Stanford Cross Country Schedule Includes Televised Pac-12 Meet

Cross Country Schedule Includes Televised Pac-12 Meet
The Cardinal will also host its annual Stanford Invitational on September 29




Kathy Kroeger will lead the women's team in 2012.



June 21, 2012


STANFORD, Calif. -- The Stanford cross country teams announced its eight-meet schedule that includes the historic Pac-12 meet, which will be the first ever Conference Championship shown on the Pac-12 Network.

The two Stanford teams are heading into different eras with the women returning nearly its whole team, while the men lose a group of seniors that regained the Stanford tradition.

The Cardinal women were 10th at the NCAA meet a year ago and should be ready to contend for a title in 2012. The team is no longer young and rebuilding and instead should be deep and talented as looks to regain a spot on the NCAA podium.

The Stanford men will feature a group of runners that have been waiting in the wings and are ready to make an impact. Despite the loss to top athletes such as Chris Derrick and Jacob Riley, the men have several younger athletes ready to step forward and keep Stanford at the top of the national rankings.

The Cardinal will open the season with the USF Invitational in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park on the eve of its annual preseason training camp.

Following the return to campus for the start of classes, the Cardinal will host the Stanford Invitational on Sept 29. The annual meet is one of the largest in the national with a days worth of high school races and the always competitive collegiate races. Stanford swept the meet last season and will looking to do the same in 2012.

On Oct. 12, the Cardinal will travel to perhaps its most competitive regular season meet at the Wisconsin Invitational. The meet will be a chance to for Stanford to measure itself against some of the top teams in the country.

The following day on Oct. 13, Stanford will likely send its 'B' team to the Bronco Invitational hosted by Santa Clara at Baylands Park in Sunnyvale.

The 2012 Pac-12 Championships will be on Oct. 27 in Los Angeles and will be the first championship to be televised by the Pac-12 Network. The meet will be hosted by UCLA and will be perhaps the most competitive conference meet in the country for both the men and women.





The final tune-up meet of the season will be Nov. 3 in Davis, Calif., when the Cardinal run the Doc Adams Invitational.

The NCAA Championship portion of the season will be a bit different in 2012 starting with the Regional meet run on a Friday. The West Regional will be hosted by Washington in Seattle and run a day earlier than normal.

The NCAA Championships will also be earlier, run on a Saturday, instead of its usual Monday slot. The Championships will also change location for the first time in seven years. On Nov. 17, the NCAA Championships will be run in Louisville, Kent., as Stanford will attempt to win its first NCAA title on the women's side since 2007 and the men's sides since 2003.

Courtesy Stanford