Highlights: USF at WCC Championships | Complete Results
 
AT A GLANCE
 
OAKLAND, Calif. – The University of San Francisco women's cross country team continued their record breaking season with a team and individual West Coast Conference Championship on Friday morning at Metropolitan Golf Links in Oakland, Calif.
 
The fourth-ranked women's side dominated the race from the off, leading in the team scoring through all three 2K loops. USF posted the second-lowest score in WCC Championship with 20 points. The gap between the Dons and second-place finishers, BYU, was 31-points, the Cougars finished the race with 51-points, followed by Loyola Marymount with 86-points. The Lions just beat out fourth-place finishers and defending champions, Portland, by just one point.
 
Six USF runners finished in the Top 10, a program best, to earn All-WCC honors. Charlotte Taylor tore through the competition, racing to an Individual WCC Championship and setting a course record with a time of 19:10.5, 20-seconds ahead of teammate Weronika Pyzik. Pyzik (19:30.2) and Isabelle Brauer (19:40.2) followed Taylor to take home second and third-place at the meet. Rounding out the All-WCC honors for the Dons were seniors Marie Bouchard (5th – 20:01.1) and Lizzie Bird (9th – 20:12.8), and junior Tatjana Schulte (10th – 20:22.4).
 
Taking 14th and earning All-WCC honorable mention was freshman Lea Meyer with a time of 20:40.9. The Dons had nine runners today, with Alena Ulrichova (27th – 21:45.9) and Valerie Almanza (28th – 21:49.2) rounding out the USF women to race.
 
LMU's Danielle Shanaham broke up the Dons' finishers, coming in fourth with a time of 19:53.6 and earning All-WCC honors. Portland's Jasmijn Lau raced to an impressive eighth-place finish, earning herself WCC Freshman of the Year.
 
QUOTES
USF head coach Helen Lehman-Winters
 
On the race plan
 
"Our plan was to go pretty hard through the first K, and for Charlotte, Weronika and Isabelle to lead that charge, and that did that. Danielle Shanahan from LMU was in there pushing the pace early. We wanted Tatjana and Lizzie, and Lea and Marie to tuck in behind the top women from BYU, Portland or whoever was going to be in there and be really tough in the first two K."
 
On winning the team WCC Championship
 
"We're happy to bring the trophy home! We've lost the [WCC] championship by a narrow margin the past three years, and we've had some of our best teams over the past few years. To bring this trophy home for us, and for these women who have been a part of those teams, was really important. We're excited to take this into the post-season."
 
On Charlotte's individual title
 
"Charlotte was very excited that we actually let her go race, and go out after it like she likes to race today. She went out pretty hard and felt great; once she gets in a good rhythm she's pretty good at holding that rhythm. So, it's really nice to have the individual and team [WCC] championship."
 
USF senior Charlotte Taylor
 
On winning the team title
 
"We really wanted to win the team title today, and it was really great to be able to pull it off. I know how hard they've [USF] been working for it, and we knew we could do it in training but to come out to do it in a race is special."
 
WHAT'S NEXT
 
The Dons will travel to Seattle's Jefferson Golf Course for the NCAA West Regionals on Nov. 10. USF, currently ranked No. 2 in the West behind Oregon, will vie for a bid to the NCAA Championships, which will take place on Nov. 18, in Louisville, Ky.
 
USF Results – 1st place (20 points)
1. Charlotte Taylor – 19:10.5*
2. Weronika Pyzik – 19:30.2*
3. Isabelle Brauer – 19:40.2*
5. Marie Bouchard – 20:01.1*
9. Lizzie Bird – 20:12.8*
10. Tatjana Schulte – 20:22.4*
14. Lea Meyer – 20:40.9**
27. Alena Ulrichova – 21:45.9
28. Valerie Almanza – 21:49.2
 
*All-WCC First Team; ** Honorable Mention