STANFORD, Calif. – The Stanford Invitational and the Pac-12 Championships comprise the home schedule for the Cardinal cross country teams in 2018.
The Stanford Invitational high school and college event returns after a year hiatus at Stanford Golf Course, which also is the site of the conference meet for the first time since the 2006 Pac-10 Championships.
Stanford, which placed fourth in both the men's and women's races at the NCAA Championships last year, opens the season Sept. 1 at the USF Invitational at Golden Gate Park and also runs at the Pre-National Invitational on Oct. 13, held on the NCAA Championships course in Madison, Wisconsin.
Four of its six races will take place in Northern California, including the NCAA West Regional, in Sacramento.
The Stanford Invitational was first held in 1974 with a men's race, and the women's race began in 1977. Among the men's winners have been three-time U.S. cross country champion Chris Derrick and Olympians such as Ryan Hall, Gabe Jennings, Meb Keflezighi, and Ian Dobson. Past women's winners include Regina Jacobs, Ceci Hopp, Sara Bei, and Amy Yoder.
The Pac-12 Championships return to a site that once was the traditional home of the event. From 1973-97, the Pac-8 or Pac-10 meet was held at Stanford every year but one, including a run of 15 years from 1983-97.
One of the most famous championship races not only in Pac-12 history, but in American cross country history, was held at Stanford in 1969. Oregon's Steve Prefontaine and Washington State's Gerry Lindgren – each a legend in American distance running – battled down the stretch in a race so tight that they bounced off each other's shoulders in the final steps to the line, with Lindgren awarded the victory.
Stanford is expected to return its entire seven-man lineup from the 2017 NCAA Championships, and returns 2016 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year Thomas Ratcliffe from a redshirt season. Grant Fisher, a senior, is the defending Pac-12 champion and a two-time NCAA top-five cross country finisher.
The Cardinal women return five of its seven-member NCAA lineup, including 11-time cross country and track All-America Elise Cranny, who completes her eligibility with this cross country season. Fiona O'Keeffe, a junior, is a two-time cross country All-American.
Click here for Stanford's full schedule.
