The 2006 Big West Cross Country season kicks off over the Labor Day Weekend with six schools in competition. UC Riverside will have the opening honors with a dual against UCLA in Riverside, CA Friday. The following day, Cal State Fullerton welcomes Big West foe Long Beach State and others around the nation for the Fullerton Season Opener, while Pacific's squad will head to San Francisco to compete in the USF Invitational. Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara will also be in action as they will compete in a tri-meet with Westmont.
On the women's side, UC Santa Barbara was chosen as a near-unanimous selection to take home the 2006 Big West Women’s Cross Country Championship as voted by the league’s eight head coaches. The Gauchos received seven of eight first place votes on the way to tallying 63 points for the top slot.
UCSB, whose quest for three-straight Big West titles fell short a year ago, is led by seniors Lauren Christman, Lindsay Christman and Stephanie Rothstein. Lauren Christman picked up 2004 Athlete of the Year honors and won the 2004 Big West meet, while her sister Lindsay finished just over three seconds later. Rothstein won the 2003 individual crown at the conference meet and also picked up Athlete of the Year honors. Bethany Nickless, who finished fifth at the Big West Championships in 2005, as well as sophomores Danielle Domenichelli and Liza Hitchner give the Gauchos three talented runners that finished in the top 20 a year ago at the conference championship.
UC Irvine, the defending Big West Champions, claimed second place in the poll with 53 points. The Anteaters claimed their first title since 1999 last season on the strength of a talented group of underclassmen. Sophomore Laura Olvera, the 2005 Big West Freshman of the Year, finished behind only departed teammate Amber Steen at last year’s Championship. Olvera is joined by juniors Marie Nguyen and Candice Proctor which gives UCI three runners from the Top 11 finishers.
Long Beach State, which finished third at the Big West Championship last year, is picked to finish third this season with 48 points, while Cal Poly picked up the remaining first place vote on its way to the fourth slot with 38 tallies. UC Riverside is picked fifth with 30 points, while Cal State Fullerton (28), Cal State Northridge (18) and Pacific (10) round out the poll.
For the men's teams, Cal Poly is the unanimous selection by the coaches to win its fourth-straight championship. The Mustangs captured all seven first place votes on the way to 49 points to claim the top spot in the preseason poll. Cal Poly, which finished seventh at the NCAA West Regionals in 2005, returns five of the top 11 finishers from the Big West Championship a year ago. The returnees are headlined by senior Matt Johnsrud, who finished third at the Big West Championship and earned an at-large berth to the NCAA Championships after a solid West Regional performance.
Santa Barbara was a near-unanimous second place pick after amassing 41 points. After a second-place finish at the 2005 Big West Championship, the Gauchos will look to bring home their first crown since 2001 led by the efforts of Chris Ashley and Mike Chavez.
UC Irvine, which finished fifth at the Big West Championship in 2005, checked in at third in the poll with 34 tallies, while UC Riverside claimed the fourth slot with 25 points. Rounding out the poll were Long Beach State (24), Cal State Fullerton (15) and Cal State Northridge (8).