Hertenstein Named Pac-12 Athlete of The Year

SAN FRANCISCO — Colorado's cross country team added a pair of conference honors Wednesday with Bailey Hertenstein being named the Pac-12 Women's Cross Country Athlete of the Year and head coach Mark Wetmore being named the Pac-12 Women's Coach of the Year.

Hertenstein took the Pac-12 women's 6K title in a course record of 19:11.3 last Friday, leading the women to the title over Utah. The graduate student passed Utah's Emily Venters in the final 200 meters and put on the burners, winning by five seconds. That pass, along with others from the CU women, allowed the team to tie Utah with 66 points and ultimately win the title on the NCAA tiebreaker.

This is the second-straight Pac-12 Women's Athlete of the Year for the CU women and the fourth in six years. Hertenstein joins last year's winner Abby Nichols and the 2017/2018 back-to-back champion Dani Jones as the only CU women to take home the individual title.

The tiebreak title led to Coach Wetmore being named to his fifth Pac-12 Women's Coach Of The Year honor and 13^th overall, just one short of the conference record despite only being in the conference for 12 years. The women's title is the sixth for CU in the Pac-12 and 14^th overall in the conference. Overall, Wetmore has now earned 34 conference coach of the year honors. Since winning his first in 1997, coach has won 65 percent of the coach of the year honors possible.

In addition to the two conference honors, four Buffs were named to the All-Pac-12 First Team for finishing in the top seven, with an addition four being named to the All-Pac-12 Second Team for finishing 8-14. Hertenstein, Emily Covert, Ella Baran and Andrew Kent were all named to the First Team, with Noah Hibbard, Austin Vancil and Seth Hirsch all earning Second Team honors.

The Buffaloes have this weekend off before heading to Albuquerque for the NCAA Mountain Regional Championship, seeking to punch their tickets to the NCAA Championships Nov. 19 in Stillwater, Okla.

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