Friday, November 1
Corvallis, Ore.
12:00 PM
University of Colorado
vs
Pac-12 Championships
2019 Pac-12 Champions
Photo by: Howard Lao
Klecker Wins Individual Crown, Leads Men to 7th Pac-12 XC Title
November 01, 2019 | Cross Country
MONMOUTH, Ore. — After a two-year hiatus, the Pac-12 Men's Cross Country Championship trophy is heading back to Boulder as No. 3 Colorado defeated No. 16 Oregon, 41-57, in an exciting race at Ash Creek Preserve in Monmouth, Ore. on Friday afternoon.
Adding to the excitement of the team race was the fact that CU senior Joe Klecker ran to the individual title, becoming the first Buff to win the title on the men's side. It's the first individual men's champion for Colorado since Brent Vaughn won the Big 12 crown in 2007.
"This is an excellent field, and an excellent conference," head coach Mark Wetmore said. "There were four or five guys in there that had reason to believe they might win it and Joe's worked very hard. He's one of the hardest working athletes I've ever had. He's finished high in this before but this is his first big win and I'm very happy for him."
The women's team finished the day fourth overall but still had a decent day with four finishing in the top 20. CU, which entered the race fifth in the national poll, finished behind No. 2 Stanford (27), No. 3 Washington (55) and No. 16 Utah. The Buffs were just three points behind the Utes (86-89) and still finished with a decent score.
PAC-12 CHAMPION: Klecker ran an excellent race in the windy and cold conditions as the temperature was just 41 degrees when the gun went off. Like usual, he was near the front of the pack from the get-go and never dropped back. He took the lead around the midway point of the race. A couple of times it looked like he was about to be caught, but each time he pulled back ahead.
"When I felt good, I just went," he said. "I didn't really question myself. The only thing I did was to just remember to save a gear because this home stretch is long and you don't want to get passed up with 50 meters to go."
Klecker, a native of Hopkins, Minn., hung on for the victory and finished the 8-kilometer race in 23 minutes, 2.7 seconds, edging out Oregon's Cooper Teare by three seconds (23:05.7).
The Buffaloes won the first six team titles after entering the Pac-12 (2011-16) but lost the last two seasons to Stanford. Recording the lowest possible score would help CU regain the title.
"Unfortunately we've lost it the past two years, so going into my senior year, this was my first goal on my checklist: to win this title," Klecker said. "I tried to do everything I could to beat a good Stanford team and winning the race was probably the best thing I could do for this team."
THE MEN'S RACE: The men's race saw a field full of talent with four teams ranked in the top 10 and another in the top 20. But a solid day for the Buffs gave them the advantage. Colorado recorded 41 points to Oregon's 57, while Stanford, which was tied for third with CU, ended the day with 69 points.
"Stanford is a very good team," Wetmore said. "They were off a little today. Oregon didn't look good in the past couple of races, but had earlier in the season and was very good today. Washington is a very solid team. There are probably four teams in this conference that are top-10 in the country. Our team ran really well today, especially some of the young guys. Of course, we're happy to get the title back."
Colorado's senior duo of Klecker and John Dressel stayed in the front of the pack for the majority of the race. While Klecker pulled ahead and eventually won the race, Dressel was not able to keep pace and finished eighth overall. But Dressel played a bigger part than he may know, as Klecker said in his post-race interview 'I would not have won if John wasn't wearing his uniform and running this race, so I very much credit him.'
"If you're running out there with an ego and trying to do everything by yourself, it's not going to work," he said. "I very much fed off of John, and John put off some good surges and tired some people out in this race."
Dressel was third for the Buffs in the race. The second scorer was true freshman Kashon Harrison, who was the highest freshman with a seventh-place finish.
"Kashon did very good work over the summer, which is rare for a male coming from high school into college," said Wetmore. "He's been solid for us from the day he arrived and he's going to be good for us in the future."
Klecker echoed Wetmore's thoughts on Harrison, saying "Kashon is probably one of the hardest-working kids I've ever met."
Colorado's fourth finisher was Alec Hornecker, who placed 12th overall. He has been a bit of a surprise for the Buffs this year as their No. 5 harrier, and in this race, he ended up fourth for CU.
"Alec was on no one's radar coming into this meet, was on no one's radar coming into this year, he had an excellent summer," Wetmore said. "He really took the bit in his teeth and trained with varsity, top-level runners and became one, much to a lot of people's surprise. People keep stopping me and asking where I found that transfer when in reality he found us."
Junior Eduardo Herrera was the final scorer for CU, finishing 13th. The Buffs had a couple of other runners in the race, although they did not score. Gabe Fendel finished 29th, Paxton Smith was 35th, Austin Vancil placed 38th and Justice Ramos was 73rd.
