COLFAX, Wash. – Stanford freshman Grant Fisher will make his collegiate debut Friday at the Pac-12 Cross Country Championships at the Colfax Golf Club.
Fisher, one of two high school runners in history to win two Foot Locker national championships and run a sub-4 mile, will be an intriguing addition to Stanford's lineup, which will be the strongest it has fielded this season.
Among the changes or additions expected to run for the No. 23 Cardinal men are fifth-year seniors and cross country All-Americas Jim and Joe Rosa. The twins have not raced together in a cross country race since the 2012 NCAA Championships. Also in the lineup is Collin Leibold, a graduate transfer from Georgetown, who will make his Stanford debut.
The No. 10 Stanford women will feature Aisling Cuffe, the 2013 Pac-12 champion. The Cardinal will be aided by two middle-distance All-Americans who will make their cross country season debut, Rebecca Mehra and Claudia Saunders, a two-time NCAA 800-meter outdoor runner-up. Sophomore Elise Cranny will not race.
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More on Friday’s meet:
What: Pac-12 Championships
Where: Colfax Golf Club.
City: Colfax, Washington
When: Men (8K, 10:30 a.m.); Women (8K, 11:35 a.m.)
Meet Information and links: Click here
Live Results: Click here
TV: Pac-12 Networks (Jim Watson, Dwight Stones, Lewis Johnson), to air Nov. 2, 6 p.m.
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USTFCCA Rankings:
Men: No. 23
Women: No. 10
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Stanford Men’s Overview: Sean McGorty, a junior, has solidified his spot as Stanford’s No. 1 runner through his performance at the Wisconsin Invitational, where he finished third. McGorty and Garrett Sweatt (25th at Wisconsin) have been the Cardinal’s stalwarts this season. The question marks, because of injuries or the lack of a solid training base, are the Rosas, who are scheduled to race together in cross country for the first time since the 2012 NCAA Championships. Jim Rosa was the Pac-12 runner-up in 2013 and Joe Rosa was third in the conference last year, but both have been hampered by injuries in the meantime. Chris Miltenberg, Stanford’s Franklin P. Johnson Director of Track and Field, has made an effort to bring Fisher along slowly and is eager to see what the freshman is capable of. This will be Fisher’s only race until the NCAA Championships, though Fisher was second to McGorty at the Stanford Invitational while running unattached. Leibold, a second-team outdoor track All-America last spring in the 5,000 while running for Georgetown, makes his Stanford debut after recovering from a summer foot injury. Stanford fell from No. 4 to No. 23 in the USTFCCCA rankings after placing 21st at the Wisconsin Invitational, so Stanford comes in ranked behind five other Pac-12 schools.
Stanford Women’s Overview: Aisling Cuffe returns to the Pac-12 Championship meet for the first time since winning the title in 2013 outside Boulder. Cuffe was fourth in the NCAA that year and was the NCAA outdoor 5,000 runner-up in the spring of 2014. Cuffe ran her first competitive race in 15 months at the Washington Invitational earlier this month and won. This is her first race since then. Elise Cranny, last year’s Pac-12 runner-up as a freshman, is working through an injury and is not racing, hoping to return by the NCAA Championships. Meanwhile, Cuffe will have the support of Vanessa Fraser, 13th in the NCAA outdoor 5,000 last spring. Fraser, a junior, has gone from No. 6 on the team at last year’s Pac-12 meet to the Cardinal’s regular No. 2. Middle-distance All-Americas Rebecca Mehra and Claudia Saunders, the latter a two-time NCAA outdoor 800 runner-up, make their season debuts.
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Stanford Team Honors:
Men
NCAA Men’s Titles: 4 (1996, 1997, 2002, 2003).
Pac-10/Pac-12 Conference Titles: 12 (1985, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2009, 2010).
Individual Pac-10/Pac-12 Titles: 7, Marc Olesen (1985), Jonathon Riley (2000), Grant Robison (2001-02), Ian Dobson (2003), Chris Derrick (2009), Elliott Heath (2010).
Women
NCAA Titles: 5 (1996, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007).
Conference Titles: 20 (1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010). Note: 15 were Pac-10/Pac-12 (since 1986).
Individual Pac-10/Pac-12 Titles: 9, Erin Sullivan (1999), Lauren Fleshman (2001), Sara Bei (2002-03), Arianna Lambie (2005-07), Kathy Kroeger (2012), Aisling Cuffe (2013).
Other Individual Conference Titles: 4, Ceci Hopp (1982, WCAA), Regina Jacobs (1983-84, WCAA; 1985, Pac-West).
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2014 Postseason Results:
Men
Pac-12 (Oakland): 3rd, 60 pts. (Top runner and top returner: 3, Joe Rosa 23:37).
NCAA Championships (Terre Haute): 2nd, 96 pts. (Top runner: 1, Maksim Korolev 30:29.5; Top returner: 20, Sean McGorty 30:41.9).
Women
Pac-12 (Oakland): 2nd, 74 pts. (Top runner: 2, Elise Cranny 20:04; Top returner to Pac-12’s: 14, Molly McNamara 20:34).
NCAA Championships (Terre Haute): 12th, 415 pts. (Top runner and top returner: 12, Elise Cranny 20:17.0.)
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Stanford's Pac-12 Competitors
Men
Tom Coyle, jr. (Lansdale, Pa./La Salle College HS)
- Ran 3:59.32 mile indoors in 2015.
