Thursday, September 3
Mission Club Golf Course / Lompoc CA
6:10 PM
Saint Mary's College of California
vs
UCSB Gaucho Invitational
Photo by: Kellen Steplight/SMC Athletics
WXC | Gaels Head to SoCal for UCSB Gaucho Invitational to Open 2026 Campaign
9/1/2026 2:00:00 PM | Women's Cross Country
MORAGA, Calif. — The Saint Mary's women's cross country team is set for its first race of the 2026 season at the UCSB Gaucho Invitational this Thursday, September 3rd. The Gaels were picked to finish 4th in the preseason poll, and look poised for a record-setting 2026 campaign with the WCC up for the taking and top three finishers from a year ago, Washington State, Gonzaga, and Oregon State, departing.
The Gaels are coming off a 2025 season in which they finished seventh in the WCC and 33rd in the West Region. Leading the charge at the WCC Championships in 2025 were three outstanding freshmen, with Courtney Fitzgibbon finishing 43rd, Zoe Leach finishing 50th, and Maya Crimin right behind in 51st. Fitzgibbon, a New Zealand native and one of five international student-athletes on the squad, also led the way for the Gaels at the NCAA West Regionals a season ago, finishing 123rd overall. Leach was also the runner-up for the Gaels that day, finishing 149th overall in a field where the Gaels finished in 33rd place.
The Gaels will send nine athletes to Mission Club Golf Course in Lompoc, CA, including seven returners and two newcomers. Senior transfer and Czechia international Lily Bell will make her Gael debut after transferring from Tulane University, while freshman and Chandler, Arizona native Audrey O'Connor will make her collegiate debut for Saint Mary's. Also running this weekend will be Courtney Fitzgibbon, Zoe Leach, Maya Crimin, Ava Luczkow, Eleanor Jepsen, Jane Harrig, and Jane Carney.
The Mission Club Golf Course is a 1900m loop composed of all grass, and is a relatively flat course with one hill leading up at the start of the loop of hole 10. The women's race will feature three laps around this course for the standard D1 duration of 6 kilometers. This will be the first-ever race at the Gaucho Invitational for the Gaels, with head coach Marty Kinsey entering his 16th season at the helm of Gaels women's cross country. Kinsey, the 2023 WCC Coach of the Year, continues to develop this Gaels program that is in line for a record-breaking season in 2026.
#GaelsRise
The Gaels are coming off a 2025 season in which they finished seventh in the WCC and 33rd in the West Region. Leading the charge at the WCC Championships in 2025 were three outstanding freshmen, with Courtney Fitzgibbon finishing 43rd, Zoe Leach finishing 50th, and Maya Crimin right behind in 51st. Fitzgibbon, a New Zealand native and one of five international student-athletes on the squad, also led the way for the Gaels at the NCAA West Regionals a season ago, finishing 123rd overall. Leach was also the runner-up for the Gaels that day, finishing 149th overall in a field where the Gaels finished in 33rd place.
The Gaels will send nine athletes to Mission Club Golf Course in Lompoc, CA, including seven returners and two newcomers. Senior transfer and Czechia international Lily Bell will make her Gael debut after transferring from Tulane University, while freshman and Chandler, Arizona native Audrey O'Connor will make her collegiate debut for Saint Mary's. Also running this weekend will be Courtney Fitzgibbon, Zoe Leach, Maya Crimin, Ava Luczkow, Eleanor Jepsen, Jane Harrig, and Jane Carney.
The Mission Club Golf Course is a 1900m loop composed of all grass, and is a relatively flat course with one hill leading up at the start of the loop of hole 10. The women's race will feature three laps around this course for the standard D1 duration of 6 kilometers. This will be the first-ever race at the Gaucho Invitational for the Gaels, with head coach Marty Kinsey entering his 16th season at the helm of Gaels women's cross country. Kinsey, the 2023 WCC Coach of the Year, continues to develop this Gaels program that is in line for a record-breaking season in 2026.
#GaelsRise
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
Monday, August 31
Monday, August 31
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Sunday, August 30