'The guys who scored for us and accumulated our team points ran wonderfully," Wetmore said. "It's such a good conference and every day is different, every race is different. Gabe had his best race for us so far but there's a much better runner in him and I hope he gets a taste of it and settles down to work."
THE WOMEN'S RACE: The Buffaloes did not have the best day, but on paper, they were projected to finish behind Stanford and Washington. They only trailed third-place Utah by three points, which the Buffs will be looking to make up at the regional meet in two weeks.
"We're disappointed, we didn't run well," Wetmore said. "A couple of people in the middle, Annie (Hill), Holly (Bent) and Rachel (McArthur) had good races. Madie (Boreman) hasn't run a race in a couple of years and she came way up from behind and had a very nice rusty debut. But this is not the best we can run and we need to go back and look over the last three weeks and we need to decide if we did everything we could or if we need to make some changes between now and the next three."
Senior Sage Hurta led the Buffs with an 11th-place finish, while Bent recorded her best conference finish, coming in 14th.
"Holly had the best summer of her life," Wetmore said. "This summer she seems to have realized how to train like a college athlete. Had a little interruption earlier in the season and we had to hold her out for a little bit. Two weeks ago was a nice opener for her, today was another good step. She could end up a very good runner."
Coming in third for the Buffs was Hill at 16th and McArthur was 18th as CU's fourth runner. Senior Tabor Scholl rounded out the scoring for CU, placing 30th.
Running in her first cross country race in a CU uniform since 2017, Boreman was 31st, and Wetmore was happy with what he saw.
"Madie is extremely talented, one of the most talented women we've had on our team in all my time here, but also extremely fragile," he explained. "She's had a lot of interruptions and has had to work with the assistance of our medical staff to keep her healthy and training, and racing, and confident and calm. Today she looked like the raw runner that's in her and now we have to keep her well and keep developing her."
CU's other runners included Liz Constien (64th), Karina Mann (83rd) and Bailey Nock (91st).
Stanford's Fiona O'Keeffe won the race in 19:32.7.
PAC-12 NOTES: Since joining the Pac-12 Conference, CU has won at least one team or one individual title in the last nine years…CU has won 11 of 18 team cross country team championships since joining the Pac-12 in 2011…The Buffs have also won three individual titles, all in the last three years…Dani Jones won back-to-back women's titles (2017-18), while Klecker won the men's title this season.
UP NEXT: The postseason will continue for the Buffs at the NCAA Mountain Region Championships, November 15, in Salt Lake City, Utah. The women will continue to race a 6k, while the men move up to a 10k run.
RESULTS
2019 PAC-12 CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS
Ash Creek Reserve (Monmouth, Ore.)
Men's 8k Team Results:
1. Colorado 41; 2. Oregon 57; 3. Stanford 69; 4. UCLA 84; 5. Washington 87; 6. Washington State 204; 7. California 233; 8. Arizona 240; 9. Arizona State 242.
Men's 8k Individual Results (top 10)
1. Joe Klecker, Colorado, 23:02.7; 2. Cooper Teare, Oregon, 23:05.7; 3. Andrew Jordan, Washington, 23:06.2; 4. Alex Ostberg, Stanford, 23:08.0; 5. Robert Brandt, UCLA, 23:11.9; 6. Thomas Ratcliffe, Stanford, 23:15.1; 7. Kashon Harrison, Colorado, 23:18.0; 8. John Dressel, Colorado, 23:19.7; 9. James West, Oregon, 23:20.0; 10. Garrett Reynolds, UCLA, 23:21.0.
Other CU Finisher:
12. Alec Hornecker, 23:21.7; 13. Eduardo Herrera, 23:24.4; 29. Gabe Fendel, 23:51.5; 35. Paxton Smith, 24:04.7; 38. Austin Vancil, 24:06.1; 73. Justice Ramos, 26:22.7
Women's 6k Team Results:
1. Stanford 27; 2. Washington 55; 3. Utah 86; 4. Colorado 89; 5. Oregon 115; 6. Arizona 191; 7. Oregon State 194; 8. UCLA 217; 9. California 241; 10. Washington State 250; 11. Arizona State 318; 12. USC 400.
Women's 6k Individual Results (top 10):
1. Fiona O'Keeffe, Stanford, 19:32.7; 2. Ella Donaghu, Stanford, 19:34.9; 3. Jessica Lawson, Stanford, 19:38.1; 4. Katie Rainsberger, Washington, 19:41.5; 5. Melany Smart, Washington, 19:44.8; 6. Poppy Tank, Utah, 19:49.6; 7. Bella Williams, Utah, 19:50.6; 8. Jordan Oakes, Stanford, 19:52.7; 9. Susan Ejore, Oregon, 19:55.2; 10. Sarah Feeny, Utah, 19:55.3.
