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2020 Pac-12 Cross Country Championships

Mar. 5, 2021 | Chambers Creek Park
University Place, WA

Stanford sweeps team titles at 2020 Pac-12 Cross Country Championships

Mar 5, 2021
How Lao

PDF RESULTS: Men | Women | Combined

UNIVERSITY PLACE, Wash. - STANFORD swept the women’s and men’s team titles at the 2020 Pac-12 Cross Country Championships at chilly, windy and rainy Chambers Creek Park in University Place, Wash., on Friday. It marked the first time since 2010 the Cardinal captured both Conference team titles.

Individually, WASHINGTON’s Haley Herberg and COLORADO’s Eduardo Herrera emerged as champions in two distinct, exciting races.

WOMEN’S TEAM CHAMPION - STANFORD

No. 5 nationally ranked Stanford extended its dominance in the women’s race, claiming its 17th all-time title and second straight Conference crown with three top-5 and four top-10 finishers, and all five scorers inside the top 12 en route to 30 points.

Fifth-year Ella Donaghu led the Cardinal with a second consecutive runner-up showing at the Conference meet, followed by freshman Zofia Dudek in third, senior Julia Heymach in fourth, senior Jessica Lawson in ninth and fifth-year Christina Aragon in 12th.

No. 6 Colorado finished second in the team standings with 50 points paced by senior Rachel McArthur’s fifth-place showing. Host and No. 12 Washington came in third with 85 points anchored by Haley Herberg’s impressive individual victory, No. 24 Oregon State recorded its best showing at the Conference meet in fourth with 100 points, and Washington State placed fifth with 164 points.

MEN’S TEAM CHAMPION - STANFORD

No. 4 nationally ranked Stanford won its third Pac-12 team title in the past four events, placing all five scorers inside the top 10 en route to 26 points. The Cardinal’s victorious 28 points were the fewest since Colorado's 2013 title (28). It also marked Stanford’s 15th Conference men’s crown, now one shy of Oregon’s record total of 16.

Freshman Charles Hicks crossed as runner-up after running side-by-side with eventual champion Eduardo Herrera through 3-of-4 laps. Freshman Cole Sprout and fifth-year Alek Parsons went fourth and fifth, respectively, while freshman Ky Robinson and senior Callum Bolger placed eighth and ninth, respectively, to lead the Cardinal to the trophy.

Paced by Herrera’s win, No. 9 COLORADO (60 points) edged host and No. 8 WASHINGTON (66 points) for second place.

WOMEN’S INDIVIDUAL CHAMPION - Haley Herberg, WASHINGTON

Washington junior Haley Herberg led wire-to-wire, building a significant lead of 22 seconds through the first of three 2,000-meter loops, maintaining it through the second lap and outkicking Donaghu, who closed the gap over the final 500 meters, to claim the Huskies’ fourth-ever individual win and first since Amy-Eloise Neale in 2016.

Herberg crossed in 19:02.5 with a seven-second final margin over Donaghu (19:09) who had pulled even midway through the final straightaway.

MEN’S INDIVIDUAL CHAMPION - Eduardo Herrera, COLORADO

A lead trio emerged (Herrera, Hicks, OREGON’s Jackson Mestler) after roughly 3,000 meters, then Herrera and Hicks created further separation through two laps. The senior Herrera made his break from Hicks at the 6k mark and went on to a commanding 11-second victory in 22:30.9.

Herrera joins former teammate Joe Klecker as Pac-12 titlists after Klecker captured the Buffaloes’ first individual Pac-12 crown in 2019.

The 2020 NCAA Cross Country Championships are slated to be held in Stillwater, Okla., by host Oklahoma State on March 15, 2021.