Huskies Off To Stanford For Pac-12 Championships

Friday, October 26

Stanford, CA

11:00 AM

University of Washington

Pac-12 Championships

October 25, 2018 | Cross Country

Pac-12 Meet Central Live Results Meet Notes

By: UW Athletic Communications

2018 Pac-12 Championships
Friday, Oct. 26
Stanford, Calif. | Stanford Golf Course

RACE SCHEDULE (All times PT)
10:15 a.m. - Championship course open
10:50 a.m. - National Anthem
10:55 a.m. - Women called to Start
11:05 a.m. - Women's final instructions
11:10 a.m. - Women's 6k Championship Race
11:50 a.m. - Women's awards ceremony
11:55 a.m. - Men called to Start
12:05 p.m. - Men's final instructions
12:10 p.m. - Men's 8k Championship Race
12:50 p.m. - Men's awards ceremony

SEATTLE - The first Pac-12 Championship of the 2018-19 season arrives on Friday as the conference's cross country contenders head for Stanford. Washington's seventh-ranked men and 16th-ranked women will test themselves against the NCAA's top conference at the Stanford Golf Course, with the women's race starting at 11:10 a.m. and the men's race following at 12:10 p.m.

The Pac-12 Cross Country Championships will be televised live on the Pac-12 Networks. On the call will be Jim Watson, Dwight Stones and Lewis Johnson.

Friday's race is the first of three championship events, as teams will go from Pac-12s to NCAA West Regionals in Sacramento in two weeks. Tickets will be punched at Regionals for the NCAA Championships on Nov. 17 in Wisconsin.

The women's race features three of the top six teams in the nation based on the USTFCCCA coaches poll. Three-time defending champion Colorado is the top-ranked team in the nation, with Oregon coming in ranked third and host school Stanford ranking sixth.

The Husky women's team brings a very young squad into Friday's race, with just one senior in Emily Hamlin, and five redshirt or true freshmen who will be making their first Pac-12 Championship runs. The Dawgs will also have an official Husky debut on Friday, as junior Lilli Burdon will race for the first time this season. Burdon was sixth at Pac-12s a year ago for Oregon and an All-American in cross country, indoor, and outdoor track. Washington has been led in its first two races by junior Katie Rainsberger, who was fifth at Pac-12s as a freshman and the runner-up by just over one second last year while competing for Oregon.

The newcomers lining up for their first Pac-12 meet will be redshirt freshmen Sarah Carter and Shona McCulloch, and true freshmen Madison Heisterman, Kelly Makin, and Olivia O'Keeffe.

The seventh-ranked men's team has earned its highest ranking in the history of the USTFCCCA poll, coming off a second-place finish at Pre-Nationals two weeks ago. The men boast more a more veteran squad than the women, with just one of their ten entries, junior Mick Stanovsek, racing Pac-12 Cross Country for the first time.

The men's field is deep and closely bunched in the national polls. Fourth-ranked Stanford heads in as the favorite, as the Cardinal won the title a year ago and own the home course advantage this season. Colorado is ranked No. 8 nationally, Oregon is No. 11, and UCLA is No. 12, with Washington State also in the top-30 at No. 29.

The Huskies showed strong depth in their Pre-National run. Sophomore Tibebu Proctor, senior Tanner Anderson, and sophomore Talon Hull all finished in the top-15, with seniors Fred Huxham and Mahmoud Moussa also in the top-50 and juniors Mick Stanovsek and Julius Diehr in the top-80. Also, junior Andrew Snyder won the open race with a time similar to Moussa's, and sophomore Gavin Parpart was third in the open race.

Last season at Pac-12s, Moussa had a breakthrough run to finish fifth and lead the Dawgs. Anderson was 22nd last year competing for the Ducks, while Hull was 29th as a freshman but has shown stronger form this year. Proctor could also make a big leap as he was 58th last year as a freshman but is coming off the best race of his young career at Pre-Nationals. Huxham, the Bay Area native, also owns a top-25 finish at Pac-12s, as he was 22nd as a sophomore in 2015.