SAN MATEO, Calif.--- The Pilots women's cross country team, who is currently receiving votes in the national rankings, has been picked to finish second for the third year in a row in the 2021 West Coast Conference Preseason Coaches Poll, only behind No. 1 BYU. Portland All-American Anna Pataki was the individual champion at last year's WCC Championships, and the Portland women finished second only to the Cougars in Stillwater, Okla. Pataki was also named to the All-WCC Preseason Team as Portland's lone representative.
 
Defending NCAA title holders BYU was the unanimous choice to win the program's fifth West Coast Conference Women's Cross Country Championship and fourth straight in the annual preseason poll. The Cougars earned a perfect preseason score with 81 points, including the maximum nine first-place votes, and placed six on the preseason All-WCC squad.
 
Portland placed second in the poll with 72 points—including the remaining first-place vote—narrowly edging (RV) San Francisco in third place with 71 points. The Pilots are coming off of their third program appearance at the NCAA Championships during the 2020-21 season, where they finished 22nd in the team scores.
 
Gonzaga was picked fourth with 58 points, followed by San Diego in fifth with 43 points. Santa Clara was nabbed sixth with 40 points in the survey.
 
Loyola Marymount (23), Pacific (15), and Pepperdine (11) rounded out spots eight through 10.
 
The preseason poll and the All-WCC team were selected solely by a vote of the conference's 10 head coaches. Coaches cannot vote for their own teams and student-athletes.
 
The 2021 Men's and Women's WCC Cross Country Championships will be held Friday, October 29 at Newhall Community Park in Concord, Calif.
 
The Pilots cross country squads will both compete later this week on Friday, September 3, at the PSU Rust Buster held at Westmoreland Park. The men's 6K is set to begin at 2:00 p.m., and the women's 4K is scheduled to follow at 2:30 p.m.
 
2021 WCC Women's Cross Country Preseason Poll
Team (First Place)      Points
1. BYU (9)                    81
2. Portland (1)             72
3. San Francisco          71
4. Gonzaga                  58
5. San Diego                43
6. Santa Clara              40
7. Saint Mary's             36
8. LMU                         23
9. Pacific                      15
10. Pepperdine            11
 
2021 Women's Cross Country Preseason All-WCC Team
Name                                      Institution                   Yr.
Anna Camp-Bennett               BYU                             Sr.
Aubrey Frentheway                 BYU                             Jr.
Kristen Garcia                         Gonzaga                      Jr.
Lauren Haas                           Gonzaga                      Jr.
Eve Jensen                            San Francisco              So.
McKenna Lee Hansen            BYU                             Sr.
Anna Martin                            BYU                             So.
Sarah Musselman                   BYU                             Sr.
Whittni Orton                           BYU                             Sr.
Anna Pataki                           Portland                      Sr.
Zoe Wassell                            San Francisco              Sr.