Other CU Finishers:
11. Sage Hurta, 19:57.8; 14. Holly Bent, 20:05.9; 16. Annie Hill, 20:06.7; 18. Rachel McArthur, 20:09.7; 30. Tabor Scholl, 20:34.3; 31. Madie Boreman, 20:35.6; 64. Liz Constien, 21:15.3; 83. Karina Mann, 21:32.8; 91. Bailey Nock, 21:48.1.
Adding to the excitement of the team race was the fact that CU senior Joe Klecker ran to the individual title, becoming the first Buff to win the title on the men's side. It's the first individual men's champion for Colorado since Brent Vaughn won the Big 12 crown in 2007.
"This is an excellent field, and an excellent conference," head coach Mark Wetmore said. "There were four or five guys in there that had reason to believe they might win it and Joe's worked very hard. He's one of the hardest working athletes I've ever had. He's finished high in this before but this is his first big win and I'm very happy for him."
The women's team finished the day fourth overall but still had a decent day with four finishing in the top 20. CU, which entered the race fifth in the national poll, finished behind No. 2 Stanford (27), No. 3 Washington (55) and No. 16 Utah. The Buffs were just three points behind the Utes (86-89) and still finished with a decent score.
PAC-12 CHAMPION: Klecker ran an excellent race in the windy and cold conditions as the temperature was just 41 degrees when the gun went off. Like usual, he was near the front of the pack from the get-go and never dropped back. He took the lead around the midway point of the race. A couple of times it looked like he was about to be caught, but each time he pulled back ahead.
"When I felt good, I just went," he said. "I didn't really question myself. The only thing I did was to just remember to save a gear because this home stretch is long and you don't want to get passed up with 50 meters to go."
Klecker, a native of Hopkins, Minn., hung on for the victory and finished the 8-kilometer race in 23 minutes, 2.7 seconds, edging out Oregon's Cooper Teare by three seconds (23:05.7).
The Buffaloes won the first six team titles after entering the Pac-12 (2011-16) but lost the last two seasons to Stanford. Recording the lowest possible score would help CU regain the title.
"Unfortunately we've lost it the past two years, so going into my senior year, this was my first goal on my checklist: to win this title," Klecker said. "I tried to do everything I could to beat a good Stanford team and winning the race was probably the best thing I could do for this team."
THE MEN'S RACE: The men's race saw a field full of talent with four teams ranked in the top 10 and another in the top 20. But a solid day for the Buffs gave them the advantage. Colorado recorded 41 points to Oregon's 57, while Stanford, which was tied for third with CU, ended the day with 69 points.
"Stanford is a very good team," Wetmore said. "They were off a little today. Oregon didn't look good in the past couple of races, but had earlier in the season and was very good today. Washington is a very solid team. There are probably four teams in this conference that are top-10 in the country. Our team ran really well today, especially some of the young guys. Of course, we're happy to get the title back."
Colorado's senior duo of Klecker and John Dressel stayed in the front of the pack for the majority of the race. While Klecker pulled ahead and eventually won the race, Dressel was not able to keep pace and finished eighth overall. But Dressel played a bigger part than he may know, as Klecker said in his post-race interview 'I would not have won if John wasn't wearing his uniform and running this race, so I very much credit him.'
"If you're running out there with an ego and trying to do everything by yourself, it's not going to work," he said. "I very much fed off of John, and John put off some good surges and tired some people out in this race."
Dressel was third for the Buffs in the race. The second scorer was true freshman Kashon Harrison, who was the highest freshman with a seventh-place finish.
"Kashon did very good work over the summer, which is rare for a male coming from high school into college," said Wetmore. "He's been solid for us from the day he arrived and he's going to be good for us in the future."
Klecker echoed Wetmore's thoughts on Harrison, saying "Kashon is probably one of the hardest-working kids I've ever met."
Colorado's fourth finisher was Alec Hornecker, who placed 12th overall. He has been a bit of a surprise for the Buffs this year as their No. 5 harrier, and in this race, he ended up fourth for CU.
"Alec was on no one's radar coming into this meet, was on no one's radar coming into this year, he had an excellent summer," Wetmore said. "He really took the bit in his teeth and trained with varsity, top-level runners and became one, much to a lot of people's surprise. People keep stopping me and asking where I found that transfer when in reality he found us."
Junior Eduardo Herrera was the final scorer for CU, finishing 13th. The Buffs had a couple of other runners in the race, although they did not score. Gabe Fendel finished 29th, Paxton Smith was 35th, Austin Vancil placed 38th and Justice Ramos was 73rd.
'The guys who scored for us and accumulated our team points ran wonderfully," Wetmore said. "It's such a good conference and every day is different, every race is different. Gabe had his best race for us so far but there's a much better runner in him and I hope he gets a taste of it and settles down to work."
THE WOMEN'S RACE: The Buffaloes did not have the best day, but on paper, they were projected to finish behind Stanford and Washington. They only trailed third-place Utah by three points, which the Buffs will be looking to make up at the regional meet in two weeks.
