Dons prepare for WCC Championship

Saturday, November 1

Baylands Park; Sunnyvale, Calif.

10:00 a.m.

University of San Francisco

WCC Championships

Jose Madera, left, and Eric Causey are likely to be among the top finishers at the WCC Championships.

Photo by: Max Simpson

10/29/2014 10:55:00 AM | Cross Country

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On Saturday, two Dons will approach the starting line with the potential to capture the first individual men's West Coast Conference title for USF since 2007.

Junior Eric Causey and senior Jose Madera have consistently placed in the top-5 this season, and both runners hope to continue that run at the WCC Championships at Baylands Park in Sunnyvale.

"Having two individuals in Jose and Eric who are capable of running with pretty much anyone in the field, that's a nice position to be in," says head coach Helen Lehman-Winters. "It'll be nice to have them going at it together."

Last season, Causey finished runner up in this race with a season-best 8,000-meter time of 23:14. In 2010, Madera came in runner up as a freshman, finishing just two seconds behind the winner.

This season, both runners have been on a tear.

At the WCC Preview in September, Madera's first race of the season, he finished fourth. He followed that performance by placing third at the Stanford Invitational, then placed fifth two weeks ago at Pre-Nationals in Indiana. He was also awarded WCC cross country player of the month in September.

Causey, this season, has placed fourth at the Stanford Invitational and third at Pre-Nationals. Both runners could deliver a winning performance on Saturday, says Lehman-Winters.

But placing high as a team will require solid races from the Dons' supporting cast.

Senior Jarrett Moore has almost consistently been one of USF's top-four runners throughout the season.

Another upperclassman racing on Saturday is junior Nick Hicks, who competed in the WCC Championships as a freshman and sophomore and ran his first race of the season on Oct. 18 at Pre-Nationals, where he finished 83rd.

"We have a lot more experience on the men's side than we do on the women's side," Lehman-Winters says. "We're stronger now. We have guys who have run that course multiple times. It's nice to have the familiarity."

The Dons also expect contributions from freshmen Mohamed Aziz and Quentin Pultzer.

Aziz was the Dons third-highest finisher at Pre-Nationals and the fourth-highest finisher at the Stanford Invitational.

"(Aziz and Pultzer) have done a really good job for freshmen, particularly (Aziz)," Lehman-Winters says. "He's been a pleasant surprise. He's demonstrated the last couple of meets that he's a legitimate top-5 guy for us."

It's likely Portland and BYU will battle for the top spot on Saturday. In the USTFCCCA top-30 poll, Portland is ranked eighth while BYU is ranked 19th. Lehman-Winters says her team is looking forward to trying to join those two teams in the top three.

"Clearly, there is a two team race up front with BYU and Portland," she says. "Then there are a handful of other schools, including us, who will vie for that third spot. In this conference, with Portland and BYU being two of the top teams in the country, obviously that third spot means something, so we're excited about the challenge before us."