Women's XC Heads to WCC Preview; Conference Rankings Released
9/12/2014 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
SPOKANE, Wash.—The Gonzaga University women's cross country squad will get an early look to see how it holds up against the rest of the West Coast Conference this weekend as the Zags take part in the WCC Preview on the cross country course at Baylands Park in Sunnyvale, Calif.
Gonzaga will send seven runners to the Bay Area. "We're sending a good crew down, but it will be a little inexperienced," said women's cross country head coach Patty Ley. "We'll send down two freshmen in Jordan Thurston and Olivia Evans."
Junior Amelia Evans is expected to finish first for the Bulldogs, but the other six runners will hope to run in a pack for this meet. "Amelia is the front runner," said Ley. "The next six, we're hoping to bring them in solidly together, keep them rolling together and feeding off each other. If we do that we'll have some good races."
The Zags will get the chance to preview Baylands Park before it hosts the conference championship race in early November. Other WCC schools such as San Francisco, Pepperdine, Loyola Marymount, and Santa Clara will be on hand as well. Not only will they get a sneak peek of the WCC championship course and competition, the squad will get some valuable race experience as well.
"We're looking for a nice step up. For the young kids, it's really good experience. I'm really proud of them, and I think they're going to race really well this weekend."
Earlier this week, the WCC released the preseason cross country rankings, and the Gonzaga women's team finished fifth with 52 points. Portland finished one point ahead of San Francisco for first place, but the Dons actually received one more first-place vote than the Pilots. BYU and Loyola Marymount tied for third with 66 points, making the conference wide open atop the standings.
"The conference depth is amazing this year," said Ley of the Bulldogs' WCC competition. "We're a little better than we were last year, but everyone else is too, though. If we stay close to the top programs, we'll be happy."
WCC officials released the men's cross country polls this week as well, and the Gonzaga men were voted third for the second consecutive year, equaling the school's best-ever preseason ranking. Portland edged out BYU for first by one point, receiving 61 points and five first-place vote while the Cougars received 60 and four, respectively. Gonzaga came in third with 48 points, and Loyola Marymount followed with 41.
Men's head coach Pat Tyson is confident about his team's ability to finish in third place this year. "This is a team that can get into the double digits point-wise," said Tyson. "When we do that, we'll close the gap between Portland and BYU."
Senior Nick Roche was named Preseason All-WCC by the conference coaches as well. The Tigard, Ore., native finished 19th at last year's cross country championships.
"Roche has the respect of the conference," said Tyson of the senior, "but with the returners, in my opinion, we could have five guys smelling All-WCC."
The men's squad is off this weekend. They next hit the trails Sat., Sept. 20 with a dual meet against Navy in Spokane. That run will begin at 9:00 a.m. on the course at Plantes Ferry.
