SAN BRUNO, Calif. -- The West Coast Conference announced that the defending WCC champion Gonzaga has been selected by the league's seven coaches to win its 18th overall and fifth straight conference title in the women's rowing preseason poll released by league officials Wednesday afternoon.
 
GU claimed four out of the seven first-place votes and tallied 34 overall points to start out the 2019 season on top. Loyola Marymount, the 2017-18 conference runner-up, was picked to finish second with two first-place votes and 31 total points while San Diego claimed the final first-place vote and 28 points for third.
 
Portland (21 points, fourth place), Saint Mary's (14 points, fifth place), Creighton (13 points, sixth place) and Santa Clara (six points, seventh place) rounded out the final seven.
 
Four Zags were also named to the Preseason All-WCC Rowing team, highlighted by the senior class. Seniors Ana Delucchi, Lauren English and Lindey English were named to the team, along with 2018 Co-Newcomer of the Year, sophomore Lauren McCallum.
 
Gonzaga kicks off their season on March 13, against Loyola Marymount and San Diego, at Mission Bay in San Diego, Calif.
 
WCC ROWING PRESEASON POLL 
 

	TEAM	POINTS (FIRST PLACE)
1.	Gonzaga	34 (4)
2.	LMU	31 (2)
3.	San Diego	28 (1)
4.	Portland	21
5.	Saint Mary's	14
6.	Creighton	13
7.	Santa Clara	6

PRESEASON ALL-WCC ROWING TEAM 
 

Name	Year	Institution
Clare Adams	Jr.	San Diego
Maggie Barran	Sr.	Creighton
Anna Barry	So.	LMU
Leila Chihab	Jr.	Santa Clara
Lauren Compeau	So.	LMU
Ana Delucchi	Sr.	Gonzaga
Lauren English	Sr.	Gonzaga
Lindey English	Sr.	Gonzaga
Lauren Jesse	Sr.	Portland
Ellie Martin	Jr.	LMU
Lauren McCallum	So.	Gonzaga
Mollie Mertes	So.	Santa Clara
Veronica Nicacio	Sr.	Portland
Kelsey Shinn	Jr.	Saint Mary's
Emily Sprigings	So.	Saint Mary's
Kadee Sylla	Jr.	San Diego
McKinley Wilson	Sr.	Creighton