Rivalry fever has struck the athletes on the Husky track team.

Even senior Kenjamine Jackson, a transfer student from Cal State Northridge who in his first season at the UW, is looking forward to competing against the Cougars in the annual UW-WSU dual meet Saturday.

“With the rivalry with Washington State, we’ve got to go out there and make a statement,” Jackson said.

The dual meet is one of two scored meets this season and provides the Huskies a rare opportunity to officially defeat a team in a track meet.

That said, they will need to get by several strong competitors from WSU to do so.

“Washington State’s got a great team,” said sprints coach Raul Sheen. “If we can run with them, then we’ll be in the mix.”

Sheen added that the Cougars have great depth and “can score everywhere.”

Besides defeating the Cougars, the Huskies also hope several competitors will pick up regional qualifiers Saturday.

Among them will be the men’s 4x100-meter relay, with an ideal lineup of Randy Bacon, Jordan Boase, Jackson and Joe Turner, respectively.

“This’ll be the first time that we actually run the relay with this team of four people,” Sheen said. “It’s always a little shaky putting it out there for the first time without a whole lot of rhythm or continuity. Just on talent alone, I think we should we be all right.”

Jackson agreed with his coach, noting that health had been an issue earlier in the year.

He and Turner have been recovering from hamstring injuries, though Sheen estimates they’re both running at 85 to 90 percent.

In the distance events, former high-school national champion steeplechaser Mel Lawrence will attempt her first college run in the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase. She will face WSU’s Sara Trane, who is the two-time Pac-10 champion in the event.

The dual meet figures to be the last home meet for UW senior All-Americans Boase and distance runner Austin Abbott, as both will likely rest in next week’s final home meet.

Reach reporter Honsen Lin at sports@dailyuw.com.