STANFORD, Calif. – Two Stanford runners -- Zofia Dudek and Paul Bergeron – received accolades from the Atlantic Coast Conference on Tuesday.
Dudek was named Women’s Cross Country Performer of the Week and Bergeron was named Men’s Cross Country Freshman of the Week for their performances on Friday at the Gans Creek Classic in Columbia, Missouri.
Dudek placed second overall while leading Stanford to the team victory. Stanford’s top five went 2-3-7-10-22 on the way to 44 points. Among No. 8 Stanford’s victims in the 40-team field were No. 6 Florida, No. 9 Tennessee, No. 13 Lipscomb, and No. 23 Ole Miss.
Dudek, a graduate student in Biomedical Data Science, covered the 6-kilometer Gans Creek Recreation Area Cross Country Course in 19:53.6, under the existing course record.
Making up 20 seconds in the final kilometer, Dudek nearly caught Auburn’s Brenda Jepchirchir, who led from start to finish. Dudek covered her final kilometer in 3:12.9.
Teammate Sophia Kennedy was a previous ACC Women’s Performer of the Week, receiving the honor on Sept. 3 after winning the USF Invitational.
Bergeron placed 13th to finish as the top American freshman in the men’s race. Bergeron ran 8K in 23:28.4 as Stanford’s No. 5 runner. The Cardinal top five went 2-3-5-8-13 and scored 31 points, beating runner-up Tennessee by 132.
The top 15 in the race, including Bergeron, were under the course record.
Bergeron, from Westford, Massachusetts, was competing in his second collegiate race. He is among a strong class of Stanford freshmen that includes Josh Bell, James Dargan, Byron Grevious, and Patrick Koon. Koon placed 17th and Dargan 18th at Gans Creek, with Bell finishing 10th in the open race.
Stanford next races on Oct. 19 at the Pre-Nationals in Verona, Wisconsin.