Azusa/La Verne, Calif.  Western Colorado track & field is sending its distance group to Southern California for a pair of meets, starting with the Bryan Clay Invitational on Wednesday, April 16 at Azusa Pacific University.

The Bryan Clay meet will run from April 16-18, and the other meet, the University of La Verne Leopard Invitational, is scheduled for April 17-18.

A time-qualifying invitational billed as the fastest and largest collegiate meet in the U.S., the Bryan Clay will host eight Mountaineer runners. Three of those will double up by joining seven teammates at the Leopard Invitational.

Allison Beasley, Emma Kjellsen, Lauren Willson and John Houdeshell will each compete in two events at the Bryan Clay.

Beasley is scheduled to run in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase and the 5,000m run; Kjellsen will circle the oval at the Cougar Athletic Stadium in the 800 and the 1,500; and Willson will compete in the 1,500 and the 5,000.

Houdeshell will match Willson by running the men's 1,500 and the 5,000.

Peyton Weiss earned an invitation to the Bryan Clay in the women's 800 and will compete in the 1,500 at the Leopard Invite. Also splitting her efforts between the two meets will be Gretchen Slattum in the women's 5,000 at the Bryan Clay and the 1,500 at the Leopard.

Eddie Siuda is the other dual-meet competitor for the Mountaineers, racing in the men's steeplechase at the Bryan Clay and in the 5,000 at the Leopard.

Jayda Nix, with an NCAA provisional mark in the steeplechase and the 31st fastest time in the NCAA this spring, will focus her efforts in that event at the Bryan Clay.

Doubling up at the Leopard Invite in Ortmayer Stadium will be Kyle Partin, who is entered in the men's steeplechase and the 5,000, and Haley Wood, who is marked to compete in the same two races in the women's event schedule.

Western will have five other runners at La Verne, all competing in their respective 5,000m events. In the women's 5,000 will be Emma Berg and Lacey Kunz, and in the men's event it will be Branden Davis, Oliver Diaz and Jacob Tyburski.

Western's distance group, that trains at home in the altitude of Gunnison, Colo., often travels to the near sea level competitions at both the Bryan Clay and the La Verne meets to take advantage of the drop from over 7,700 feet to around 1,000 feet in elevation.

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Western's weekend competitors are looking to produce times that improve upon seed times or qualify for the upcoming Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference outdoor track & field championships in Golden, Colo., on April 25-27.