MXC | Trio of Transfers Named to the Preseason All-WCC Team, as Gaels Picked to Finish Third in 2026 WCC Preseason Poll
8/27/2026 10:01:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
SAN BRUNO, Calif. — After a strong fourth place finish at last year's WCC Championship race, Saint Mary's Men's Cross Country Head Coach Harlan Lopez has been hard at work building a 2026 roster that can take the next step into the upper echelons of the West Coast Conference. His work has caught the attention of his fellow coaches around the WCC, with the Gaels tabbed to finish in third place in the preseason WCC poll, with three transfers, Dennis Cheruiyot, Damian Frausto and Joseph O'Connell named to the preseason All-WCC team. The entire preseason poll and All-WCC team can be seen below:
2026 West Coast Conference Men's Cross Country Preseason Coaches Poll
Team (first-place votes) points
1. Portland (7) 49
2. San Francisco (1) 39
3. Saint Mary's 38
4. Santa Clara 34
5. Pepperdine 24
6. Pacific 18
7. Seattle U 12
8. San Diego 10
2026 West Coast Conference Men's Cross Country Preseason Team
Daniel Abramowicz, San Francisco
Paul Beaven, Santa Clara
Dennis Cheruiyot, Saint Mary's
Leo Conil, San Francisco
Damian Frausto, Saint Mary's
Anthony Giesch, Portland
Herbie Johnson, San Francisco
Joseph O'Connell, Saint Mary's
Liam Papavasiliou, Santa Clara
Cameron Stein, Portland
Jack Tolbert, Santa Clara
Dennis Cheruiyot hails from Eldoret, Kenya, and spent last season competing for South Plains College, a junior college program in Levelland, Texas. There, Cheruiyot placed seventh in the 2025 NJCAA Region V Cross Country Championships, and 11th in the NJCAA National Championships. On the track, Cheruiyot also won a national title in 10,000m and placed third in the 5000m.
Damian Frausto transfers in from Pitt after competing for four years with the Panthers. Frausto last raced for the Panthers in the Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships, placing 40th in a field of nearly 200 runners with a 10K PR time of 30:53.4. Frausto originally hails from Durango, Colorado, and will make his way back to the western United States to round out his collegiate career.
Joseph O'Connell is from Milford, England, and becomes the second Gael of recent memory to transfer from Tulsa, the same previous stop for Gael standout and class of 2026 member Oisine Spillane. In his last cross country race before joining the Gaels, O'Connell finished 32nd in the American Athletic Conference Championships with an 8K time of 24:45.8.
Cheruiyot, Frausto and O'Connell will join a group of returning Gaels that will be led by Divan Du Plooy, as Saint Mary's looks to vie for its first WCC Cross Country title in program history.
The 2026 cross country season will kick off for the Gaels on September 4, at the USF Invitational, a race that the Gaels have opened their season with every year dating back to 2021.
#GaelsRise
2026 West Coast Conference Men's Cross Country Preseason Coaches Poll
Team (first-place votes) points
1. Portland (7) 49
2. San Francisco (1) 39
3. Saint Mary's 38
4. Santa Clara 34
5. Pepperdine 24
6. Pacific 18
7. Seattle U 12
8. San Diego 10
2026 West Coast Conference Men's Cross Country Preseason Team
Daniel Abramowicz, San Francisco
Paul Beaven, Santa Clara
Dennis Cheruiyot, Saint Mary's
Leo Conil, San Francisco
Damian Frausto, Saint Mary's
Anthony Giesch, Portland
Herbie Johnson, San Francisco
Joseph O'Connell, Saint Mary's
Liam Papavasiliou, Santa Clara
Cameron Stein, Portland
Jack Tolbert, Santa Clara
Dennis Cheruiyot hails from Eldoret, Kenya, and spent last season competing for South Plains College, a junior college program in Levelland, Texas. There, Cheruiyot placed seventh in the 2025 NJCAA Region V Cross Country Championships, and 11th in the NJCAA National Championships. On the track, Cheruiyot also won a national title in 10,000m and placed third in the 5000m.
Damian Frausto transfers in from Pitt after competing for four years with the Panthers. Frausto last raced for the Panthers in the Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships, placing 40th in a field of nearly 200 runners with a 10K PR time of 30:53.4. Frausto originally hails from Durango, Colorado, and will make his way back to the western United States to round out his collegiate career.
Joseph O'Connell is from Milford, England, and becomes the second Gael of recent memory to transfer from Tulsa, the same previous stop for Gael standout and class of 2026 member Oisine Spillane. In his last cross country race before joining the Gaels, O'Connell finished 32nd in the American Athletic Conference Championships with an 8K time of 24:45.8.
Cheruiyot, Frausto and O'Connell will join a group of returning Gaels that will be led by Divan Du Plooy, as Saint Mary's looks to vie for its first WCC Cross Country title in program history.
The 2026 cross country season will kick off for the Gaels on September 4, at the USF Invitational, a race that the Gaels have opened their season with every year dating back to 2021.
#GaelsRise
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
Sunday, August 23
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