CHRIS CODUTO/Arizona Daily Wildcat Freshman Shannon Durkin placed third in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 11:32.94 at the Arizona Invitational April 2. The Wildcats compete against several ranked opponents this weekend at Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, Calif.

The majority of the Arizona track teams travel to Walnut, Calif., today, where they compete in the Mt. SAC Relays through Sunday.

"We're in our invitational season, if you will," Arizona head coach Fred Harvey said. "All these meets during this time are meets where we want people to go for qualifying performances."

Of those heading to the elite Mt. SAC Relays is the women's 4x100 relay team, who missed qualifying for the NCAA West Region Championships this past weekend at the Texas Relays, because of dropping the baton for the third time in the past three races.

"We were flying. It was going to be a very good race," said sophomore sprinter Jennifer Whitlock, a part of the four-member squad. "It was so good because we were the underdogs. We weren't expected to do anything. We were doing excellent, but we'll get it. We will get it."

Whitlock said the problem has a lot to do with the familiarity between the squad, as well as nerves.

"It's just all more practice time, if we practice more with the baton then it'll be fine. I know we had it down; it's just a matter of doing it so it's consistent.

"Four times in a row would be crazy," she said. "Three is enough."

The list of schools participating includes five top-10 men's teams outside of the third-ranked Wildcats, including No. 1 Arkansas, No. 2 Florida, No. 6 Indiana, No. 8 Oregon and No. 9 Stanford.

On the women's side, top-10 foes No. 3 Tennessee, No. 4 UCLA, No. 5 Florida, No. 6 BYU, No. 8 Nebraska and No. 9 Stanford, among others, await the unranked Wildcats. Rankings are provided by Trackwire.

"A number of those schools competed at the Texas Relays (last weekend), and they are prepped and ready to go," Harvey said.

The outdoor season is winding down, with only five weeks left until the Pacific 10 Conference Championships May 14-15 at UCLA, and Harvey said that is something his team needs to realize.

"You can't keep exhausting (qualifying) opportunities. When you have them you have to take advantage of them, and (the Mt. SAC Relays) is one of those meets because everything is at a high level there," he said.