SAN MATEO, Calif. – Four-time defending West Coast Conference champion BYU was the unanimous pick to win the program’s fifth WCC Women's Cross Country Championship in the annual preseason poll announced on Wednesday.
The preseason poll and the All-WCC team were selected solely by a vote of the conference’s 10 head coaches. Coaches cannot vote for their own teams and student-athletes.
The Cougars, currently ranked seventh nationally, earned a perfect preseason score with 81 points, including the maximum nine first-place votes, and led the way with three runners on the preseason team. Among the Cougars on the preseason team is All-American and four-time preseason honoree Aubrey Frentheway. Her teammate McKenna Lee picked up another preseason accolade after earning the recognition last fall.
No. 23 Gonzaga was picked to finish second with 71 points, while Portland came in third with 63 points, although the Pilots garnered the other first-place vote.
Other preseason team honorees who made the team last year include Eve Jensen from San Francisco and Kristen Garcia from Gonzaga.
The 2022 WCC Cross Country Men’s and Women’s Championship will be held Friday, October 28 at Fernhill Park in Portland, Ore.
2022 WCC Women’s Cross Country Preseason Poll
| Place |
Team |
First Place |
Points |
| 1. |
BYU |
9 |
81 |
| 2. |
Gonzaga |
|
71 |
| 3. |
Portland |
1 |
63 |
| 4. |
San Francisco |
|
60 |
| 5. |
Santa Clara |
|
50 |
| 6. |
Saint Mary's |
|
39 |
| 7. |
LMU |
|
29 |
| 8. |
Pepperdine |
|
23 |
| 9. |
San Diego |
|
23 |
| 10. |
Pacific |
|
11 |
| 2022 Women’s Cross Country Preseason All-WCC Team |
| Name |
Institution |
Yr. |
| Alicia Anderson |
Gonzaga |
Jr. |
| Aubrey Frentheway |
BYU |
Sr. |
| Kristen Garcia |
Gonzaga |
Sr. |
| Lexy Halladay |
BYU |
Jr. |
| Emma Jenkins |
Portland |
Sr. |
| Eve Jensen |
San Francisco |
Jr. |
| McKenna Lee |
BYU |
Gr. |
| Laura Pellicoro |
Portland |
So. |
| Ruby Smee |
San Francisco |
So. |
| Rayna Stanziano |
Saint Mary's |
Jr. |