Bulldog Cross Country Teams Picked Sixth In WCC Polls
8/26/2011 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
SAN BRUNO, Calif. - Gonzaga University men's and women's cross country teams were both picked to finished sixth in the new-look West Coast Conference this season in a preseason poll of the conferences nine coaches.
The Bulldog men received 30 points, eight behind fifth-place Loyola Marymount University. The Zag women garnered 29 points, five behind fifth-place Santa Clara University. Gonzaga's men have finished fifth each of the past two seasons, while the Gonzaga women moved up one spot to fifth in 2010.
"You look at the previous year and a lot of times base your vote on that," Gonzaga fourth-year head coach Pat Tyson said. "You don't know what recruits schools have coming in and you don't know exactly where everybody is in terms of redshirting."
But Tyson was quick to point out he made it "loud and clear" that junior Chris Boyle will redshirt this year on the men's side.
Boyle, fourth in last year's WCC Championship and a two-time Regional participant, will still be able to compete unattached during his redshirt season.
"We have young teams," Tyson said. "We just finished our cross country retreat and I was shocked to see that freshmen and sophomores make up about 90 percent of both teams. There aren't many juniors and seniors."
Tyson said the pick of BYU and Portland as 1-2 on the men's side and two-time defending champion University of San Francisco picked to edge the Cougars on the women's side is a fair assessment.
"It will be a dogfight," Tyson said of the team race.
And he thinks the Bulldogs can move up a little from the projected sixth place nod given by the coaches.
"We'll try to beat the odds and finish fifth, and I believe we can get higher than that," Tyson said. "Some alumni are telling me we have the greatest teams in school history, and we have the greatest group of freshmen assembled in school history."
If the coaches are correct, BYU will break the stranglehold the Portland men have had on the men's title, having won 32 consecutive WCC cross country titles.
2011 West Coast Conference
Men's Cross Country Preseason Poll
(First place votes in parentheses)
Team Pts.
1. BYU (6) 62
2. Portland (3) 59
3. San Francisco 50
4. Santa Clara 40
5. Loyola Marymount 38
6. Gonzaga 30
7. San Diego 19
8. Saint Mary's 17
9. Pepperdine 9
2011 West Coast Conference
Women's Cross Country Preseason Poll
(First place votes in parentheses)
Team Pts
1. San Francisco (7) 63
2. BYU (2) 57
3. Portland 49
4. Loyola Marymount 45
5. Santa Clara 34
6. Gonzaga 29
7. Pepperdine 21
8. San Diego 14
9. Saint Mary's 12
