Colorado University Athletics
Friday, October 27
University Place, Wash.
11:00 AM
Colorado
vs
Pac-12 Championships
Buffs Ready For Last Pac-12 Cross Country Championship
October 25, 2023 | Cross Country
BOULDER - The University of Colorado cross country program travels to University Place, Wash., this Friday to compete in its final Pac-12 Cross Country Championship before the Buffaloes depart for the Big 12 in 2024.
Championship day will start with the men's 8K race at 11:10 a.m. MT followed by the women's 6K at 12:10 p.m. MT. The University of Washington is hosting the meet at Chambers Creek Regional Park.
On the men's side, Colorado leads the Pac-12 while being ranked ninth in the USTFCCCA Coaches Poll. The top threat to the Buffs are the Stanford Cardinal who come in at No. 25 in the rankings.
Earlier this season, the Cardinal placed ninth at the Virginia Invitational while Colorado placed 12th. The Buffs, however, got their payback at Nuttycombe with a seventh-place finish as Stanford came in 20th. If Stanford's second-best scorer from the Virginia Invitational runs on Friday then the race should be a lot more interesting.Â
Four of 10 Buffs who competed at last year's Pac-12 Championships have returned to race for the title this year. Out of those four, Austin Vancil and Isaiah Givens are the leaders of the group as they were the top-two finishers for Colorado at Nuttycombe.
Givens, the redshirt freshman, has surprised a lot of people with his vast improvement throughout the year. In the 8K at the Virginia Invitational he was the sixth Buff to cross the finish line with a time of 24:33.8. At Nuttycombe he shaved just about 40 seconds off his 8K time and was Colorado's top runner.
Noah Hibbard, James Overberg and Paul Stafford are also looking to turn heads in Washington, expecting to round out the scoring five for the Buffs. The remaining competitors for the black and gold are Hunter Appleton, Jake Derouin, Caleb Niednagel, Grady Rauba and Charlie Welch.
Other teams to look out for in the men's 8K Friday morning are Oregon and Washington.
The Colorado women's team looks to win its third consecutive Pac-12 Cross Country Championship this year, however they are faced with a very tough path to do so. The Pac-12 has six ranked teams in the USTFCCCA Coaches Poll, four of which are ranked higher than the Buffs.
No. 5 Stanford is the favorite to win the women's title followed by No. 9 Oregon State and No. 14 Oregon. The other Pac-12 teams in the NCAA rankings include No. 19 Washington, No. 20 Colorado and No. 21 Utah.
For the Buffs, just three of eight women who ran at last year's Pac-12 Championships are competing again this year. Those three athletes are Emily Covert, Ella Baran and Whitney Valenti.
The returning Colorado trio will be joined by a pair of transfers in Katie Doucette and Samree Dishon. Also representing the Buffs on Friday are Elliot Pribramsky, Tiya Chamberlin and Karrie Baloga.
Baloga, similarly to Givens, is a very promising young star for Colorado. She is the only CU freshman woman being sent to the Pac-12 Championships and rightfully so. In Virginia, Baloga finished as the second-fastest Buff behind Covert and then again in Wisconsin behind only Baran.
Colorado head coach Mark Wetmore has high expectations for both Givens and Baloga along with the rest of the team as the Buffaloes enter their last Pac-12 Pac-12 Cross Country Championship.
The forecast for Friday in University Place, Wash., shows a mainly sunny day with a temperature high of 49 degrees and low of 32 degrees.
Both races will air live on Pac-12 Network with coverage beginning at 11 a.m. MT.
HISTORY LESSON
Since joining the conference in 2011 the Buffaloes have won eight men's and six women's Pac-12 Cross Country titles.
The Colorado men's team won the conference championship in its first six years as a Pac-12 program.
The Colorado women's team won the conference championship three years in a row from 2015-2017 and has won the title the past two years.
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Championship day will start with the men's 8K race at 11:10 a.m. MT followed by the women's 6K at 12:10 p.m. MT. The University of Washington is hosting the meet at Chambers Creek Regional Park.
On the men's side, Colorado leads the Pac-12 while being ranked ninth in the USTFCCCA Coaches Poll. The top threat to the Buffs are the Stanford Cardinal who come in at No. 25 in the rankings.
Earlier this season, the Cardinal placed ninth at the Virginia Invitational while Colorado placed 12th. The Buffs, however, got their payback at Nuttycombe with a seventh-place finish as Stanford came in 20th. If Stanford's second-best scorer from the Virginia Invitational runs on Friday then the race should be a lot more interesting.Â
Four of 10 Buffs who competed at last year's Pac-12 Championships have returned to race for the title this year. Out of those four, Austin Vancil and Isaiah Givens are the leaders of the group as they were the top-two finishers for Colorado at Nuttycombe.
Givens, the redshirt freshman, has surprised a lot of people with his vast improvement throughout the year. In the 8K at the Virginia Invitational he was the sixth Buff to cross the finish line with a time of 24:33.8. At Nuttycombe he shaved just about 40 seconds off his 8K time and was Colorado's top runner.
Noah Hibbard, James Overberg and Paul Stafford are also looking to turn heads in Washington, expecting to round out the scoring five for the Buffs. The remaining competitors for the black and gold are Hunter Appleton, Jake Derouin, Caleb Niednagel, Grady Rauba and Charlie Welch.
Other teams to look out for in the men's 8K Friday morning are Oregon and Washington.
The Colorado women's team looks to win its third consecutive Pac-12 Cross Country Championship this year, however they are faced with a very tough path to do so. The Pac-12 has six ranked teams in the USTFCCCA Coaches Poll, four of which are ranked higher than the Buffs.
No. 5 Stanford is the favorite to win the women's title followed by No. 9 Oregon State and No. 14 Oregon. The other Pac-12 teams in the NCAA rankings include No. 19 Washington, No. 20 Colorado and No. 21 Utah.
For the Buffs, just three of eight women who ran at last year's Pac-12 Championships are competing again this year. Those three athletes are Emily Covert, Ella Baran and Whitney Valenti.
The returning Colorado trio will be joined by a pair of transfers in Katie Doucette and Samree Dishon. Also representing the Buffs on Friday are Elliot Pribramsky, Tiya Chamberlin and Karrie Baloga.
Baloga, similarly to Givens, is a very promising young star for Colorado. She is the only CU freshman woman being sent to the Pac-12 Championships and rightfully so. In Virginia, Baloga finished as the second-fastest Buff behind Covert and then again in Wisconsin behind only Baran.
Colorado head coach Mark Wetmore has high expectations for both Givens and Baloga along with the rest of the team as the Buffaloes enter their last Pac-12 Pac-12 Cross Country Championship.
The forecast for Friday in University Place, Wash., shows a mainly sunny day with a temperature high of 49 degrees and low of 32 degrees.
Both races will air live on Pac-12 Network with coverage beginning at 11 a.m. MT.
HISTORY LESSON
Since joining the conference in 2011 the Buffaloes have won eight men's and six women's Pac-12 Cross Country titles.
The Colorado men's team won the conference championship in its first six years as a Pac-12 program.
The Colorado women's team won the conference championship three years in a row from 2015-2017 and has won the title the past two years.
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Players Mentioned
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Distance
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Distance
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Distance
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Distance
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Distance
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Distance
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Distance
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