Arizona track and field will be sending athletes to Walnut, Calif., to compete in the Mt. SAC Relays, and to Baton Rouge, La., for the LSU Alumni Gold Classic.

The throwing and distance team is headed to Walnut and competes today, Friday and Saturday, while the sprint team will compete at LSU on Saturday. The meet in California is expected to feature many Pac-12 Conference schools.

Hanna Peterson will be competing in the 5k race at the Mt. SAC Relays. The Jim Click Shootout was a difficult meet for her last weekend, as she had to fight through a cold.

Peterson said she feels a lot better this week and is excited to race over the weekend. This will be Peterson’s second time competing in that event this season.

“I just really want to go out there and have a consistent time for all three miles and do better than last time,” Peterson said. “I want to be competitive and have fun.”

Peterson has been trying to rest this week, but she has continued to practice and work on weights and core in the training room.

Pete Lauderdale II will be competing in the 400-meter dash and the 4×400-meter relay at LSU. Blake Eichler will run the first leg of the 4×400-meter race, Lauderdale the second, Bryce Houston the third, and Miles Parish will run the final leg.

“It’s going to be a really fast meet,” Lauderdale said. “The level of competition is going to be even higher than it was at Jim Click.”

Lauderdale said Texas A&M, in particular, will bring some of the top 400-meter runners in the nation, and he looks forward to competing against them.

He hopes to set his personal record in the 400-meter race, and looks to potentially set a new school record in the 4×400 relay. Lauderdale said having the right mindset going into both events is key.

Arizona coach Fred Harvey said he believes his team has now entered “championship season” after the Jim Click Shootout, and he hopes to see his athletes step up in California and Baton Rouge.

Harvey hopes his men’s 4×400 team of Eichler, Lauderdale, Houston and Parish will improve on their previous times, and thinks Eichler can improve on how he leads off the event.

Harvey hopes Collins Kibet can improve on his times at the Mt. SAC Relays and Kate Penney has a breakout meet. He said he looks forward to seeing how Elvin Kibet performs.

“Mt. SAC is really important because we want to get that first round qualifying mark under our belt,” Harvey said in an Arizona Athletics video. “It’s going to be really exciting to see all of them get out there and run.”

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