Cougars take second at WCC Championships, lose tiebreaker to Gonzaga

SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. – The Cougars fell to the Bulldogs in a dramatic tiebreaker Saturday at the West Coast Conference championship cross country meet.

Two weeks of illness and injury marred BYU Saturday, but they impressively managed to still place well, tying in the raw score with Gonzaga. Most notably, Natalie Shields-Connolly, BYU’s top runner for most of the season, has been dealing with a sprained ankle and only trained with the team once this week. Others have also been feeling unwell.

“It was not our best race of the year, but it was our best race today,” said BYU head coach Patrick Shane. “Everybody did their best today and we couldn’t have done any more than we did. They all gave it everything they had. Today just wasn’t our day.”

Gonzaga standouts Shelby Mills, Jessica Mildes and Jordan Thurston finished first, third and seventh, respectively, ahead of BYU’s leader, Jennica Redd. Redd’s ninth place finish led a consecutive pack of four Cougars, including Alice Jensen (10th), Shields-Connolly (11th) and Yesenia Silva (12th). The two teams ended up finishing with 59 points apiece, forcing a tiebreaker to determine the winner. It went to the Zags.

The tiebreaker was determined based on which team had three runners cross the line first, giving the Bulldogs the advantage and the title.

“I want to congratulate Gonzaga and Pat, their coach,” Shane said. “They picked a great time to peak – hear at home in the conference championship. They showed some great, great cross country racing.”

BYU had its virtues as well. Redd had a solid race, placing first for the team, and Jensen, who won the preconference meet in Spokane this September, took 10th overall as a true, walk-on freshman. 

“I’m a little bummed we didn’t win the championship, but my team did great and it was fun,” Jensen said. “If we can just stick together at region, it will be awesome.”

Based on today's results, both Redd and Jensen earned first team All-WCC honors. Kelsey Braithwaite and Shields-Connolly were named to the WCC All-Academic team, with Carrie Jube and Redd receiving All-Academic honorable mentions.

For complete results, visit the BYU women’s cross country schedule page.