Bulldog men open cross country season at WCC championships Wednesday...
The Bulldogs, who began the 2020-21 cross country ranked number 30, open their season with the WCC championship meet after they were forced to pause the program after two members of the team tested positive for COVID-19 before they were to compete at the Oregon XC Invitational on February 5th.
The last time Gonzaga stepped on the cross country course as a team was in November 2019, when they ran at the NCAA West Regionals in Colfax, where they finished sixth, and ultimately were one of the first teams not to earn selection into the NCAA championship meet in Terre Haute. The only consolation was that James Mwaura (photo by Paul Merca), who finished third at the regionals, was selected for the nationals as an individual, where he finished 138th.
"It's crazy to think there's been no XC racing since November 2019 — Add no outdoor track in 2020, and no indoor track in 2021," Gonzaga head coach Pat Tyson said. "Then the fall training block was hampered by smoky air and a mini COVID pause. Follow that with another mini pause in early February, and you can imagine this team is itching to get to the starting line and show their stuff."
Behind Mwaura are seniors Pete Hogan & Yacine Guermali, with Cullen McEachern and Jake Perrin rounding out the Zags' projected top five.
The Zags are projected to finish third, according to the pre-season WCC coaches' poll. Defending national champion BYU, currently ranked number one in the nation, is expected to run away with the team title, followed by number 8 Portland.
Gonzaga will have to run a strong team race Wednesday if it hopes to receive an at-large berth to the NCAA championship meet, especially with no regional meet this season, and selection to nationals solely at the discretion of the committee, with conference championship performance holding the greatest weight.
In contrast, the Gonzaga women's team, led by Claire Manley and Kristen Garcia, had one race before the WCC championship meet, finishing fourth at the Oregon XC Invitational on February 5th.
The Zags, which are also projected by the WCC coaches to finish third, kicks off championship Wednesday at 10 am, followed by the men's 8k race at 11 am.
The school's release is available here, while the WCC release is available here.
The link to live results is available here.
NOTE: The sports information office of Gonzaga University, the West Coast Conference, and the NCAA contributed to this report.
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