The UW cross country teams are leaving Seattle for Auburn, Ala. today and the outstanding distance runners hope to continue their winning ways while going up against some very strong SEC competition in the Tiger Invitational.

Both the men and women must run well as each squad will face top-ranked opponents this weekend. The men will take on No. 21 Auburn, while the women will run with No. 3 Florida State and No. 27 Iowa. Despite the elite opposition, coach Greg Metcalf refuses to be intimidated.

“Racing is racing,” Metcalf said. “The gun’s going to go off, and we’re going to do our thing. But, it’ll be a nice kind of early season test, for sure.”

One matchup that should be particularly interesting to watch will be the Husky women against FSU.

After a dominant performance at the Sundodger Invitational two weeks ago, the Dawgs jumped ahead of the Seminoles in the latest national rankings. Though the Washington women now carry huge targets on their backs, Anita Campbell — like her coach — keeps her attention on the task at hand.

“We don’t really focus on rankings,” Campbell said. “They’re cool and all, but that’s about all they are. We started off on such a positive note. It’s gone really well so far, and it’s just got us really excited for the next couple weeks.”

The men also received recognition for their efforts at the Sundodger Invitational, earning a vote to be ranked in the top-30. While the team didn’t quite make the top 25, you won’t find 2007 team MVP Jon Harding complaining.

“Thirtieth place? No way, we’re way better,” Harding said. “I honestly think this is the best team we’ve had since I’ve been here ... No one’s even watching out for us. We all know how good we are and we will surprise a lot of people this weekend.”

For Metcalf, who attended graduate school and coached cross country at Auburn, the trip to Alabama holds in store more than just the Tiger Invitational.

Though it won’t be easy, the Huskies appear to be prepared for success this weekend. Perhaps, if they perform well enough, their coach will treat them to a dinner of champions: chicken and brownies.

“There’s this place called Guthrie’s and they have phenomenal chicken fingers,” he said. “Then there’s this place that serves this chocolate fudge brownie dessert thing. It’s fantastic.”

Reach reporter Ben Foutz at sports@dailyuw.com