Westlake, Gallegos & Gao Lead USC At Pac-12 Cross Country Championships

Newcomers Lucy Westlake, Ashlee Gallegos and Vienna Gao led the Trojans at the 2022 Pac-12 Cross Country Championships held on the Ag Ops Course in Riverside, Calif. today (Oct. 28).  Three of USC's finishing runners posted personal best on the 6K course and the Trojans placed 12th with 379.

"Lucy ran very strong, ran very smart and followed the plan I was looking for.  This is more of her element, she is an upper distance runner and she did well," said USC Associate Head Coach of Cross Country Jebreh Harris.  "Vienna as well.  She ran strong and is committed to the process and this whole season has been progressing."

"You can't control the uncontrollables…people getting sick, injuries," added Harris.  "They gained some experience, Maya twisted an ankle and didn't finish the race, she's an athlete that made regionals last year. Two other runners who qualified to regionals last year, did not race today due to injuries. The athletes that were out there today stepped up because other teammates were not able to come out and compete."

The freshman Westlake led USC and finished 78th overall with a PR of 21:37.8. Westlake led the Trojans in all three cross country races she competed in this season. Fellow freshman Gallegos was USC's second finisher, posting a time of 22:43.7 to place 92nd. Gallegos led the Trojans at the Bronco Invitational.

Sophomore Vienna Gao, who earned her way onto the team through a tryout before the season, continues to improve in each race and posted a personal-best 6K time of 22:56.9. She was third among the Trojans and 97th overall.

Senior Janiah Brown was USC's fourth finisher (101st overall) with a time of 23:32.8 and senior Brooke Rodi was USC's fifth and final scoring runner with a PR of 23:53.3 (102nd overall).

Redshirt freshman Jacqueline Duarte had a time of 24:36.9 to finish 103rd and sophomore Giovanna Pisano had a time of 25:18.8 to place 104th.  Sophomore Maya Lacamp twisted her left ankle and did not finish the race.

Former USC cross country runners Shannon Clark (USC 1990), Amy Goodwin (USC 1992), Rose Supangan Moe (USC 1997), Amber Gore (USC 2019) and Chloe Berry (USC 2020) were honored with Pac-12 Title IX recognition plaques and presented the Pac-12 Championships awards following the races.   

Colorado and Utah tied in points in the women's race, but the Buffaloes won the team title via a tie-breaker. Final standings in the women's race were:  1.) Colorado (66), 2.) Utah (66), 3.) Oregon (86), 4.) Stanford (93), 5.) Washington (94), 6.) Oregon State (152), 7.) Washington State (160), 8.) UCLA ( 214), 9.) Arizona (256), 10.) California (311), 11.) Arizona State (314) and 12.) USC (379). Stanford won the men's team title by claiming five of the top seven positions.