XC Takes On the WCC at League Championships
10/31/2014 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
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SPOKANE, Wash. - Gonzaga's cross country teams travel to Baylands Park in Sunnyvale, Calif., for the West Coast Conference Championships. The course is the home site for Santa Clara University.
The women's 6,000-meter race will kick things off at 10 a.m., followed by the men's 8,000 meters at 11 a.m. The top 10 individuals from each side will earn all-conference honors. The Zags enter after having been picked to finish third on the men's side and fifth on the women's side in the preseason coaches poll.
For the Zag men, head coach Pat Tyson's crew enters with plenty of experience in the event. Seniors Nick Roche and Robert Walgren are competing in their fourth conference meet, Colin O'Neil is in his third, and Troy Fraley, Danny Lunder, Kyle Branch and Ian Goldizen are all in their second tour of the league championship. Max Kaderabek and Connor McCandless will compete in their first conference meet.
"Our guys understand high-end competition, a bunch of them have been here before," Tyson said. "I felt good about our team after the Lewiston meet and where our top nine runners were. The top four have done a good job, and I feel strong about the next five."
Roche has been the most consistent this season for the Zags, helping them to a victory at the Inland Empire Classic and a 13th-place finish at Notre Dame. He placed second at the Inland Empire and 37th at the Notre Dame Invitational.
The Zags will be chasing Portland and BYU in the men's team race. The Pilots come in ranked No. 8 in the NCAA, while BYU is sitting 19th.
On the women's side, juniors Amelia Evans and Shelby Mills lead the way for head coach Patty Ley's squad. Senior Laura Tuthill will be in her fourth WCC championship, while Evans is in her third, and Erin Bergmann, Alison Fraher and Zoe Urcadez are all making their second appearance. Freshmen Jordan Thurston, Olivia Evans and Elena Slavoski are all making their first run in the league meet.
"I feel like we are in a good place and getting stronger heading in this meet," Ley said. "Fitness-wise we are at our peak or close to it, so we're ready to perform well. This is a deep conference, so we could run well and still finish fifth, but our goal is to close with the top five teams."
Evans has been at or near the front in every meet this season, including a fifth-place finish at the WCC Preview meet in September, and another fifth-place finish at the Inland Empire Classic in Lewiston.
Portland and San Francisco ranked first and second in the preseason league poll, followed by a tie for third between BYU and Loyola Marymount.
