STANFORD, Calif. – STANFORD fifth-year Elise Cranny and senior Grant Fisher were named the Pac-12 Women’s and Men’s Cross Country Scholar-Athletes of the Year, the league office announced on Friday prior to the racing of the Conference Championships. The award, which is presented in each of the 24 sports the Pac-12 sponsors, was established to honor collegiate student-athletes who are standouts both academically and in their sports discipline.

Cranny (Niwot, Colo.) boasts a 3.87 grade-point average as a human biology major and is the third Stanford women’s cross country athlete to receive Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year accolades, which matches Oregon for the most of any school since the award’s creation in 2011. Cranny has been voted to a CoSIDA Division I Women’s Cross Country/Track & Field Academic All-America team in each of the past three years, highlighted by first-team recognition for the first time in 2017-18. The Pac-12 Women’s Cross Country Freshman of the Year as Championships runner-up and NCAA All-American in 2014, Cranny won the Stanford Invitational for the second time in her career earlier this fall and finished fourth at the competitive Pre-Nationals race in Wisconsin two weeks ago.

Fisher (Grand Blanc, Mich.), an electrical engineering major with a 3.59 grade-point average, is the league-leading fifth Cardinal to earn Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year since the award’s creation in 2011. A three-time NCAA All-American and Pac-12 All-Conference honoree in the sport, Fisher enters the 2018 Pac-12 Championship as the defending individual champion for the reigning team champion Cardinal, and is seeking to become only the second Stanford runner to capture multiple league titles (Grant Robison, 2001-02). The award adds to Fisher’s already impressive list of academic recognition as he is the two-time reigning USTFCCCA Division I Cross Country Scholar-Athlete of the Year, as well as the 2017 USTFCCCA Division I Outdoor Track Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

In order to be eligible for the Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year award, student-athletes must be a senior (in athletics eligibility) on track to receive a degree, have a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher, participate in at least 50 percent of the scheduled contests in the sport and have a minimum one year in residence at the institution. Each Pac-12 institution may nominate one individual per sport, and the winners are selected by a committee of Pac-12 staff members at the conclusion of each sport’s regular season. The athletics accomplishments of the nominees are a consideration in voting for the award.

A Scholar-Athlete of the Year will be named in each of the Pac-12’s 24 sponsored sports: baseball, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, beach volleyball, men’s cross country, women’s cross country, football, men’s golf, women’s golf, women’s gymnastics, women’s lacrosse, men’s rowing, women’s rowing, men’s soccer, women’s soccer, softball, men’s swimming & diving, women’s swimming & diving, men’s tennis, women’s tennis, men’s track & field, women’s track & field, women’s volleyball, and wrestling. The award was first established during the 2007-08 academic year.

Both Cranny and Fisher are entered to compete at the 2018 Pac-12 Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Championships on Friday, Oct. 26 at Stanford Golf Course in Stanford, Calif. For the second straight year, the Pac-12 Cross Country Championships will be broadcast live on Pac-12 Networks with the women's race beginning at 11:00 a.m. PT, followed by the men’s race at 12:00 p.m. PT. For more information on the Pac-12 Championships and for live updates, please visit pac-12.com/xcchamps.

ALSO NOMINATED:
Men – Travis Thorne, ARIZ; Garrett Corcoran, CAL; Ryan Forsyth, COLO; James West, ORE; Fred Huxham, WASH; Chandler Teigen, WSU.

Women – Hannah Whetzel, ARIZ; Megan Reniewicki, ASU; Bethan Knights, CAL; Carmela Cardama Baez, ORE; Juliana Mount, OSU; Amber Gore, USC; Sadie Wassum, UTAH; Emily Hamlin, WASH; Vallery Korir, WSU.