CHAMPIONSHIPS CENTRAL | RESULTS: MEN, WOMEN

SPRINGFIELD, Ore. – Junior individual champion Dani Jones led the No. 3 COLORADO women to their third consecutive team title, while junior Grant Fisher powered the No. 6 STANFORD men past six-time defending champion CU in front of 2,175 fans at the 2017 Pac-12 Cross Country Championships at Springfield Golf Club on Friday.

In the six-kilometer women’s race, Jones (18:57.3) crossed just ahead of OREGON’s Katie Rainsberger (18:58.5) and last year’s champion Amy-Eloise Neale (18:58.7) of WASHINGTON to become the first Buffaloes’ runner to capture the Pac-12 individual title. The Buffs placed two others in the top 10 – senior Kaitlyn Benner in eighth and sophomore Sage Hurta in ninth - and all five scorers inside the top 20 to cruise to the three-peat with 53 points.

Colorado, which now owns four women’s team titles since joining the Pac-12 in 2011, is the first team to capture three straight Conference women’s titles since Stanford completed its streak of 12 in 2007.

Host and No. 1 ranked OREGON and No. 14 Stanford tied at 71 points with the Ducks claiming runner-up honors based on better placement among their top-three finishers. No. 13 WASHINGTON came in fourth (128 points), No. 28 CALIFORNIA took fifth (132) and No. 27 UTAH rounded out the top half in sixth (146).

Fisher (23:44.9) unleashed a furious finishing kick to beat Colorado’s Joe Klecker (23:48.0) to the tape in the eight-kilometer men’s race to become the eighth Cardinal individual champion in the event’s 49-year history, the first since Elliott Heath in 2010.

Junior Steven Fahy and sophomore Alex Ostberg followed Fisher in third and fourth place, respectively, and the Cardinal placed all its scorers inside the top 18 to post 41 points and end No. 5 ranked Colorado’s stranglehold atop the Pac-12. Stanford now owns 13 men’s team titles all-time, second only to Oregon’s 16.

CU came in second with 47 points, paced by Klecker’s runner-up showing and top-10 finishes from junior Ryan Forsyth and freshman Eduardo Herrera. No. 14 UCLA continued its strong campaign with a third-place standing (103 points), edging No. 8 Oregon (109). No. 21 WASHINGTON (114) edged No. 20 ranked rival WASHINGTON STATE (138) in the battle for fifth.

Pac-12 teams, including its dozen nationally ranked programs, now set their sights on NCAA Regional competition on Friday, Nov. 10, with the West Regional hosted by Washington at Jefferson Park Golf Course in Seattle and Mountain Regional in Logan, Utah.

The 2017 NCAA Championships will take place in Louisville, Ky., on Saturday, Nov. 18, the Pac-12 seeking to add to its national-best total of 28 combined team crowns and 28 combined individual titles.

2017 PAC-12 CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS
SPRINGFIELD GOLF CLUB – SPRINGFIELD, ORE.
OCTOBER 27, 2017

2017 Pac-12 Cross Country Championships – Women’s 6,000m Team Results
1.     Colorado                                   1-8-9-15-20-28-31                  53
2.     Oregon                                      2-6-11-23-29-39                     71
3.     Stanford                                    4-7-16-19-25-30-36                71
4.     Washington                               3-26-27-35-37-40-42              128
5.     California                                  10-12-21-43-46-50-53            132
6.     Utah                                          5-18-34-44-45-57-58              146
7.     Arizona                                     17-24-33-52-60-72-76            186
8.     UCLA                                        22-41-47-49-62-63-68            221
9.     Arizona State                            14-48-55-56-59-64-71            232
10.   Washington State                     13-38-66-69-73-74-75            259
11.   Oregon State                             32-51-54-61-65-67-70           263
12.   USC                                          79-96-104-106                       DNP

2017 Pac-12 Cross Country Championships – Women’s 6,000m Top Finishers
1.     Dani Jones                                JR              COLO                    18:57.3
2.     Katie Rainsberger                     SO              ORE                      18:58.5
3.     Amy-Eloise Neale                     SR              WASH                   18:58.7
4.     Vanessa Fraser                         SR              STAN                    19:02.6
5.     Grayson Murphy                       SR              UTAH                    19:03.8
6.     Lilli Burdon                                SO              ORE                      19:07.8
7.     Fiona O’Keeffe                          SO              STAN                    19:08.5
8.     Kaitlyn Benner                          SR               COLO                   19:09.5
9.     Sage Hurta                                SO              COLO                   19:12.2
10.   Bethan Knights                         SR               CAL                      19:31.1

2017 Pac-12 Cross Country Championships – Men’s 8,000m Team Results
1.     Stanford                                    1-3-4-15-18-20-21                  41
2.     Colorado                                   2-7-10-12-16-31-39                47
3.     UCLA                                        6-14-23-26-34-38-40              103
4.     Oregon                                      8-22-24-25-30-32-35             109
5.     Washington                               5-11-27-29-42-44-47              114
6.     Washington State                      9-19-33-36-41-43-48             138
7.     California                                  13-17-37-45-46-53-56            158
8.     Arizona                                     28-49-50-52-55-57-62            234
9.     Arizona State                            51-54-58-59-60-61-63            282

2017 Pac-12 Cross Country Championships – Men’s 8,000m Top Finishers
1.     Grant Fisher                              JR              STAN                    23:44.9
2.     Joe Klecker                               SO              COLO                   23:48.0
3.     Steven Fahy                              JR              STAN                    23:51.3
4.     Alex Ostberg                              SO             STAN                    23:51.5
5.     Mahmoud Moussa                     JR              WASH                   23:52.0
6.     Robert Brandt                            JR              UCLA                    23:55.9
7.     Ryan Forsyth                             JR              COLO                    23:58.5
8.     Cooper Teare                             FR              ORE                     23:59.4
9.     Chandler Teigen                        JR              WSU                      24:02.3
10.   Eduardo Herrera                        FR              COLO                   24:02.7