Klecker Named Pac-12 Athlete Of The Year; Harrison Tabbed Freshman of the Year

BOULDER – University of Colorado senior Joe Klecker has been named the Pac-12 Men's Athlete of the Year, while teammate Kashon Harrison was selected as the Pac-12 Men's Freshman of the Year.

Not to be outdone, head coach Mark Wetmore was tabbed the Pac-12 Men's Coach of the Year after leading CU to the team title.

Klecker won the honor after winning the individual conference title on Friday, November 1. He won the 8-kilometer race in 23 minutes, 2.7 seconds and defeated the runner-up, Oregon's Cooper Teare, by three seconds (23:05.7). Klecker became the first CU male to win an individual conference title since 2007 (Brent Vaughn) and on Monday, he was named CU's first USTFCCCA Men's National Athlete of the Week in cross country.

Harrison was the highest finishing freshmen at conference, placing seventh overall in 23:18.0. He was the second Buff to finish the race, edging teammate John Dressel (23:19.7), who placed eighth. Coincidentally, Harrison is the first CU male to win the award since Dressel in 2015. There Dressel placed sixth overall.

Wetmore was named the men's coach of the year for the seventh time since CU joined the Pac-12 in 2011. The men won the team title, defeating Oregon 41-57, as all five scorers were in the top 13. In total, Wetmore has been named the conference coach of the year 32 times (both men's and women's).

Klecker and Harrison were also named to the All-Pac-12 First Team. Additionally Colorado had three selected to the second team with Dressel, Alec Hornecker and Eduardo Herrera.

On the women's side, Sage Hurta and Holly Bent were named to the second team.

All-Pac-12 teams are determined by an athlete's placing at the Pac-12 Championship. First team members include the first through seventh place finishers, while those who place eighth through 14^th earn a position on the second team.

2019 All-PAC-12 WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY TEAMS

Second Team
Holly Bent
Sage Hurta

2019 All-PAC-12 MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY TEAMS
First Team
Kashon Harrison
Joe Klecker

Second Team
John Dressel
Eduardo Herrera
Alec Hornecker

Athlete of the Year
Joe Klecker

Freshman of the Year
Kashon Harrison

Coach of the Year
Mark Wetmore

USTFCCCA RANKINGS
Earlier in the day, the USTFCCCA released the national polls. The CU men stayed at third behind Northern Arizona and BYU, while the women are now eighth. In the regional rankings, both teams are third.

Colorado University Athletics

Klecker Named Pac-12 Athlete Of The Year; Harrison Tabbed Freshman of the Year

Related News

Players Mentioned

Holly Bent

John Dressel

Kashon Harrison

Eduardo Herrera

Alec Hornecker

Sage Hurta

Joe Klecker

Related Videos