WCC schools sweep NCAA West region cross country titles

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

SEATTLE -- West Coast Conference teams, the University of San Francisco women and the University of Portland men, won NCAA West Regional titles on a picture-perfect fall day at Jefferson Park Golf Course. 

The improbable WCC sweep features two teams looking to carry momentum into next weekend's NCAA Cross Country Championships in Louisville, Ky. and be on a short list of contenders.

RESULTS | INTERVIEWS | PHOTOS

In a 6-kilometer duel between a pair of NCAA track champions, USF's Charlotte Taylor kicked away from Boise State's Allie Ostrander over the final 300 meters to win in 19:14.2.Ostrander was two seconds back. 

The Dons also had Weronika Pyzik in fourth and Isabelle Brauer seventh and finished with 59 points. Stanford scored 76 points to claim the second automatic berth and defending NCAA champion Oregon was third with 92.

Frenchman Emmanuel Roudolff-Levisse led a 1-2-4 finish for the Pilots, who won the regional crown for the first time since 1993.

Portland at the mid-point had 34 points but finished with 63 and nosed out Washington by two points.

"You never know how a guy is going to transition when he comes over," UP coach Rob Conner said of Roudolff-Levisse. "If you get lucky they transition smoothly."

Roudolff-Levisse ran with Washington State's Michael Williams through 6,000 meters before pulling away to win the 10K race in 29:33.1. Teammates Jeff Thies and Nick Hauger were second and fourth, respectively. 

For Thies and Hauger, there was also a storyline of removing a lingering bad taste. Two years ago on the same course, the Pilots failed to make the NCAA field for the first time in 10 years. 

"All around it was kind of a redemption day," Thies said. "It was nice to come out and kind of back up the years of training since 2015 and show the how the program has progressed since 1993."

Roudolff-Levisse, who was third in the European U-23 10,000 meters, said the race felt like "a workout" and that he expected to run even harder next week nationals.

As many as seven teams in each gender are expected to make the NCAA cut for nationals out of the West region.

In the women's race, Boise State (104), California (183), Washington (202) and Arizona (203) are pretty good bets to make the field.

On the men's side, third-place Stanford (85), Oregon (149), UCLA (164), Boise State (168), Washington State (194) and San Francisco (205) are in contention for berths at the national championships.

At-large berth announcements are due to happen Saturday at 3 p.m. Eastern/Noon Pacific.

San Francisco's regional title was the first in program history but it was not unexpected. Taylor, the NCAA 10,000-meter champion, leads a team that has qualified five times in the past seven years. But in gaining its first automatic berth, and becoming the first non-Pac-12 team to win the regional title, the benchmark has inched higher.

"We came in feeling pretty confident that we could grab one of the automatic spots," USF coach Helen Lehman-Winters said. "Obviously it's exciting, but we have a lot more work to do next week."

Washington's men performed well on home turf, putting three in the top 10 -- Colby Gilbert (fifth), Andrew Gardner (seventh) and Andy Snyder (ninth). And senior Amy-Eloise Neale ran to third to pace the UW women. 

But for one day, at least, the WCC ruled the West.

"I think it's huge and that it reaffirms the idea that you don't need Power Five money to perform well in cross country and track," Thies said.