RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Charles Hicks became the first Pac-12 repeat men's cross country champion since Grant Fisher and led No. 1 Stanford to a dominant performance at the conference meet on Friday at the UC Riverside Agricultural Operations Center.
The Cardinal placed five among the top seven, and six in the top 10, to finish with only 22 points. It was the third-lowest in Pac-12 history – the top three all by Stanford – and missed tying the 2002 Cardinal's record by three points. This was Stanford's 16th conference title and fourth in six years.
"The team was amazing today," men's distance coach Ricardo Santos said. "I'm so proud of how they competed and put it all out there."
Hicks covered 8 kilometers (4.97 miles) in 22:30.9 to crush the course record of 22:58.7 that Southern Utah's Cam Levins set in 2011. He joins Grant Fisher (2017, 2018) and Grant Robison (2001, 2002) as Stanford's repeat champions. Eight different Cardinal have combined for 11 conference individual victories.
"Charles is really fit right now," Santos said. "We haven't started to sharpen up yet, but he's the strongest that he's ever been."
Charles Hicks at the finish. Photo by David Hicks.
The Cardinal women placed fourth with 93 points. Zofia Dudek was sixth in 19:31.6 over 6 kilometers (3.73 miles) to lead the team. Sophomore Audrey DaDamio was next, in 15th. It was an improvement over last year, when Stanford was fifth with 120.
Stanford was the only women's team to place eight runners among the top 35. No other team even had seven, including first-place Colorado, which had four.
Dudek seems to be getting stronger and stronger as she gets further away from past injuries. She was in the mix through 4K and was aggressive in her approach.
Behind her, DaDamio, a sophomore, had the best race of her collegiate career. She was Stanford's No. 7 at Oklahoma State's Cowboy Jamboree and No. 4 at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational two weeks ago. She gained four places over the final 2K to finish in 19:31.6.
Lucy Jenks placed 20th, freshman Riley Stewart was 24th, freshman Ava Parekh was 28th, Audrey Suarez 32nd, Melissa Tanaka 33rd, Grace Connolly 35th, Lily Flynn 50th, and Nicola Hogg 66th. Parekh, in particular, had a breakthrough performance, with her first finish among Stanford's top five.
"We're in a very good conference," said J.J. Clark, the women's distance coach and Stanford's Franklin P. Johnson Director of Track and Field and Cross Country. "We have not his our stride yet, but we are improving every week."
Stanford was the only women's team to place eight in the top 35. Photo by David Hicks.
After winning Nuttycombe against a field that included 12 of the nation's top 14 ranked teams, the Cardinal men rose to No. 1 in the nation for the first time since 2010. Ths was their first race as the top-ranked team, with an eye toward the NCAA Championships November 19 in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
"In cross country, you never know what's going to happen on the day," Hicks said. "If you go in there guns a blazin', thinking you're the guy and no one else can beat you, I feel that's when you're the most vulnerable.
"We never talk about anything in absolutes. We talk about the possibilities. We talk about where our ceiling's at and what we can do if we maximize and work together."
The Riverside course was unique in that was almost completely flat except for a short hill, and was run on a dirt path that was narrower than most collegiate cross-country courses. It progressed mostly through orange, lemon, and cherry orchards, and past an old barn, and it was filled with 27 turns, mostly sharp, per lap.
The Cardinal put a lot of runners near the front early. Hicks took the lead for good around 3K with teammates close behind. Halfway through, Stanford held five of the top six places.
"The gameplan was to put in a really definitive surge right at that hill," Hicks said. "We thought it would be where, after pulling people along for the first lap a little bit, people would be struggling and we could make it a decisive finish."
This victory was different than last year when Hicks kicked past Oregon's Cooper Teare in Salt Lake City to win unexpectedly. Any of three Stanford runners – Hicks, Nuttycombe winner Ky Robinson, and five-time All-American Cole Sprout – were deemed as top contenders. Sprout took third, Meika Beaudoin-Rousseau fourth, Robinson sixth, Thomas Boyden seventh, Devin Hart 10th, Robert DiDonato 19th, Nolan Topper 27th, freshman Zane Bergen 42nd, and Liam Anderson 48th.
