Conference Cross Country Championships Comes to Spokane
10/29/2015 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
SPOKANE, Wash. -- For only the second time in the history of the event, the West Coast Conference Cross Country Championships will take place outside of California. Saturday, the Gonzaga women and men welcome the other nine conference members to Plantes Ferry Park for the league's premier running event.
This is the first time in nine years Gonzaga University has hosted a conference championship. The Bulldogs welcomed the WCC for the 2006 women's and men's basketball championships. The cross country championships comes to Spokane for the first time ever, as the schools now rotate as host each year.
"It is very cool to host the WCC Conference Championships in Spokane," Director of GU Cross Country Pat Tyson said. "We have such a great running community and the support for putting on the event is second to none! I just know that the teams coming into compete are going to love the venue rain or shine. We're so pumped to see all the alumni and friends of our program go crazy. With alums Jon Neill, Tate Kelly, and Tom Fuchs spearheading our alums, there will be great energy out on the course!"
The Zag women and men enter this year's championships with high expectations after successful seasons so far. The GU men were picked third in the conference's preseason poll and are currently ranked 12th in the West Region. The women started the year slated fourth in the preseason poll and now enter the conference championships as league's second-highest regionally ranked team at No. 7.
"The competition sets up to be tremendous this weekend, with almost every team having women who can be in the top 10, even top-five individual competitors," Gonzaga women's Head Coach Patty Ley said. "BYU comes in as the favorite team, ranked 14th nationally in the last poll, and that gives us a chance to test our mettle against a great team. As always things aren't perfect, but then that is what we train for too. I'm excited for the women to see the fruits of their hard work."
Gonzaga's Jessica Mildes has the top time over a 6,000-meter course this season. She ran a 20:25.3 at the Washington Invitational on Oct. 2. The junior's time is the 10th fastest this year in the conference. Natalie Shields of BYU ran a 20:03.3 at the same meet, which is the best in the WCC in 2015. BYU has five runners with the top six times this season.
Shelby Mills broke the Zags' program record at last season's West Coast Conference Championships with a time of 20:06.1. She placed seventh with that finish. Amelia Evans came in 10th at last year's championships at 20:29.2, the third-fastest time in program history. Jordan Thurston's time of 20:30.5 at the Washington Invitational is fourth on the all-time list.
Maggie Jones, Thurston and Mildes all had top-10 finishes at the WCC Preview on the Plantes Ferry course on Sept. 19. BYU edged out the Zags by one point for the team title. The Cougars' Alice Jensen placed first at 21:18.1.
Brigham Young's men's team cruised to the WCC Preview title, placing five runners in the top seven. Dallin Farnsworth (24:29.1) beat out teammate Aaron Fletcher (24:20.6) for the individual title. The Zags' Troy Fraley came in third at 24:24.2.
Fraley would later run the program's second-fastest 8,000-meter course time at the Washington Invitational. He crossed the line at 23:39.3, the fourth-best time this season in the conference. Fletcher's time at the event, 23:27.0 is the fastest.
In all, the Gonzaga men had eight new entries into their program's all-time 8,000-meter top-20 list after the Washington Invitational, along with 11 new personal records. Kyle Branch (4th, 23:57), Matthew Crichlow (5th, 24:04), Vince Hamilton (7th, 24:13), and Scott Kopczynski (8th, 24:14) all had top-10 program times on Oct. 2.
"Five of our nine men's harriers are veterans of the West Coast Conference Championship experience," Tyson said. "Fraley, Branch, and Ian Goldizen have all been to the event twice, while Crichlow and Conor McCandless have been once. All nine of our entries this year have played integral roles in Gonzaga being ranked in the region, and all nine are ranked on the GU all-time top-20 8K list.
"We ultimately want to nip the heels of Portland, who we never have beaten, and hold together to beat a very good San Francisco team."
The BYU men enter the meet ranked fourth in the country. Portland's men are sixth in the region, followed by San Francisco in 10th and Gonzaga in 12th. On the women's side, behind BYU and the Zags, San Francisco is ninth, Portland is 11th, and Loyola Marymount is No. 12.
"It is awesome to be able to host the WCC Championships and showcase our beautiful region and facilities," Ley said. "We're so very grateful to Marla Emde from the Spokane Sports Commission, and Gonzaga's Dan Gilbert, Joel Morgan and Heather Gores for laying the groundwork here in Spokane. We'd also like to thank the WCC staff for preparing to host a first class event for the student-athletes and the spectators."
The event is free for the public to attend. The women's race begins at 10 a.m., followed by the men at 11. A live video stream will be available on GoZags.com, along with live results.