- 2015 2nd team indoor All-America (DMR)
- Management science and engineering major
Steven Fahy, so. (Carlsbad, Calif./La Costa Canyon HS)
- 2nd at 2015 U.S. junior national steeplechase.
- Freshman in cross country eligibility.
Grant Fisher, fr. (Grand Blanc, Mich./Grand Blanc HS)
- Only high school runner in history to win two Foot Locker national cross country championships and run a sub-4-minute mile.
- Making collegiate debut.
- Second at the Stanford Invitational on Sept. 26 while running unattached.
Collin Leibold, gr. (Falls Church, Va./Gonzaga College HS/Georgetown Univ.)
- Graduate transfer from Georgetown making Stanford debut.
- 13th in 2015 NCAA outdoor 5,000, earning second-team All-America honors.
- Has 13:54.05 PR in the 5,000.
- Working toward master’s in epidemiology.
Sean McGorty, jr. (Fairfax, Va./Chantilly HS)
- Three-time All-American.
- 20th at the 2015 NCAA Cross Country Championships.
- Third at 2015 Wisconsin Invitational.
- 2014 U.S. junior and NACAC cross country champion.
- Best 5,000 is 13:37.64.
- Management science and engineering major.
Cameron Miller, sr. (Bakersfield, Calif./Stockdale HS)
- 2014 Pac-12 All-Academic first team in cross country.
- Missed his first two collegiate seasons because of injuries.
- Double major of history and political science.
Jim Rosa, 5th sr. (West Windsor, N.J./West Windsor-Plainsboro North HS)
- Two-time All-America.
- Making season debut.
- Fifth at 2013 NCAA Cross Country Championships.
- Second at 2013 Pac-12 Championships.
- 10K best of 28:57.51.
- Management science and engineering major.
Joe Rosa, 5th sr. (West Windsor, N.J./West Windsor-Plainsboro North HS)
- Three-time All-American.
- Third at 2014 Pac-12 Cross Country Championships.
- 2014 Pac-12 10,000 champion.
- Has a 10K best of 29:16.71.
- Management science and engineering major.
Garrett Sweatt, sr. (Edwardsville, Ill./Edwardsville HS)
- Has a 10K best of 28:51.56.
- Two-time Pac-12 All-Academic cross country team.
- Stanford’s No. 2 at Wisconsin Invitational, 25th overall.
- Biology major.
Sam Wharton, jr. (Tipp City, Ohio/Tippecanoe HS)
- 2014 Cross Country All-American, placing 39th at NCAA’s.
- 2012 Nike Cross Nationals high school champion.
- Management science and engineering major.
Women
Sophie Chase, jr. (Burke, Va./Lake Braddock HS)
- 2014 All-West Region in cross country.
- 2014 Pac-12 All-Academic cross country first team.
- Majoring in history.
Aisling Cuffe, 5th sr. (Cornwall-on-Hudson, N.Y./Cornwall Central HS)
- 2013 Pac-12 cross country champion.
- Fourth at 2013 NCAA Cross Country Championships.
- 2014 NCAA indoor and outdoor 5,000 runner-up.
- Best 5,000 of 15:11.13 made her the third-fastest collegian of all-time.
- 2011 U.S. junior national cross country champion.
- Won 2015 Washington Invitational cross country meet.
- Majoring in biology.
Vanessa Fraser, jr. (Scotts Valley, Calif./Scotts Valley HS)
- 13th in 2014 NCAA outdoor 5,000.
- Came to Stanford as a walk-on and is now on scholarship.
- Stanford’s No. 1 at Pre-Nationals (26th overall)
- Best 5,000 is 15:54.12.
- Symbolic systems major.
Danielle Katz, jr. (Los Gatos, Calif./Los Gatos HS)
- Stanford No. 2 at Stanford Invitational (eighth overall)
- No. 8 on school steeplechase list (10:23.32)
- Majoring in product design.
Hannah Long, fr. (Pacific, Mo./Eureka HS)
- Freshman has been Stanford’s No. 3 runner in both her races.
- Missouri state high school record holder in 1,600 (4:40.15).
- 49th at Pre-Nationals.
Julia Maxwell, so. (Ross, Calif./The Branson School)
- Has run in Stanford’s top five in all three of her races.
- 79th at Pre-Nationals.
- Three-time California Division V high school cross country champ.
Molly McNamara, 5th sr. (Little Silver, N.J./Red Bank Catholic HS)
- 2014 All-West Region in cross country.
- Stanford’s Donald Kennedy Award winner for commitment to community service.
- Started Cardinal RHED, a mental health resource organization for student-athletes.
Abbie McNulty, so. (Cumberland, R.I./Bishop Feehan HS)
- Competed on Stanford’s team at the 2014 NCAA Championships.
- No. 7 on Cardinal’s 2014 Pac-12 team.
Rebecca Mehra, sr. (Palos Verdes Estates, Calif./Palos Verdes HS)
- 2014 All-America in the outdoor 1,500.
- Has a 1,500 best of 4:17.67.
- Making season cross country debut.
- International relations major.
Claudia Saunders, sr. (Cincinnati, Ohio/Princeton HS)
- Five-time All-America.
- Two-time NCAA outdoor 800 runner-up.
- Stanford record holder in the 800 (2:00.63).
- Making season cross country debut.
- International relations major.