Mantz is first male athlete since 1989-90 to secure back-to-back conference titles, with men’s lineup capturing sixth straight championship; Pataki is Pilots’ first women’s winner since 2016, with Cougars taking third in a row

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

NORTH LAS VEGAS – The West Coast Conference Cross Country Championships offered something old, something new, a venue that was borrowed and plenty of blue Wednesday, in the form of both Brigham Young teams repeating as champions.

The old was Portland crowning its first women’s individual champion since 2016 with junior Anna Pataki capturing the crown on the 6-kilometer course in 19 minutes, 56 seconds, along with BYU junior Conner Mantz becoming the first male athlete to defend his title since 1989-90 and only the fourth in conference history, winning the 8-kilometer race in 22:54.4.

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The new was Gonzaga finishing ahead of 34-time conference winner Portland for the first time in program history, producing its best performance since 2004 with a second-place finish with 51 points.

The venue borrowed was Craig Ranch Regional Park, also the site of the Mountain West Conference final March 5, as well as the location for the Feb. 1 and 19 meets hosted by UNLV, marking the first time the West Coast Conference had ever held its championship meet in Las Vegas.

And the wave of blue was BYU placing five scorers in the top nine in the men’s competition and five among the first 11 finishers in the women’s race, as both teams had nine athletes in the top 20 to continue their respective streaks.

Mantz led the men’s team to its sixth consecutive championship with 25 points, after runner-up Aubrey Frentheway (20:04.4) and third-place finisher Anna Camp-Bennett (20:12.7) guided the women’s lineup to its third straight title by a 28-49 margin over Portland.

But the most inspiring story of the meet was the breakthrough effort of Gonzaga, which was the last men’s team left out of the 2019 NCAA Division 1 Championships following a sixth-place finish at the West Regional meet in Colfax, Wash.

Led by juniors James Mwaura (23:02.9) and Yacine Guermali (23:07.5) finishing second and fourth, respectively, in addition to breaking up the impressive BYU trio of Mantz, Casey Clinger (23:05.9) and Brandon Garnica (23:25.8) – the first teammates in NCAA history to all run under 13:30 in the same indoor 5,000-meter race Feb. 12 at the Dempsey facility in Seattle – the Bulldogs placed five scorers in the top 20 to secure their 12th runner-up performance in 41 all-time appearances at the conference final.

But the contributions of freshmen Wil Smith (23:46.7) and Evan Bates (24:14.3), along with senior Peter Hogan (23:54.3) helped Gonzaga offset Portland also placing five scorers in the top 20 – led by junior Evert Silva finishing sixth in 23:27.8 – and ensured the Pilots would place third with 62 points. It marked the first time since 1976 and only the second in conference history that Portland would not finish among the top two teams at the championship meet.

Mantz, Clinger and Garnica were supported by Boise State transfer Elijah Armstrong finishing seventh in 23:29.9, Aidan Troutner earning freshman of the year honors by placing ninth in 23:43.4, followed by senior Ethan Cannon taking 10th in 23:44.5.

Santa Clara senior Jack Davidson earned eighth in 23:37.7, the only athlete not representing BYU, Gonzaga or Portland to finish in the top 20, leading the Broncos to a fourth-place effort with 108 points.

Even with BYU occupying nearly half of the women’s top 20, there was more balance among the schools represented, including runner-up Portland having five scorers, with senior Victoria Weir (20:32.9) and junior Stella Gillman (20:42.5) finishing sixth and eighth, respectively, in support of the Hungarian standout Pataki, who moved up 10 spots from the 2019 final to become the first women’s champion for the Pilots since Lauren LaRocco five years ago.

San Francisco’s McKenzie Yanek, who placed in the top 15 for Alabama at the 2017 Southeastern Conference Championships, was the leader through the first half of the women’s race, before finishing fourth in 20:18.9. Sophomore Eve Jensen (20:42.9) placed ninth for the Dons, who were third overall for the third year in a row with 68 points, following their 2017 championship under the guidance of coach Helen Lehman-Winters, now at Oregon.

Gianna Sbarbaro, a sophomore at San Diego, finished 10th in 20:43.8, improving from 54th overall at the 2019 final in Van Nuys, Calif. Sbarbaro, who led the Toreros to a fifth-place finish with 178 points, became the first female athlete to place in the top 10 at the conference final for San Diego in more than a decade.

Frentheway, who was eighth at the 2018 championship meet, and Camp-Bennett – seventh at the 2019 final – were supported by senior Sara Musselman (20:28.1) and junior McKenna Lee (20:41.1) placing fifth and seventh, respectively. Musselman improved from ninth in 2019 and Lee was making her conference finals debut.

Sophomore Haley Johnston (20:48.6) was the fifth scorer for BYU, placing 11th overall, with Anna Martin earning freshman of the year honors for the Cougars by finishing 13th in 20:54.