SAN BRUNO, Calif. - Gonzaga University's men's cross country team has been picked to finish third and the Bulldog women fifth in the preseason poll of West Coast Conference cross country coaches.
Bulldog senior Lauren Bergam was also named to the WCC preseason all-conference women's team.
The Gonzaga men earned 48 points to edge the University of San Francisco by four points for third place, while BYU garnered five first-place votes and 61 points to nip the University of Portland for the role of favorite by one point, the Pilots receiving four first-place votes and 60 points.
"There's no doubt about that," Gonzaga director of cross country and head men's coach Pat Tyson said when asked if the Bulldogs are earning respect around the league. "I see 48 points, 12 behind Portland and 13 behind BYU and nudging out USF. It's the highest pre-season ranking in the five-year Tyson era. We're honored at getting a pre-season ranking that we hopefully can achieve. It's not going to be easy because the league is getting tougher."
The Bulldog men finished third a year ago, two points ahead of USF. Portland, which had won every WCC men's title since 1979 until the streak was snapped in 2011 by WCC newcomer BYU, edged the Cougars by a point last year.
With the graduation of Tate Kelly, there will be a new leader this year for the Zags. Tyson thinks co-captains Brent Felnagle and Robert Walgren will fill that void.
"The emerging leaders are Felnagle and Walgren. Even though Walgren is a redshirt, his energy is going to be important for the young runners," Tyson said.
But others will also provide leadership.
"Willie Milam is a great runner for us and the last three years has been in the top nine for our conference. He came up to me at camp and said he's ready and wants to help lead this team. He's not a captain but he wants to give back to this team. He has the tools if he can stay healthy," Tyson noted.
"Freshman Troy Fraley has shown he's real, he's strong and was in the lead pack at camp. He's going to wear the jersey. Colin O'Neil is a tough guy. He needs to be healthy and he had the experience last year on the varsity. We should have a number of guys in the hunt for all-conference. Colin, Brent, Willie, Troy, Ned Fischer and Conor McCandless are all where Tate Kelly was a year ago and he was a second out of making all-conference. BYU is as good as ever, Portland is as good as ever and we should be better than ever because we do have guys who are where Tate was last year," Tyson said.
Felnagle was 21st while O'Neil was 23rd at the WCC Championship last fall.
The Bulldog women must re-tool with the graduation of Lindsey Drake and Emily Thomas. Head women's coach Patty Ley thinks the pieces of the puzzle are in place led by Bergam.
The home grown product of Spokane's East Valley High was 15th a year ago to help the Bulldogs to a fourth-place finish, their highest since taking third in 2004.
"We're definitely looking at Lauren to be our leader. She was second-team last year. We're hoping to get her in there and hopefully bring a couple of others along with her. Maggie Jones and Laura Tuthill improved at about the same rate last spring. The WCC is getting tough," Ley noted.
Jones was 29th last year, and Tuthill 39th.
The Bulldogs were a solid fifth-place pick with 53 points, just one point behind Loyola Marymount University. Four-time defending champion San Francisco was the near-unanimous choice for the top spot with 80 points and eight first-place votes. BYU and Portland each had one first-place vote, BYU second with 70 points to edge the Pilots with 68. The University of the Pacific joins the women's fray this year to give the WCC 10 women's teams.
Ley said the fifth-place ranking can be taken as the glass is half empty or half full scenario.
"You can say it's disappointing, you can say it's not. Reality is there are five teams. On paper there is San Francisco and then there are four really solid teams. You look at the point differential and there aren't many votes between Portland and BYU, and there's only one point between us and Loyola Marymount. Given the data you have that's probably pretty fair," Ley said. "We talked about it last year; a poll is a poll is a poll. You don't get too down if you're ranked lower and you don't get too high if you are ranked too high. USF is a phenomenal team in terms of the WCC. It's far and away the best team we've walked out of here with for a women's team. Some polls have them in the 13-16 range nationally. It gives us something to shoot for."
The Bulldogs open their season Aug. 31 at Spokane's Mead High against Washington State University, University of Idaho, Eastern Washington University, Whitworth University and Whitman College.
