A majority of talent returns from one of the more dominating women's cross country squads in Big West history, and all eight head coaches concur that UC Santa Barbara is the favorite to capture the 2005 championship. The Gauchos earned all eight first place votes for 64 points and begin their quest for a third straight Big West title this weekend.

The Gauchos had three of the top four runners and four total in the top 10 at the 2004 Big West Championships. The senior sister tandem of Lauren Christman and Lindsay Christman highlight and enormously loaded Gaucho squad, which finished No. 17 in the nation in the final FinishLynx poll last year. Lauren Christman, the 2004 Big West Athlete of the Year, won the individual title at the conference meet and led the team's efforts at the West Regional and NCAA Championship. Lindsay Christman finished three and a half seconds behind her sibling for second place. A third senior, Stephanie Rothstein, won the 2003 individual title at the conference meet en route to Athlete of the Year honors. Rothstein finished in the fourth spot in 2004.

Cal Poly did not have a runner end up in the top 10 at the 2004 Big West meet, but finished a solid fourth. The Mustangs are picked to finish second this year as they received 50 points. Long Beach State was tabbed third with 48 points and UC Irvine's 44 points was good enough for fourth.

The 2005 predictions also placed Cal State Fullerton in fifth place with 30 points. Cal State Northridge (22 points), UC Riverside (19) and Pacific (11) rounded out the poll.

2005 BIG WEST WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY PRESEASON POLL RESULTS
1	UC Santa Barbara (8)	64
2	Cal Poly	50
3	Long Beach State	48
4	UC Irvine	44
5	Cal State Fullerton	30
6	Cal State Northridge	22
7	UC Riverside	19
8	Pacific	11
( ) First-place votes