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Oct. 28, 2005

SPOKANE, Wash.- Gonzaga University's men's and women's cross country teams will compete at the West Coast Conference Championship on Saturday at 9 a.m. at Crystal Springs Course in Belmont, Calif.

The Bulldog men will try to duplicate their runner-up finish of a year ago in a race that is all but conceded to the University of Portland ever year. The Pilots have won 26 straight WCC titles. Gonzaga finished second last year for the 11th time, the Bulldogs putting together a string of nine straight runner-up finished from 1987-95.

Junior Joe Miller was third a year ago and has the only non-Pilot top 10 time for 8K in the conference this season, his 24:35.0 at the Sundodger Invitational in Seattle tied for the ninth best 8K time this season. Miller finished second two weeks ago at the Eastern Washington University Invitational after missing the previous meet with a leg injury.

Senior Jeff Johnson, junior Gabe Hayden, sophomore Ken Santman and freshmen Colby Litzenberger and Brian Kramer round out the Gonzaga squad. Sophomore Baraka Poulin has been sidelined since late September with a stress fracture and senior Eric Mendoza is redshirting this season.

On the women's side, the Bulldogs return their top three WCC finishers from last year's third-place team. Senior Jill Semenza was sixth in 18:27 over the 5K layout a year ago, with sophomore Kara Rasmussen (21st) and senior Emily Buck (22nd) looking to improve their finish from a year ago. Seniors Jamie Schiel and Allison Mahan, junior Nellie Ballou and sophomore Lindsay Hallvik round out the women's squad. Ballou, Schiel and Hallvik all have WCC Championship experience.

The Bulldog women captured the team title in 1995 and Cheska Fairbanks is the lone Bulldog to capture an individual title by taking the 1996 crown in a WCC record 17:26.

Gonzaga head coach Kevin Swaim, a four-time West Coast Conference Coach of the Year now in his 11th season, doesn't know what to expect from his team.

"I don't think either team has really reached its peak this year," Swaim said. "Injuries have played havoc with our lineup every race since the end of September. It will be good to have a full women's team, and, with the exception of Baraka who raced in just the season opener, our men's team will be intact. If we get strong outings from Joe and Jill, and get solid races from the rest of the team I think we can surprise some people."

The Bulldog men will be seeking a third straight NCAA West Regional appearance, while the women will be in search of their first regional trip since 2000. The West Regional will be Nov. 12 in Palo Alto, Calif.