SAN MATEO, Calif. – As the season is set to kick off this weekend, the West Coast Conference officially announced the 2021 All-WCC Preseason Poll and Team for men's and women's cross country on Thursday.
For USF, the men were picked to finish fifth in the conference as a team while the women were picked to finish third in the WCC behind defending national champion BYU and Portland. Individually, sophomore
Eve Jensen and junior
Zoe Wassell were named to the women's All-WCC Preseason Team.
Last spring, Jensen earned individual honors from the USTFCCCA as an All-Academic Athlete for 2020-21 as a kinesiology major.
Fresh off of an impressive year that saw the women make their sixth appearance as a team at the NCAA Championships, the Dons will aim to repeat their success this fall. On the men's side, USF finished sixth at the WCC championships in the spring, ending a 16-year run of top-five finishes for the program at the conference championships.
This fall, BYU was the unanimous choice to win the program's ninth West Coast Conference Men's Cross Country Championship and seventh consecutive in the annual preseason poll. As the 2019 NCAA Team Champions, the Cougars captured their sixth straight WCC title in the 2020-21 Spring Season, scoring 25 points at Craig Ranch Park in Las Vegas, led by 2020 NCAA Individual Champion Conner Mantz, who won his second straight WCC individual championship. Mantz is the first male to win back-to-back conference meets since Matt Sabo accomplished the feat for Portland in 1989-90. Entering the season, BYU checks in at No. 3 in the preseason USTFCCA national poll, with Portland following at No. 16 and Gonzaga at No. 27. Notably, the Cougars are rated second in the Mountain Region while the Pilots are fourth in the West, followed by the Bulldogs ranked fifth.
On the women's side, reigning NCAA team champion BYU was also the unanimous choice to win the program's fifth West Coast Conference Women's Cross Country Championship and fourth straight in the annual preseason poll. Last year, BYU captured the program's fifth NCAA Team Championship in the spring season while also capturing their third straight WCC title by scoring 28 points in Las Vegas. Notably, BYU enters the fall ranked No. 1 in the preseason USTFCCA national poll. Receiving votes for the initial poll, Portland (25 votes) and USF (7) also earned a spot in the first rankings of the new year. Overall, the Cougars are rated first in the Mountain Region followed by the Pilots in sixth, the Dons in seventh and Gonzaga in ninth in the West.
The 2021 WCC Cross Country Men's and Women's Championship will be held Friday, October 29 at Newhall Community Park in Concord, Calif.
The full 2021 WCC Men's Cross Country Preseason Poll and Team can be viewed below:
2021 WCC Men's Cross Country Preseason Poll
| Place |
Team |
First Place |
Points |
| 1. |
BYU |
9 |
64 |
| 2. |
Portland |
|
54 |
| 3. |
Gonzaga |
1 |
53 |
| 4. |
Santa Clara |
|
43 |
| 5. |
San Francisco |
|
36 |
| 6. |
Pepperdine |
|
24 |
| 7. |
Saint Mary's |
|
22 |
| 8. |
LMU |
|
21 |
| 9. |
San Diego |
|
7 |
| 2021 Men's Cross Country Preseason All-WCC Team |
|
| Name |
Institution |
Yr. |
|
| Casey Clinger |
BYU |
So. |
|
| Brandon Garnica |
BYU |
Jr. |
|
| Yacine Guermali |
Gonzaga |
Jr. |
|
| Jacob Klemz |
Portland |
Sr. |
|
| Zak Kirk |
Portland |
Jr. |
|
| Conner Mantz |
BYU |
Sr. |
|
| James Mwaura |
Gonzaga |
Jr. |
|
| Evert Silva |
Portland |
Jr. |
|
| Will Smith |
Gonzaga |
So. |
|
| Aidan Troutner |
BYU |
So. |
|
The full 2021 WCC Women's Cross Country Preseason Poll and Team can be viewed below:
2021 WCC Women's Cross Country Preseason Poll
| Place |
Team |
First Place |
Points |
| 1. |
BYU |
9 |
81 |
| 2. |
Portland |
1 |
72 |
| 3. |
San Francisco |
|
71 |
| 4. |
Gonzaga |
|
58 |
| 5. |
San Diego |
|
43 |
| 6. |
Santa Clara |
|
40 |
| 7. |
Saint Mary's |
|
36 |
| 8. |
LMU |
|
23 |
| 9. |
Pacific |
|
15 |
| 10. |
Pepperdine |
|
11 |
| 2021 Women's Cross Country Preseason All-WCC Team |
| Name |
Institution |
Yr. |
| Anna Camp-Bennett |
BYU |
Sr. |
| Aubrey Frentheway |
BYU |
Jr. |
| Kristen Garcia |
Gonzaga |
Jr. |
| Lauren Haas |
Gonzaga |
Jr. |
| Eve Jensen |
San Francisco |
So. |
| McKenna Lee Hansen |
BYU |
Sr. |
| Anna Martin |
BYU |
So. |
| Sarah Musselman |
BYU |
Sr. |
| Whittni Orton |
BYU |
Sr. |
| Anna Pataki |
Portland |
Sr. |
| Zoe Wassell |
San Francisco |
Sr. |
For more information on the USF men's and women's cross country programs, be sure to follow @donsxctf on Twitter, @donsxctf on Instagram and @donsxctf on Facebook.
