PORTLAND, Ore. -- Competing against the top competition from across the conference, the USF Dons men's and women's cross country programs each put together strong performances at the 2022 West Coast Conference Championships at Newhall Community Park on a rainy Friday morning. 

Competing under the wet, rainy conditions that added an additional hurdle for every competitor, the Dons were able to persevere and excel as the women's program came in second overall place as a team racing in the 6,000 meter run and the men finished sixth overall in the 8,000 meter run. 

Leading the way for USF was a tremendous performance from Ruby Smee as she clocked in with a 19:51.1 time in the 6,000 meter run while five other Dons were able to place in the top 20 to propel USF to a second place finish. For the Dons' men's program, Ed Buck had another strong race as he placed 21st overall with a time of 22:53.7 in the 8,000 meter run. 

Following Smee's tremendous performance in Portland, the WCC named her to the All-WCC Cross Country First Team for the second consecutive year. 

RESULTS:
Women's 6,000 Meter Run:
3. Ruby Smee 19:51.1
14. Zoe Wassell 20:40.6
15. Grace Copeland 20:45.5
16. Baneet Bains 20:46.9
18. Abby Pradere 20:53.2
26. Sophie Soefeldt 21:14.0
35. Kalii Caldwell 21:50.1
41. Julia Morales 21:55.5
49. Kira Gupta Baltazar 22:19.1
2nd Place
Team score: 65

Men's 8,000 Meter Run:
21. Ed Buck 22:53.7
52. Daniel Abramowicz 24:28.1
53. Ben Preddy 24:30.5
61. Marshall Bush 24:41.8
62. Hiruy Alemseged 24:49.9
66. Danny Skovron 25:09.6
70. Joe Skovron 25:17.3
75. Caleb Haugland 25:31.9
6th Place
Team score: 204

CATCHING UP WITH COACH RILEY:
"I'm really happy with our women's team's performance today. We wanted to race for the win and each Don showed so much grit and determination towards that goal. This is a very mature group that knows what it takes. We will celebrate this one but I can't wait for their next opportunity to toe the line. Grit was on full display on the men's side as well with some sickness and a couple niggles that called for a less aggressive race plan. I'm thankful we have a couple of weeks to get ready for regionals." 

UP NEXT:
The Dons are now preparing to compete at the NCAA West Regionals on Friday, Nov. 11 from Seattle. At last season's regional championships the USF women came in sixth place overall, while the Dons' men finished in 21st place as a team. 

FOLLOW US:
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.

SPONSOR THE DONS:
The University of San Francisco Athletics Department would like to acknowledge and thank our primary sponsor - Provident Credit Union - for their continued support of USF Athletics. Interested in sponsoring the Dons? Please contact Frank Allocco, the Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director of External Relations, at fallocco@usfca.edu or at (415) 422-4561.