STANFORD’S CUFFE WINS PAC-12 CROSS COUNTRY TITLE

Nov. 2, 2013



STANFORD’S CUFFE WINS PAC-12 CROSS COUNTRY TITLE



Rosa is second in men’s race



LOUISVILLE, Colo. -- Stanford junior Aisling Cuffe won the Pac-12 women's cross country championship on Saturday, giving Stanford back-to-back individual winners.



Cuffe won the 6-kilometer race (3.73 miles) in 21:04 at Coal Creek Golf Course outside of Boulder and follows the effort of 2012 champion Kathy Kroeger. This is the ninth Pac-12 women's individual title for Stanford and the sixth different champion.



Jessica Tonn placed ninth (21:37), making Stanford the only school besides team champion and top-ranked Arizona to place two among the top 10. Stanford placed fifth, scoring 129 points.



“Obviously, I’m really excited about winning today," Cuffe said. "But I’m looking for my team to do really well. I love racing with my teammate Jessica Tonn. I’m just looking to improve and keep getting better as the races go on.”



The Stanford men, led by runner-up Jim Rosa, had five among the top 34, and placed third as a team. The No. 13-ranked Cardinal (79 points) trailed top-ranked Colorado (28) and Oregon (54) on the 8-kilometer (4.97) course.



"She's pretty incredible," Rosa said. "We were really high after our race, and watching her destroy everybody over the final 3K made it even better."



Rosa ran 24:42, trailing winner Edward Cheserek of Oregon by six seconds. Rosa and Cheserek, a transplanted Kenyan, were occasional training partners during their high school days in New Jersey.



"We knew this was altitude and we were on Colorado's home course, so we kind of followed them for 90 percent of the race," Rosa said. "There were some hills with 2K to go -- I love hills -- so I started to moving up a lot more."



Rosa and teammates Erik Olson and Sean McGorty ran together for much of the race. Rosa was in a seven-runner lead pack through 6K, and had a bead on the victory until Cheserek opened up a gap with 600 meters to go.



Rosa was followed by teammates Olson (11th, 25:23), Michael Atchoo (12th, 25:30), Tyler Stutzman (20th, 25:50), and Garrett Sweatt (34th, 26:09) among Cardinal scorers. McGorty, Stanford's No. 1 runner at the Pre-Nationals two weeks ago, faded in the sixth kilometer and dropped out because of illness.



Atchoo and Stutzman had especially strong performances for Stanford, which, with a healthy McGorty and with the possible additions of Joe Rosa and Thomas Graham after injury, could be even better for the NCAA Championships on Nov. 23, though the Cardinal must advance through the NCAA West Regionals on Nov. 15 in Sacramento over 10K.



"We were really happy with how we ran," Rosa said. "But we also know this isn't the race we're trying to do our best. We don't want to get too high or too low at this point."



Cuffe was in fourth among a pack of six at 4K, with Arizona's Elvin Kibet and Kayla Beattie taking the lead. But Cuffe ran a massive negative split, covering the final 2K in 6:51 -- 13 seconds faster than Kibet, who was second in 21:15. Cuffe’s previous 2K splits were, in order, 7:09 and 7:04.



Cuffe, a native of Cornwall-on-Hudson, N.Y., was the 2010 FootLocker high school cross country national champion and twice broke the American junior indoor record for 3,000 meters as a Stanford freshman.

However, injuries slowed her progress until late last season. Cuffe was Stanford's No. 1 runner on a team that placed third at the 2012 NCAA Championships and continued her momentum into track where she earned second-team All-America honors in the 5,000.



Cuffe was second at the Pre-Nationals on the NCAA course in Terre Haute, Ind., two weeks ago and is running like an NCAA contender.



“It gave me a lot of confidence that I can run with the top girls," Cuffe said of her Pre-National performance. "But I also learned just to keep my head level and know that I still have to give 100 percent to preform to my best and be up there.”



On what to expect going into the NCAA championships, “I’m just really excited for it. It’s my favorite race of the year.”



Previous Stanford women's Pac-12 winners were Erin Sullivan (1999), Lauren Fleshman (2001), Sara Bei (2002, 2003), Arianna Lambie (2005, 2006, 2007), and Kroeger. In addition, Ceci Hopp (1982, WCAA) and Regina Jacobs (1983-84, WCAA; 1985, Pac West) won conference titles before Stanford joined the Pac-12 in the sport. Overall, Stanford women have won 13 individual conference titles, by eight different runners.



Earlier in the day, Tyler Stutzman was named as the Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year for men's cross country.



Here are the results:



MEN (8K, 4.97 miles)

Team: 1, Colorado 28; 2, Oregon 54; 3, Stanford 79; 4, Arizona State 140; 5, Washington 142; 6, Washington State 151; 7, UCLA 152; 8, Arizona 194; 9, California 220.

Individuals (winner and Stanford): 1. Edward Cheserek (Oregon) 24:36. Stanford: 2, Jim Rosa 24:42; 11, Erik Olson 25:23; 12, Michael Atchoo 25:30; 20, Tyler Stutzman 25:50; 34, Garrett Sweatt 26:09; 64, Marco Bertolotti 27:22; 65, Jack Bordoni 27:28; 71, Kenny Krotzer 28:02; 75, Justin Brinkley 28:33; DNF, Sean McGorty.



WOMEN (6K, 3.73 miles)

Team: 1, Arizona 69; 2, Colorado 75; 3, Washington 111; 4, Oregon 113; 5, Stanford 129; 6, Arizona State 138; 7, UCLA 173; 8, Utah 207; 9, California 213; 10, Washington State 260; 11, Oregon State 269; 12, USC 346.

Individuals (winner and Stanford): 1, Aisling Cuffe (Stanford) 21:04. Other Stanford: 9, Jessica Tonn 21:37; 33, Rebecca Mehra 22:48; 42, Megan Lacy 23:05; 47, Cami Chapus 23:16; 54, Molly McNamara 23:29; 63, Sophie Chase 23:50; 73, Tate Murray 24:08; 98, Danielle Katz 27:21.





For more information, contact:



David Kiefer

Assistant Athletic Communications Director

Stanford University

dkiefer@stanford.edu

(650) 759-0258, cell