Pac-12 announces 2020 cross country honors

SAN FRANCISCO - The Pac-12 Conference announced today the recipients of the 2020 Men’s and Women’s Cross Country All-Conference honors. STANFORD, which swept the team titles at the Pac-12 Championships on March 5, collected four of the six major honors with Zofia Dudek and Charles Hicks earning Freshman of the Year awards and J.J. Clark and Ricardo Santos being voted Coach of the Year. WASHINGTON's Haley Herberg and COLORADO's Eduardo Herrera earned Athlete of the Year accolades as the Conference's individual champions.

Men's Cross Country Athlete of the Year – Eduardo Herrera, Sr., Colorado
Herrera (Madera, Calif.) individual win at the 2020 Pac-12 Championship gives Colorado its second consecutive Athlete of the Year following Joe Klecker in 2019. Herrera also became a three-time All-Conference performer by tacking on First Team accolades in 2020 along with Second Team performances in 2017 and 2019.

Men's Cross Country Freshman of the Year – Charles Hicks, Stanford
Hicks (Jacksonville, Fla.) was the top freshman finisher at the 2020 Pac-12 Championship crossing in second place overall for Stanford's title team. He was the best freshman finisher at the Pac-12 Championship since Oregon's Edward Cheserek won the first of his four individual titles in 2013. Hicks is the fifth Cardinal to collect men's Freshman/Newcomer of the Year along with Thomas Ratcliffe (2016), Miles Unterreiner (2009), Neil Davis (2002) and Donald Sage (2000). He also was the top Pac-12 finisher at the NCAA Championship, crossing in 14th place to help the Cardinal to a fifth-place showing.

Women's Cross Country Athlete of the Year – Haley Herberg, Jr., Washington
Herberg (Mission Viejo, Calif.), who made her Husky debut at the 2019 Pac-12 Championship, led wire-to-wire to capture the individual title at the 2020 Pac-12 Championship and earn the Athlete of the Year nod. She was the fourth individual titlist for the Huskies, the first since Amy-Eloise Neale in 2016. It marks Herberg's second career All-Conference honor in cross country as she finished third at the 2018 Big 12 Championship to claim Newcomer of the Year.

Women's Cross Country Freshman of the Year – Zofia Dudek, Stanford
Dudek (Ann Arbor, Mich.) is the eighth Stanford woman to garner Freshman of the Year honors, the first since Elise Cranny in 2014. Her third-place finish at the Championship is the best for a freshman since Cranny's runner-up showing in 2014.

Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year – Ricardo Santos, Stanford
Santos, in his second year leading the program, guided Stanford to the men's team title at the 2020 Pac-12 Championship - the Cardinal's third title in four years and 15th all-time, now one shy of Oregon's record total of 16. The Cardinal’s victorious 28 points were the fewest since Colorado's 28 in 2013. Santos also led the Stanford men to a Pac-12-best fifth place at the NCAA Championship.

Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year – J.J. Clark, Stanford
Clark repeats as the Pac-12 Women's Coach of the Year after he led Stanford to its second straight team title at the 2020 Pac-12 Championship. For the second consecutive year, the Cardinal had all five of its scorers finish inside the top 14 at the Pac-12 Championship to claim All-Conference accolades. It marks the 14th all-time women’s Coach of the Year honor for the Stanford program. Clark also guided the Cardinal to a second consecutive podium finish at the NCAA Championship with a Pac-12-leading third-place finish.

2020 PAC-12 CROSS COUNTRY HONORS*

* - All-Conference teams determined by order of finish at the 2020 Pac-12 Championships.