"We're disappointed, we didn't run well," Wetmore said. "A couple of people in the middle, Annie (Hill), Holly (Bent) and Rachel (McArthur) had good races. Madie (Boreman) hasn't run a race in a couple of years and she came way up from behind and had a very nice rusty debut. But this is not the best we can run and we need to go back and look over the last three weeks and we need to decide if we did everything we could or if we need to make some changes between now and the next three."
Senior Sage Hurta led the Buffs with an 11th-place finish, while Bent recorded her best conference finish, coming in 14th.
"Holly had the best summer of her life," Wetmore said. "This summer she seems to have realized how to train like a college athlete. Had a little interruption earlier in the season and we had to hold her out for a little bit. Two weeks ago was a nice opener for her, today was another good step. She could end up a very good runner."
Coming in third for the Buffs was Hill at 16th and McArthur was 18th as CU's fourth runner. Senior Tabor Scholl rounded out the scoring for CU, placing 30th.
Running in her first cross country race in a CU uniform since 2017, Boreman was 31st, and Wetmore was happy with what he saw.
"Madie is extremely talented, one of the most talented women we've had on our team in all my time here, but also extremely fragile," he explained. "She's had a lot of interruptions and has had to work with the assistance of our medical staff to keep her healthy and training, and racing, and confident and calm. Today she looked like the raw runner that's in her and now we have to keep her well and keep developing her."
CU's other runners included Liz Constien (64th), Karina Mann (83rd) and Bailey Nock (91st).
Stanford's Fiona O'Keeffe won the race in 19:32.7.
PAC-12 NOTES: Since joining the Pac-12 Conference, CU has won at least one team or one individual title in the last nine years…CU has won 11 of 18 team cross country team championships since joining the Pac-12 in 2011…The Buffs have also won three individual titles, all in the last three years…Dani Jones won back-to-back women's titles (2017-18), while Klecker won the men's title this season.
UP NEXT: The postseason will continue for the Buffs at the NCAA Mountain Region Championships, November 15, in Salt Lake City, Utah. The women will continue to race a 6k, while the men move up to a 10k run.
RESULTS
2019 PAC-12 CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS
Ash Creek Reserve (Monmouth, Ore.)
Men's 8k Team Results:
1. Colorado 41; 2. Oregon 57; 3. Stanford 69; 4. UCLA 84; 5. Washington 87; 6. Washington State 204; 7. California 233; 8. Arizona 240; 9. Arizona State 242.
Men's 8k Individual Results (top 10)
1. Joe Klecker, Colorado, 23:02.7; 2. Cooper Teare, Oregon, 23:05.7; 3. Andrew Jordan, Washington, 23:06.2; 4. Alex Ostberg, Stanford, 23:08.0; 5. Robert Brandt, UCLA, 23:11.9; 6. Thomas Ratcliffe, Stanford, 23:15.1; 7. Kashon Harrison, Colorado, 23:18.0; 8. John Dressel, Colorado, 23:19.7; 9. James West, Oregon, 23:20.0; 10. Garrett Reynolds, UCLA, 23:21.0.
Other CU Finisher:
12. Alec Hornecker, 23:21.7; 13. Eduardo Herrera, 23:24.4; 29. Gabe Fendel, 23:51.5; 35. Paxton Smith, 24:04.7; 38. Austin Vancil, 24:06.1; 73. Justice Ramos, 26:22.7
Women's 6k Team Results:
1. Stanford 27; 2. Washington 55; 3. Utah 86; 4. Colorado 89; 5. Oregon 115; 6. Arizona 191; 7. Oregon State 194; 8. UCLA 217; 9. California 241; 10. Washington State 250; 11. Arizona State 318; 12. USC 400.
Women's 6k Individual Results (top 10):
1. Fiona O'Keeffe, Stanford, 19:32.7; 2. Ella Donaghu, Stanford, 19:34.9; 3. Jessica Lawson, Stanford, 19:38.1; 4. Katie Rainsberger, Washington, 19:41.5; 5. Melany Smart, Washington, 19:44.8; 6. Poppy Tank, Utah, 19:49.6; 7. Bella Williams, Utah, 19:50.6; 8. Jordan Oakes, Stanford, 19:52.7; 9. Susan Ejore, Oregon, 19:55.2; 10. Sarah Feeny, Utah, 19:55.3.
Other CU Finishers:
11. Sage Hurta, 19:57.8; 14. Holly Bent, 20:05.9; 16. Annie Hill, 20:06.7; 18. Rachel McArthur, 20:09.7; 30. Tabor Scholl, 20:34.3; 31. Madie Boreman, 20:35.6; 64. Liz Constien, 21:15.3; 83. Karina Mann, 21:32.8; 91. Bailey Nock, 21:48.1.