Coaches peg BYU to win fourth consecutive WCC Championship in preseason poll

SAN BRUNO, Calif. – The BYU men’s cross country team was picked by West Coast Conference coaches to win its fourth consecutive WCC Championship, its sixth in seven years, after receiving 63 total votes and seven first place votes.

The Cougars earned a perfect score of 15 points on their way to sweeping the 2017 WCC Championships. The WCC experienced a successful postseason with BYU taking second at the Mountain Regional and Portland winning the West Regional. The two schools later shared the podium at NCAA Nationals after the Pilots and Cougars placed second and third overall, respectively.

Portland received 58 votes, including the last two first place votes, to rank second in the league’s poll. San Francisco was chosen to finish third with 47 points, just one vote ahead of fourth-place Gonzaga (46), while Santa Clara rounded out the top five with 34 votes. Loyola Marymount (29), Saint Mary’s (24), Pepperdine (15) and San Diego (8) completed the coaches poll.

After finishing the 2017 season with seven All-WCC First Team honorees, BYU led the conference with five of the 10 members of the All-WCC Men's Cross Country Preseason Team. The five Cougars are led by 2017 USTFCCCA All-American and 2017 WCC Champion Connor McMillan. Joining McMillan are fellow All-American Rory Linkletter, Daniel Carney, Clayton Young and Kramer Morton – all five earned 2017 All-WCC First Team honors.

The 2018 WCC Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Championships will take place October 27 at East Bay Golf Course in Provo, Utah.