Hicks becomes first back-to-back men’s winner since Fisher in 2017-18, with Stanford tying Oregon for most championships with 16th title; Hertenstein follows Nichols in securing women’s crown for Colorado, which prevails on head-to-head matchups against Utah after teams both score 66 points

By Landon Negri for DyeStat

RIVERSIDE – The Pac-12 Conference held its annual cross country championship meet at the Ag-Ops course, of all places, Friday in an event hosted by USC that showcased both the expected and the unexpected.

Expected? Stanford, the top-ranked men’s team nationally in NCAA Division 1 won in a landslide, tallying 22 points to second-place Colorado's 61 to reclaim the conference title after the Buffaloes won it last year, and the Cardinal the year prior.

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Sophomore Charles Hicks rolled to his second consecutive individual conference crown, winning the 8-kilometer race in 22 minutes, 30.9 seconds.

The unexpected? The ultra-competitive women’s race saw five teams at the top within 28 points of each other, including Colorado prevailing for the second consecutive year after going to a head-to-head tiebreaker to deny Utah its first Pac-12 title after both lineups scored 66 points.

And the difference on the women’s side might have been individual champion and Buffaloes graduate student-athlete Bailey Hertenstein, who rallied in the final mile to win in a 6-kilometer course-record time of 19:11.3. Four of Colorado’s five scorers placed higher than Utah in the tiebreaker to secure the win.

“It means the world to me,” said Hertenstein, who overtook Utah senior Emily Venters – second in 19:16.7 – in the final quarter-mile.

Hertenstein is Colorado’s second consecutive transfer to capture the individual crown, after last year’s champ, Abby Nichols, joined the Buffaloes after beginning her career at Ohio State.

Hertenstein came to Boulder from Indiana.

“I really could not have done this without God, my team and my coaches,” Hertenstein said. “Being in this environment, you really do better when you’re running happy.”

The women’s race featured a crowded front pack until around the 2-mile mark, when Colorado’s Emily Covert moved out in front. Behind her, Hertenstein and Venters chased and reeled Covert in, then Hertenstein outlasted Venters in the final 400 meters to win.

Asked if she has been working on her finishing kick, Hertenstein laughed and said, “ever since high school.”

Covert, the runner-up last year and conference’s top returner, felt like the 2-mile mark was the time to go.

“I mean, if you know me at all, you know this season’s had a lot of ups and downs, a lot of downs,” Covert said. “And so I knew if I had any chance, speed work was the last thing to come, if I wanted to win, I’d have to go early.”

Ella Baran, a graduate student-athlete who transferred from reigning NCAA Division 3 champion Johns Hopkins, was the Buffaloes’ other top-10 finisher, placing seventh in 19:33.7. Colorado’s women won their fifth title in the past eight years and sixth overall

“I wouldn’t want to be here with any other team,” Covert said. “I’m just so happy for the girls, and I’m happy we won our second straight title.”

The flip side was Utah, which came agonizingly close to its first Pac-12 crown.

Behind Venters was sophomore Simone Plourde, who was fifth in 19:29.7.

“We were, for sure, really sad about it, especially (that) we were so close and we thought we had it,” Plourde said. “It’s never a fun thing to know you come into a tie and then, you know ... But also, I mean, this is not the end-all, be-all. We are looking forward to what’s to come, which is really what matters. We’re kind of just using that energy to get back to work and focus on what’s next.”

The NCAA Division 1 regional championships are Nov. 11 with the national championship Nov. 19, hosted by Oklahoma State. Utah will get a rematch with Colorado at the Mountain Regional in Albuquerque, N.M.

Izzy Thornton-Bott, a redshirt junior, placed fourth in 19:27.4 and led Oregon to a third-place finish, 20 points behind Colorado and Utah.

Stanford sophomore Zofia Dudek ran in sixth place and led the Cardinal to a fourth-place showing with 93 points. Just one point back was Washington and junior Andrea Markezich, who was eighth in 19:37.7.

Oregon State junior Grace Fetherstonhaugh placed ninth in 19:38.2 and Washington State sophomore Neema Kimtai was 10th in 19:38.5.

The Stanford men placed five runners in the top seven to match Oregon for the conference record by winning their 16th team title.

“I think from the gun, we just wanted to take control of the race and set the pace early on,” said Stanford sophomore Cole Sprout, who was third in 22:38.3.

Hicks became the first repeat winner in the Pac-12 since Stanford’s Grant Fisher in 2017 and 2018. He had the lead by the 4-kilometer mark and never relinquished it.

“It was kind of what I was hoping it would be,” said Hicks, originally from Jacksonville, Fla., who represents Great Britain in international competition.

“Just pushing from the front, (and) trying to trust my teammates over other people in the competition. I know how hard they compete and how hard they’ve worked and how much fitness they’ve gained. And so, by myself pushing hard for the front, I figured it would give us the best chance to score the way we did. To have it actually come together and execute it on the day, it just means everything in the world.”

The Stanford parade rolled in behind Hicks and Sprout.

Senior Meika Beaudoin-Rousseau was fifth in 22:48 and sophomore Ky Robinson, the individual champion Oct. 14 at the Nuttycombe Invitational in Wisconsin two weeks ago, placed sixth in 22:55. Sophomore Thomas Boyden was seventh in 22:55.9 and fellow sophomore Devin Hart was 10th in 22:59.2.

Their five-man gap was just 25 seconds. It marked the Cardinal's fourth men’s conference title in the past six years.

“It meant a lot when we did it two years ago; it hurt a lot when we didn’t last year,” Hicks said. “So the whole thing this year, our coach said, the theme was taking it back. So to come out here and (take) it back, a great week of training, I think it really bodes well for the year ahead. Nothing is guaranteed, but I like where Stanford cross country is right now.”

And it wasn’t like Colorado struggled Friday morning. Senior Andrew Kent led the Buffaloes by placing fourth in 22:43.9, and they could take solace in that Stanford had its projected score down to 16 points at 4 kilometers and Colorado rallied back enough to push the Cardinal’s score to 22.

Oregon senior Aaron Bienenfeld finished second in 22:37.2. That meant that along with Venters finishing runner-up, the conference’s scholar-athletes of the year were also the second-place finishers. Oregon was fourth as a team with 94 points.

Washington senior Brian Fay finished eighth in 22:57.8 and led the Huskies to a third-place showing with 81 points.

Arizona State junior Vincent Mauri, who won Sept. 17 at the UC Riverside Invitational, was ninth in 22:59.0.