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Gonzaga Runners Aim For WCC Titles
Oct. 26, 2001 SPOKANE, Wash. - Gonzaga University's men's and women's cross country teams turn their attention to the West Coast Conference Championship Saturday at Crystal Springs Course in Belmont, Calif. The Gonzaga men will try to dethrone the University of Portland, seeking its 23rd consecutive team title. The Pilots' stronghold has also seen them win the individual title each of the past 22 seasons, including eight sweeps. The Gonzaga women, champions in 1995, are also chasing Portland, winners of the last five team titles. The Bulldogs have one individual champion in their 14 years of WCC competition, Cheska Fairbanks leading the Bulldogs to the '95 title. Both Gonzaga teams have just two veterans from last year's WCC meet. On the women's side, sophomore Becka Hardy was 16th last year in 20:01 over the 5K course in helping the Bulldogs to a runner-up finish with 40 points. Sophomore Carrie Gibson was 28th a year ago. But gone are five Bulldogs who finished in the top 12. The Bulldog men return junior Mark Bridenstine, 24th a year ago in 28:20 over the 8K course, and sophomore Jeremy Miller-Slocum, 36th in 29:18. The Bulldog men finished fifth a year ago. Gonzaga had a 9-year string of team runner-up finishes from 1987-95, and the Bulldogs have finished third twice in the last five years. Rounding out the women's squad Saturday will be junior Jennifer Holstein, sophomore Christi Urann, and freshmen Marissa Hood, Jessica Hermens and Christina Paal. Competing for the men will be sophomore Sam Burch, and freshmen Ryan Anderson, Eric Berge, Dan Futrell and Joe Manning.
"We have a couple of young squads," sixth-year head coach Kevin Swaim said. "I think a top four finish is realistic for both teams. I look for Becka (Hardy) and Mark (Bridenstine) to have strong races. Then it's just a matter of where everybody else falls. Although our team scores don't reflect improvement, our times have improved as the season has progressed. With the exception of Portland, I think this will be a very wide open WCC meet among the other teams."
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