NEW ORLEANS — A strong showing at last week's West Coast Conference championship boosted the University of San Francisco women's cross country team in the USTFCCCA national rankings, as the Dons rose four spots to No. 26 in this week's national poll.
 
San Francisco has performed impressively in both of its meets this winter. The Dons opened its cross country slate in early February at the Oregon Cross Country Open. There, USF beat nationally ranked programs Oregon State (then-No. 21) and Oregon (then-No. 24). The Dons finished second at the meet, finishing close behind winner and conference foe, Portland.
 
USF got even stronger at the WCC Championship on Feb. 24. As a team, the Dons were running in second place for much of the middle of the race. McKenzie Yanek was the race's leader through the 2-kilometer and 3 km marks, and was still in second at the 5 km marker. She would finish fourth overall, and Eve Jensen gave USF two first-team all-WCC honorees with a ninth-place finish. The Dons were only behind nationally ranked BYU and Portland in that race.
 
"Our women's team is really trending in the right direction at the right time of year," said San Francisco interim head cross country and track & field coach Tim Riley. "Our strong conference finish against the now-No. 2 and No. 21 teams in the country should help us get back to the NCAA national championship where our team has a great opportunity to finish in the top-20."
 
The NCAA Division I Cross Country Championship Selection Show will air at 10 a.m. PST Sunday on NCAA.com.