Event: Big West Conference Championships
Where: UCR Agricultural Operations Course – Riverside, Calif.
When: Saturday at 8:30 a.m.
Who to watch: Two weeks ago, Krista Dreschsler placed 85th at the NCAA Pre-Nationals in Indiana, finishing third for the Aggies.
The freshman is one of only four Aggie women to have scored in every meet she’s raced in this season.
Did you know? No UC Davis team has won a Big West Conference championship. That may very well change this Saturday, as the Aggies are the top-ranked squad in the Big West.
In addition to their fifth-place regional ranking, the women are one of five teams in the “others receiving votes” portion of the national coaches poll.
Preview: The women have been running great all season, taking second at both the Stanford and Sundodger Invitationals. Most recently, the Aggies placed a solid 12th in the NCAA Pre-Nationals “white” race.
And now people are taking note.
“We are probably the favorite by any stretch,” said head coach Drew Wartenburg. “If things go our way, we should be able to contend for the conference title.”
But the Aggies can’t count anyone out.
“We will be running at UC Riverside’s home course,” said senior Kaitlin Gregg, “so they will certainly have the home crowd advantage. But we bring a lot of energy and confidence that I think will serve us well.”
Individually, expect Gregg and senior Kim Conley, last week’s co-Big West Conference Athlete of the Week, to be battling it out up front.
“We are setting our sights high,” Gregg said. “Our workouts have gone well this week and everyone is looking really sharp. I’m excited to race.”
– Alex Wolf-Root
