The first individuals to cross the finish line at the Pac-12 Cross Country Championships in Tucson were not Buffaloes, but enough Buffs piled on shortly thereafter in both the men’s and women’s races to deliver the team titles for both.
In the men’s race, Oregon’s Edward Cheserek again exerted his dominance over the sport, taking home his fourth individual Pac-12 championship of his career. He’ll go for a sweep of four national titles later this month.
Colorado had four finishers inside the top 10, however, to edge Stanford for the team title – their second in a row. Ben Saarel and Zach Perrin led the Buffaloes finishing three-four, followed by John Dressel in sixth and Ryan Forsythe finished ninth.
On the women’s side, Colorado came in as the No. 1 team in the country, the defending champions and the favorites to repeat. They did not disappoint.
Washington’s Amy-Eloise Neale beat out Colorado’s Erin Clark by a mere .4 seconds to capture the individual title, but the Buffs sent Clark and the next two finishers (Dani Jones and Kaitlyn Benner) across the line before anyone else. Makena Morley finished ninth to give the Buffs four top-10 finishers to cruise to a 41-point victory.
The national championships are scheduled for Nov. 19 in Terra Haute, Ind.
Featured Image Credit: Chris Hook, CUBuffs.com
