WSU track and field will divide their roster this weekend between the Arizona State Sun Angel Classic and Spokane Community College War IX.

The Cougars will send 38 participants to Tempe, Arizona while sending 24 north for the short trip to Spokane. The Sun Angel begins with hammer and pole vault at Noon on Friday, leading into the remaining events on Saturday.

With WSU facing a conference opponent, Head Coach Wayne Phipps expects there to be increased competition.

“I think when you see on our schedule that we’re going to Stanford and they see on our schedule we’re going to Arizona State it definitely amps up the excitement,” Phipps said during his press conference Wednesday. “So combining some great competition from Pac-12 schools, some SEC schools and some future Olympian’s or currently Olympians maybe, it’s going to be awesome for us.”

Freshman Paul Ryan will compete in the 800m and 1,500m races between Friday and Saturday. In the shorter races the Cougars have three runners competing in two events: freshman JaMaun Charles and sophomores Zach Smith and Jonnie Green.

All three will be running both the 100m and 200m heats over the two-day event.

On the women’s team the Cougars will have three runners also competing in both the 100m and 200m. Junior Danielle Darden, redshirt senior Holly DeHart and freshman Regyn Gaffney will represent WSU in the short distance in Tempe.

Phipps noted the freshman Gaffney has one of the Cougar runners who has broken out recently, and is expected to continue improving her form in Arizona.

“I thought Regyn Gaffney last weekend, first time under 12 seconds and it goes all the way down to 11:07,” Phipps said. “You add that to a great female sprint squad, which I think is going to boat well for some excellent 4×100 times.”

Closer to home WSU will have several runners participating in multiple events, including freshmen sprinters Ethan Gardner, Brandon Jetter and Jake Nienhuis.

The SCC War begins at 9 a.m. while the Sun Angel Classic gets going at 10 a.m. Saturday with field events. Open races begin at 2 p.m. on Sunday in Tempe with Friday starting at Noon with field events.

WSUCougars.com will provide updates from both locations as the come in.

Reporting by Lars Hanson