UNIVERSITY PARK, Wash. – Stanford’s Ky Robinson and Oregon’s Izzy Thornton-Bott were named the 2023 Pac-12 Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Scholar-Athletes of the Year, the Conference office announced ahead of Friday’s Pac-12 Championships. The awards, which are presented in each of the 24 sports sponsored by the Pac-12, were established to honor collegiate student-athletes who are standouts both academically and in their sports discipline.

It’s the first-career Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year award for Robinson and Conference-leading eighth for the Stanford men’s cross country program. The Cardinal most recently three-peated in the award, with Grant Fisher (2018), Steven Fahy (2019), and Alek Parsons (2020) securing Scholar-Athlete acclaim. Additionally, Fisher won his second-straight individual title in 2018.

Robinson, a senior from Brisbane, Australia, is completing his degree in Management Science and Engineering and maintains a 3.56 GPA. He is two-time All-American in cross country and has improved his performance at the NCAA Meet in each of his three appearances, finishing 46th (2020/21), 14th (2021), and 10th (2022) across his career. He also boasts a trio of top-8 performances at the Pac-12 Meet, most recently finishing sixth at the 2022 Pac-12 Championships to help lead Stanford to a team title. He finished 23rd overall at the 2023 World Cross Country Championships representing Australia.

Robinson is coming off a stellar outdoor track season in 2023 in which he won national titles in the 5000m and 10,000m. He was named 2023 USTFCCCA Men’s Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year and also picked up USTFCCCA Men’s Outdoor Track Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors.

Thornton-Bott earns her first-career Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year award. It’s the fourth such honor for Oregon women’s cross country, with Jordan Hasay most recently securing the award for the Ducks in 2012. Hasay, notably, won her third-straight Pac-12 individual title that season. 

Thornton-Bott boasts a 4.0 GPA and is finishing her degree in Anthropology. The Sydney, Australia native earned All-America honors in 2022 for her 36th place at the NCAA Cross Country Championships. She also secured fourth-place finishes at the 2022 NCAA West Regional Championships and Pac-12 Championships, crossing as Oregon’s top runner in each of the three postseason races. 

On the track, Thornton-Bott is coming off a 2023 campaign that saw her finish as the NCAA runner-up in the 1500m with a time of 4:09.21. She also notched a podium spot in the event at the 2023 Pac-12 Championships, finishing third overall and scoring six points as the Oregon women went on to win the Conference team title.

In order to be eligible for the Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year award, student-athletes must be a senior (in athletics eligibility), on track to receive a degree, have a cumulative grade-point average of 3.0 or higher, participate in at least 50 percent of the scheduled contests in the sport and have a minimum one year in residence at the institution. Each Pac-12 institution may nominate one individual per sport, and the winners are selected by a committee of Pac-12 staff members at the conclusion of each sport’s regular season. The athletics accomplishments of the nominees are a consideration in voting for the award.

A Scholar-Athlete of the Year is named in each of the Pac-12’s 24 sponsored sports: baseball, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, beach volleyball, men’s cross country, women’s cross country, football, men’s golf, women’s golf, women’s gymnastics, women’s lacrosse, men’s rowing, women’s rowing, men’s soccer, women’s soccer, softball, men’s swimming & diving, women’s swimming & diving, men’s tennis, women’s tennis, men’s track & field, women’s track & field, women’s volleyball, and wrestling. The award was first established during the 2008-09 academic year.

ALSO NOMINATED:
Men – Gabriel Abbes, CAL; Charles Welch, COLO; Ethan Martin, WSU
Women – Sailor Hutton, ARIZ; Claire Yerby, CAL; Karina Andersen, COLO; Kaylee Mitchell, OSU; Zofia Dudek, STAN; Cristiana Molteni, WSU