USTFCCCA News & Notes
MEET PREVIEW: MWC Championships & WCC Championships
NEW ORLEANS — California and Idaho are going to be home to some exciting cross country action this weekend.
We already know about what’s going down in Arizona (Pac-12 Championships), but The Golden State and The Gem State will play host to the West Coast Conference Championships and Mountain West Conference Championships, respectively.
Between them, we’ll see five ranked men’s teams and five ranked women’s teams in action, including three top-10 teams in the guise of the 4th-ranked BYU men, the 7th-ranked New Mexico women and the 8th-ranked Portland women.
Follow along as we break down what will happen in Boise as well as San Diego.
West Coast Conference
If there’s such a thing as a hidden gem on this NCAA Division I conference championships weekend, it can be found in San Diego, California, on Friday. The West Coast Conference is one of only two conferences in the country that has 1) two top-12 men’s teams and 2) three top-20 women’s squads.
Things kick of Friday with the women’s race at 10 a.m. PT, featuring No. 8 Portland, No. 13 San Francisco and No. 20 BYU. A top-12 showdown between No. 4 BYU and No. 12 Portland is to follow at 11 a.m. PT.
While Gonzaga is the defending champ in the women’s race, it appears this year’s competition will come down to one of those three teams. San Francisco – winner of five of the past seven league titles – got the best of BYU at the Wisconsin Invite, with the Dons finishing sixth and the Cougars in 10th.
Portland, meanwhile, finished fourth at the Pre-National Invitational. Both the Pilots and the Cougars have big regular-season wins under their belts from Griak and Panorama Farms, respectively.
Portland and San Fran have strong frontrunners who finished top-10 at Pre-Nats or Wisconsin in Lauren LaRocco and Charlotte Taylor, respectively, while BYU runs in a tighter pack.
BYU and Portland will also battle in the men’s race, which has gone back-and-forth between the two since the Cougars joined the conference in 2011. The Cougars are the reigning champions, but Portland is eager to get back to the days where it won 32-straight WCC team crowns.
Both teams have signature wins on their schedules in 2016. For BYU, it was an upset win over defending national champ and then-No. 1 Syracuse at Virginia’s Panorama Farms Invite; for Portland, that win came in a victory at the Roy Griak Invitational.
BYU’s depth is perhaps matched only by No. 1 Northern Arizona, as the Cougars put six in the top-60 at Wisconsin to finish third in the team standings, in addition to three of the top-four finishers in the “B” race. Nicolas Montanez has been top-10 in tough fields at both Virginia and Wisconsin.
Portland finished seventh at Wisconsin, led by 24th-place Tim Ball. The Pilots had four runners in the top-60.
Racing the men from BYU and Portland for the individual title will be San Francisco’s Alex Short, who was seventh at the Pre-National Invitational.
Mountain West Conference
Women’s Race
Start Time – Friday, 12 p.m. ET
What a difference one year makes.
Around this time last year, pundits were quick to lavish praise on both New Mexico and Boise State’s freshman sensation Allie Ostrander — and justifiably so. The Lady Lobos had a juggernaut of a team and were in the midst of a dream season, while Ostrander put together one of the finest debut campaigns in NCAA XC history.
New Mexico and Ostrander both impressed in a big way at the MWC Championships. The former went 2-4-5-6-7 and scored 24 points, the lowest total in the past four years of the meet. The latter broke away early and won by nearly 16 seconds.
This year the Lady Lobos aren’t the same and it was recently announced that Ostrander would redshirt the XC season. That definitely leaves the door open for a new individual champion. But what about a new team champion? Not so fast, my friend.
Even though New Mexico doesn’t have the same firepower, Joe Franklin’s team is still dangerous. The Lady Lobos shook off a disappointing result at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational in September to finish 4th at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational. Depth continues to be an issue for New Mexico, however, as Alice Wright and Calli Thackery went 2-9, then Sophie Connor and Natasha Bernal were 40th and 63rd.
It’s hard to imagine the Ostrander-less Broncos — or Air Force, for that matter — being a threat to end the Lady Lobos’ streak of seven consecutive MWC titles. New Mexico beat Boise State 207-404 at Wisco and the Falcons finished 10th at Pre-Nats.
The Broncos should, however, get the ultimate low stick from Brenna Peloquin. She is 2 for 2 this year with wins in Wisconsin and at the Roy Griak Invitational and beat Wright — the co-individual favorite — two weeks ago.
Men’s Race
Start Time – 12:45 p.m. ET
If this year’s race is anything like last year’s, we’re in for a treat.
Air Force, Colorado State and Boise State were all separated by seven or fewer points in the final team standings. The Falcons ended New Mexico’s reign atop the MWC when they tallied 49 points to capture the team title. The Rams finished second (53) and the Broncos were three points behind them (56).
Entering this year’s installment, Colorado State, Boise State and Air Force are ranked in that order in the latest poll. The Rams are 17th, followed by Boise State in 24th and the Falcons in 28th.
All three teams are led by two strong runners up front and undone by a lack of depth behind them.
Colorado State features Jerrell Mock and Grant Fisher, who picked up where Jefferson Abbey left off last year. Boise State has Yusuke Uchikoshi and Miler Haller. Air Force is led by Andrew Johnston and Kyle Eller.
Based on recent history, the Rams seem well-stocked for a run at the crown Friday. Colorado State was 10th at the stacked Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational and if Abbey can find his mojo again, it will be a huge boost for his team.
Mock won the individual title last year and it’s tough to not think he’ll do so again. He’s run well all year and has a big win under his belt at the Roy Griak Invitational. There will be several runners making life difficult for him, namely Eller (3rd in 2015), Johnston and Uchikoshi.