Stanford's dominance is illustrated in this mid-race image of the lead pack, featuring Charles Hicks, Meika Beaudoin-Rousseau, Cole Sprout, and Ky Robinson across the front. Photo by David Hicks.
The surprise was Beaudoin-Rousseau, a fifth-year senior whose highest previous Pac-12 cross country finish was 30th. He was Stanford's No. 5 at Nuttycombe (30th overall) and had never been higher than the Cardinal's No. 5 in a postseason meet in his collegiate career. Yet, at 5.5 kilometers, Beaudoin-Rousseau was in second place, right on Hicks' heels.
Every summer, Beaudoin-Rousseau spends seven weeks camping alone in the Eastern Sierra. He runs on the mountain trails, hikes, and climbs up peaks. This year was no exception.
"I can't say the expletives that I want to because of how absolutely impressed I was with him," Hicks said. "I was pushing lights out, with everything I had, and he was hanging right behind me. He's always worked so hard and if Meika Beaudoin-Rousseau is anything, he's tough."
Hicks said he took a different approach during the summer. After not reaching the World Track and Field Championships qualifying standard in the 10,000, and after a disappointing, for him, sixth-place finish in the NCAA Championships which he ran with a bloody nose, Hicks decided not to race. Instead, he doubled down with conditioning and improving his foundation for this year.
Having never run 100 miles in a week before, Hicks hit that milestone repeatedly.
"At the beginning of the season, I kind of felt tired in a couple races," Hicks said. "But I have absolute faith in my coach, Ricardo Santos. I believe that when I started tapering, it would pay off. And I feel like today is the first sign of that. I'm really proud of making that decision and hopefully it will pay off in the future."
Next for Stanford is the NCAA West Regionals on November 11 in Seattle and, later, the NCAA Championships, which Stanford will attempt to win for the first time since 2003.
"The Pac-12 is a great conference for cross country and we are very happy to walk away with the team title," Santos said. "In the overall picture, it's important for two reasons: It's an important race for our program, alumni, and administration, and it helps us to continue our momentum that we started from the regular season."
Lucy Jenks. Photo by David Hicks.
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Pac-12 Championships
At UC Riverside Agricultural Operations Center
Winners and all Stanford
Men (8K, 4.97 miles)
Team – 1, Stanford 22; 2, Colorado 61; 3, Washington 81; 4, Oregon 94; 5, UCLA 142; 6, Washington State 177; 7, Arizona 213; 8, Arizona State 222; 9, California 262.
Individuals – 1, Charles Hicks (Stanford) 22:30.9; 3, Cole Sprout (Stanford) 22:38.3; 5, Meika Beaudoin-Rousseau (Stanford) 22:48.0; 6, Ky Robinson (Stanford) 22:55.3; 7, Thomas Boyden (Stanford) 22:55.9; 10, Devin Hart (Stanford) 22:59.2; 19, Robert DiDonato (Stanford) 23:26.0; 27, Nolan Topper (Stanford) 23:43.7; 42, Zane Bergen (Stanford) 24:20.4; 48, Liam Anderson (Stanford) 24:41.6.
Women (6K, 3.73 miles)
Team – 1, Colorado 66; 2, Utah 66; 3, Oregon 86; 4, Stanford 93; 5, Washington 94; 6, Oregon State 152; 7, Washington State 160; 8, UCLA 214; 9, Arizona 256; 10, California 311; 11, Arizona State 314; 12, USC 379.
Individuals – 1, Bailey Hertenstein (Colorado) 19:11.3; 6, Zofia Dudek (Stanford) 19:31.6; 15, Audrey DaDamio (Stanford) 19:42.3; 20, Lucy Jenks (Stanford) 19:54.0; 24, Riley Stewart (Stanford) 19:58.5; 28, Ava Parekh (Stanford) 20:03.1; 32, Audrey Suarez (Stanford) 20:07.7; 33, Melissa Tanaka (Stanford) 20:10.3; 35, Grace Connolly (Stanford) 20:11.9; 50, Lily Flynn (Stanford) 20:34.1; 66, Nicola Hogg (Stanford) 21:01.6.