ASU Cross Country: Sun Devils set for challenging Pac-12 Championships

(Photo courtesy Sun Devil Athletics)

On Saturday, ASU Cross Country will compete in the Pac-12 Championships in Riverside, California. Participants will use this meet as their final tune-up before competing in the NCAA Regionals.

ASU’s men’s team is led by senior Vincent Mauri, who has won races at two meets this season. In the Sun Devils’ most recent competition – the Dave Murray Invitational – Mauri won the race with a time of 23 minutes, 25.7 seconds, finishing 37 seconds ahead of the nearest competitor. Another top finish on Saturday will set Mauri up for a strong showing at NCAA Regionals.

Another star runner for the men’s team is sophomore Dayton Carlson. He has had a decent season with a 54th-place finish in the UC Riverside Invitational and a 14th-place finish in the Dave Murray Invitational. He is also hoping to finish strong this season.

Collectively, the men’s team has finished eighth and second in meets this season. The Sun Devils hope that a strong showing on Saturday will provide enough momentum to push the team to the NCAA Championships.

The women’s team has had a bit of a rockier season, finishing 20th at the UC Riverside Invitational and 4th at the Dave Murray Invitational.

The team is led by senior Lena Lebrun, who has a 16th-place finish and a ninth-place finish under her belt this season. She is another NCAA Regionals hopeful for ASU.

The Sun Devils will face several tough competitors on Saturday. On the men’s side, four Pac-12 teams – No. 1 Stanford, No. 10 Colorado, No. 15 Oregon and No. 20 Washington – hold places in the USTFCCCA National Coaches Poll.

On the women’s side, Stanford, Colorado, Oregon and Washington also rank amongst the top teams at No. 9, No. 11, No. 12 and No. 19, respectively. Additionally, Utah joins the field at No. 10, and Oregon State rounds out the poll at No. 30.

Both the men’s and women’s teams will need to be at their peaks, mentally and physically, to have a shot at the Pac-12 title. A strong showing from ASU’s runners could be the perfect setup for Regionals in Tacoma, Washington, on Nov. 11.

Saturday’s Pac-12 Championship races include the women’s 6k, beginning at 8:40 a.m., and the men’s 8k, which starts at 9:40 a.m.