (two-time silver medalist), Angelo Taylor (three-time gold medalist), Dwight Phillips (long jump gold medalist) and Ronnie Ash.

On the women's side, Richards-Ross will be joined on the mile relay by Natasha Hastings, Shana Cox and Monica Hargrove.

Manzano will compete in an invitational 800m on Thursday, April 7 at 6 p.m. The field will feature Jacob Hernandez, Kyle Miller, Jackson Kivuva, Pablo Solaras and David Torrence.

The group joins an already stellar level of professionals including Marshevet Myers, Bianca Knight, Doc Patton, Wallace Spearmon, Shalonda Solomon and Lauren Williams.

Invitational 800m - 6 p.m. on Thursday, April 6
Nike - Leo Manzano, Kylie Miller, Jackson Kivuva, Pablo Solares, David Torrence, Jacob Hernandez

Men's 4x100m - estimated 2:30 p.m. on Saturday
Georgia Boys - Terrence Trammell, Dexter Faulk, Dwight Phillips, Angelo Taylor
Team Speed - Darvis Patton, Trell Kimmons, Wallace Spearmon, Mike Rodgers
Hi Performance 'A' - Chris Davis, Jeff Porter, David Payne, Ryan Wilson
Hi Performance 'B' - Ronnie Ash, 'Rae' Edwards, Rubin Williams, TBA

Women's 4x100m - estimated 2:20 p.m. on Saturday
Speed Divas - Marshevet Myers, Bianca Knight, Shalonda Solomon, Lauryn Williams

Men's 4x400m - estimated 4:50 p.m. on Saturday
Adidas - Jeremy Wariner, Lionel Larry, Tyson Gay, Michael Tinsley
Hi Performance 'A' - Angelo Taylor, Greg Nixon, Wallace Spearmon, Calvin Smith
HI Performance 'B' - Quentin I-Summers, James Howell, Antonio Drakeford, Michael Higgins

Men's 4x800 - Thursday
With Texas A&M's long-sprints/middle-distance dominance of late, particularly their depth, it seems that they should have four solid legs at this distance.  With Michael Preble (indoor All-American) an Joey Roberts (indoor national-qualifier), they could be looking to run circa 7:20. Last years 4x800 featured a thrilling finish. Video here




Sun Angel Track Classic - April 8,9 Tempe, AZ

Coverage
Heat Sheets

TEMPE - The Arizona State Sun Devils play host to the Sun Angel Classic this Friday and Saturday.  There are loads of premier races, NCAA Champions and professionals competing.  Here are some things to look out for:

Men's 100 - Dwain Chambers?!! Interesting ... to say the least.  While he's no longer the runner he was, it will still be an intriguing storyline.

Women's 800 - Two-time NCAA Champion at this distance, Lacey Bleazard leads a pretty stacked field.

Men's 800 - Indoor DMR and mile champion, Miles Batty, the definite favorite here.

Men's 1500 - Kyle Alcorn, Brandon Bethke and Aaron Braun head a great field.  Chad Hall and 3 Adams State All-Americans (Ryan McNiff, Andrew Graham and Keegan Calmes) will compete as well.

On an interesting sidenote ... couldn't help but notice Brandon Bethke registered as a Quicksilver athlete.  Check out his blog here - neat to see some athletes thinking outside the box.




 22nd Pepsi Team Invitational - April 8, 9 Eugene, OR

EUGENE - This is a team-scored meet between major track powerhouses.

Three of the men's teams are currently ranked in the top 10 - No. 8 Stanford, No. 9 Nebraska and No. 10 Oregon - along with Washington.

On the women's side, two of the very best in the Pac-10 will square off in No. 3 Oregon and No. 16 Stanford, with Nebraska and Washington also bringing strong teams. Nebraska was the 2011 Big XII women's indoor champion.

The Pepsi Team Invitational will be available LIVE on goducks.com.  The webcast will stream a high definition feed.

The combined talent on the rosters of the four competing teams has produced a number of intriguing events. In fact, together, 20 of the 38 events will feature at least two All-American competitors.

Some of the events to watch:

Women's 1,500 Meters - No less than five All-Americans are entered in this field with 2011 NCAA Indoor mile and 3,000 meter champion Jordan Hasay of Oregon leading the way. She's joined in the field by Washington All-Americans Katie Flood and Megan Goethals, Stanford All-American Stephanie Marcy and Duck All-American Becca Friday.

Men's 1,500 Meters - Six All-Americans from Stanford and Oregon dot the entry list. Oregon has A.J. Acosta and Matthew Centrowitz, while Stanford goes with Chris Derrick, Jake Riley, John Sullivan and Miles Unterreiner. 

Men's Pole Vault - The men's pole vault features another 2011 NCAA Indoor champion in Washington's Scott Roth. He'll be joined by fellow All-Americans Nate Polacek and Bjorn Barrefors of Nebraska; Barrefors, a decathlete, is also in the 110 meter hurdles.

Women's Pole Vault - The last two NCAA indoor runners-up are in the field in Stanford's Katerina Stefanidi (2011) and Oregon's Melissa Gergel (2010). They are joined by Nebraska All-American Natalie Willer.

Men's 800 Meters - 2011 NCAA Indoor 3,000 meter champion Elliott Heath of Stanford and All-American teammate Andrew Berberick go against Oregon All-American Elijah Greer.

Men's 5,000 Meters - Oregon All-Americans Danny Mercado and Centrowitz will face off with Nebraska All-American David Adams.

Men's 3,000 Meter Steeplechase - This event has All-Americans Steve Finley and Acosta of Oregon and James Cameron of Washington.

Men's High Jump - One of the more exciting field events has each school represented by an All-American - Jules Sharpe of Stanford, Paul Hamilton of Nebraska, Justin Frick of Oregon and decathlete Jeremy Taiwo of Washington.

Women's Long Jump - All-Americans Jamesha Youngblood of Oregon and Mara Griva of Stanford are joined by NCAA heptathlon champion Brianne Theisen of Oregon and heptathlete Chantae Miller of Nebraska.

Men's Javelin - Another excellent men's field event with Husky All-Americans Kyle Nielson and Joe Zimmerman squaring off against Nebraska's Adam Wolkins and Oregon's Alex Wolff.





Duke Invitational - April 8, 9 Durham, NC

Start lists

DURHAM - A few key events to watch for here:

Men's 5000
Leonard Korir of Iona, indoor champion over 5k, leads a pretty darn good list of entrants.  Korir (13:26) has the fastest seed time in a field filled with 4 sub-14 guys.  Should be fun to watch Korir tuneup for Mt. Sac next week.

Women's & Men's 800's
Both races should be great.  The women's field features 9 ladies under 2:08, and Laura Januszewski of Brooks at just over 2 minutes (2:01.19).  With 7 Duke girls alone entered at 2:08 or better, it is a deep field.

The men's race is even deeper.  With 13 entered under 1:51, 6 under 1:50, and 2 at sub-1:47, this race is stacked.  Karjuan and Joel Williams of HPC Elite headline this field.