STANFORD, Calif. – Grant Fisher is Athlete of the Year and Chris Miltenberg is Coach of the Year, giving Stanford two prominent men's awards among Pac-12 cross country honors.
Fisher became the seventh Stanford men's runner to win the individual title at the conference meet, kicking past Colorado's Joe Klecker to win the 8K (4.97-mile) race at Springfield (Ore.) Golf Club. It was Fisher's first Pac-12 cross country title, after finishing as the runner-up in 2016, and second Pac-12 crown overall after winning the 1,500 meters on the track last spring.
Fisher, the reigning NCAA outdoor 5,000 track champion, was Stanford's first winner since Elliott Heath in 2010. Fisher ran 23:44.9 to win by three seconds. The junior electrical engineering major, is a four-time All-American and the winner of USTFCCCA Men's Track Scholar Athlete of the Year. After winning the Pac-12 crown on Friday he was named national runner of the week by the USTFCCCA.
A two-time West Region Cross Country Coach of the Year, Miltenberg earns his first Pac-12 honor after leading the Cardinal to its first men's team title in seven years. This is the 12th time Stanford has won the men's conference Coach of the Year award and Miltenberg, Stanford's Franklin P. Johnson Director of Track and Field, is the sixth different Cardinal honoree.
Last week, Stanford broke Colorado's six-year hold on the conference title, beating the Buffaloes, 41-47. Led by Fisher, Stanford placed three in the top four and seven among the top 21.
Miltenberg, a Long Island native and Georgetown graduate, is in his sixth season as Stanford coach. Though this was his first Pac-12 championship, the Cardinal men have placed among the nation's top three in each of the past three seasons.
Stanford next races at the NCAA West Regional Nov. 10 in Seattle, with the NCAA Championships to follow on Nov. 18 in Louisville.
Stanford's All-Pac-12 honorees:
Men
Athlete of the Year: Grant Fisher
Coach of the Year: Chris Miltenberg
First team
Steven Fahy, jr.
Grant Fisher, jr.
Alex Ostberg, so.
Women
First team
Vanessa Fraser, sr.
Fiona O'Keeffe, so.
