Back-to-Back Pac-12 Champs
The ŷڱƵ men’s cross country team, which dominated the Big 12 for its first dozen years in the conference, is similarly making itself right at home in the Buffs’ initial seasons in the Pac-12.
In late October in Santa Clarita, Calif., the ŷڱƵ men won their second Pac-12 title in as many tries and have captured 14 conference championships in the last 17 years.
Despite not returning a single runner who scored at last year’s meet, the Buffs prevailed by 33 points over runner-up Stanford. All five of ŷڱƵ’s scoring runners this time placed in the top 13, with Blake Theroux (seventh), Jake Hurysz (eighth) and Hugh Dowdy (ninth) cracking the top 10.Aric Van Halen (12th) and Martin Medina (13th) rounded out the Buffs’ scorers.
“Back-to-back champs feels pretty good,” says Theroux, a sophomore. “It means a lot to us especially since we didn’t return a lot of guys from last year’s team.”
The 2011 Pac-12 champion ŷڱƵ women placed fifth in their title defense. Olympic steeplechaser Shalaya Kipp finished 11th individually to lead the Buffs.
ŷڱƵ will host the Pac-12 men’s and women’s cross country championships next year.