Men Remain Nation’s Top XC Team
NEW ORLEANS – After winning their fourth Pac-12 Cross Country Championship, the University of Colorado men’s team remained the top team in the USTFCCCA Coaches Poll. The women dropped to 12th this week after finishing third at the league championship.
Once again, the men recorded all 12 first-place votes for 360 points. Oregon remained second overall this week with 337 points, its third straight week at that position. Syracuse held on to third with 336 points and Oklahoma State stayed at fourth with 328 points.
For the second consecutive year, the Buffs defeated the rest of the field at the Pac-12 Championship by 27 points. CU recorded a score of 30 points with runners stampeding to a 4-5-6-7-8 finish. Oregon, the runner-up for the second straight year, recorded 57 points. Last year the Buffs defeated the Ducks 28-54 for the same score.
Senior Blake Theroux led the Buffs for the third time this season, finishing the 8-kilometer race fourth overall in 23:42. He led the herd of five Buffaloes that impressed the field by finishing within 12 seconds of each other to secure another conference title.
The CU women’s team recorded 236 points for 12th in this week’s rankings and fell five spots from last week’s ranking of seventh. Michigan State stayed at the top and this week recorded all 12 first-place votes for 360 points. Georgetown held on to second in the poll with 345 points and Oregon remained third with 332 points.
The Buffs had a strong showing at the league championship, placing third in a very competitive race. CU recorded 82 points, just eight behind Stanford’s total of 74. Oregon won the meet with 54 points.
Sophomore Erin Clark led CU with a fourth-place finish. She had a solid race as she was third after the first 2k. She hung on behind the lead pack the entire race and finished strong in 20:19. Clark was 13th in this race in 2013 as a freshman.
The next meet for CU is the NCAA Mountain Region Championships in Albuquerque, N.M. on Nov. 14.