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