West Coast Conference Cross Country Championships 2013

Men's WCC Preview: The best conference dual meet in the country

Oct 31, 2013 by Isaac Wood

One of the more underrated and exciting new rivalries in NCAA Cross Country is out on the West Coast between BYU and Portland. For years Portland dominated the conference, winning 31 straight conference titles before BYU broke the streak in 2011.

After ruining their beloved streak, Portland got the vengeance they wanted on BYU last year on their home turf beating BYU by one point. In a somewhat controversial ending to the race involving the timing company and the time allotted to protest results, Portland did end up the victors of the conference and the rivalry has been cemented into the history books of the West Coast Conference for good.

Just how it should be and seemingly will be for decades to come, BYU and Portland come into the conference championship ranked right next to each other in the polls fifth and sixth in the NCAA, respectively. If being the greatest dual meet that’s called a conference championship in the country is not enough to make this a fun race to be at, it is being held along the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, California. It’s a rough life.

Here’s the breakdown of the two schools.

BYU
Maybe one of the deepest teams in the country through 10, the Cougars had eight different runners come in before the 80th runner at Wisconsin two weeks ago. Tylor Thatcher is the leader of this squad and is coming off of a “poor” performance at Wisconsin where he was 22nd overall. Thatcher does not have mediocre races very often and should and will bounce back (He was 4th in 2012).

The good news for the Cougs is when Thatcher struggled, Jason Witt was outstanding. Finishing 7th at Wisco and looking as fit as ever, Witt is still trying to make up for the meltdown at Louisville he had at Nats last season.

Probably the biggest secret in the NCAA is Jon Nelson of BYU who was 27th at WIsco beating some studs like: Jannis Topfer of Illinois, Jimmy Clark of Florida, and former XC All-American from Eastern Kentucky Wade Meddles. Nelson has recently returned home from a church mission, but I had the opportunity to watch him run every workout on the track this past spring and hang right with Jared Ward and Tylor Thatcher.

Steve Flint and Curtis Carr are some of the best returning steeplers in the NCAA with 8:44 and 8:40 PRs, respectively (Carr was 4th at NCAA Outdoors this spring). Flint is having a bit of a better season so far as he has stayed healthy. There might not be a more fun person to watch kick at the end of a race than Flint—head bobbing action and all. Carr is slowly making his way back to his desired fitness level and on a good day should be somewhere in the top seven for the Cougars.

The scary news is that Tommy Gruenewald (13:54 5k) hasn’t been mentioned, along with no. 5 man from Wisconsin Spencer Gardner and 29:30 10k guy Taylor Farnsworth. With this kind of outstanding depth it will be fascinating to see who rises up to the challenge of Portland and gets it done for the Cougs.

On the Portland side, the Pilots are loaded with some very solid pieces, especially through six or seven. Scott Fauble is their usual no. 1 runner and has loads of ability. Fauble was second in the conference meet last year and is coming off a very solid race at Wisco where he finished 15th overall. Fauble has good range and is always in the thick of things up front and will be counted upon as the low-stick for Portland in Malibu this weekend.

Another trio of runners from Colorado follow him as David Perry, William Kincaid, and Oklahoma transfer Ryan Poland are all top-10 conference quality athletes. Perry has been very good in the past and generally runs well for Portland at the conference meet. Kincaid had his coming out party at the West Coast Conference Meet last year where he finished 3rd and was a huge reason behind Portland’s upset win over BYU.

Poland coming over from Oklahoma was a huge pick up for the Pilots and he will play a vital role in Portland’s chances this weekend of winning the meet. Poland was 89th at NCAAs last season where he would have been the Pilots’ no. 3. If Portland can pack it up with the “Colorado Quartet” they could get four in before BYU’s three, on the right day.

The wildcards for Portland lie in a few foreigners and a relatively unknown Charlie McDonald. William Krebs is a low 29 10k guy from Germany who could be a factor (though hasn't been much of one this season) and Josh Gorecki from the U.K. is an 8:10 3k type who also, if healthy, can be looked upon as another athlete who could step up. McDonald was 18th for Portland in 2012 and should improve upon that finish this year.

In the end there are a few schools who do have some solid athletes that individually will be displacing few of the Portland and BYU guys from the top-10. Weston Strum of Loyola Marymount is very talented and has had a solid season this year. Strum has run 3:46, 8:10 and 13:57 and should be in the running for a top-5 finish.

Rajpaul Pannu of St. Mary’s (CA) is another quality talent who fell early on in the race in 2012 and will be moving around a few of the Pilots and Cougars this weekend as well. Pannu earlier this year won the Sacramento State NCAA Regional preview meet beating some talented athletes from schools like UCLA and Cal Poly. San Francisco’s top talent Eric Causey has been a surprise for the Dons since his debut year last season and could also be in the mix.

Prediction

Team
1. BYU

2. Portland

3. LMU

4. Gonzaga

5. USF

Individual

1. Tylor Thatcher

2. Scott Fauble

3. Jason Witt

4. Jon Nelson

5. William Kincaid