SPRINGFIELD, Ore. – Chelsey Albertson earned her first all-conference cross country honor Friday at the Pac-12 Cross Country Championships in Springfield, Oregon, when she crossed the line in 14th in a season's best 19:23.6.
The achievement was Arizona State's first all-conference honor since Shelby Houlihan won the individual title in 2014.
"She did a good job," coach Jeremy Rasmussen said. "This race was more indicative of what she has done in practice and what kind of runner she can be. The race plan was to stick herself out there in the front and when the group broke, she was just on the outside, but she did a great job of putting herself in position to be successful."
Albertson held onto the leaders for the entire race and barely fluctuated in position, between 17th and 14th, through the second and fourth splits. Even as the pace quickened and the lead pack of three runners started to break away, Albertson remained composed and managed to take the final all-conference place.
ASU's No. 2 was Alexis Nichols, who ran her best 6K of the season to finish 58th. The time was nearly two minutes better than what she ran at her last outing in Louisville two weeks ago.
Samantha Ortega and 2017 ASU Cross Country Invitational champion Courtney Lewis finished 60th and 61st, respectively, and ASU closed the book on its scoring just eight seconds later when Daan Haven crossed the line in 67th.
"Sam got strep throat at the end of last week and was fighting through a pretty nasty cold this week," Rasmussen said. "She went out and fought, but it got the best of her today. The rest of the women did a good job and followed the race plan. If Sam was with Chelsey where we think she could have been, we would have been at 190 [points], so today was an OK day. We have some work to do if we want to be in the top-half of this conference, but if we can get there, we'll be a top-30 team."
Overall, the Devils finished ninth with 232 points. The result saw the Devils drop the women's cross country Territorial Cup point as the Wildcats took seventh as a team.
The Pac-12 women's team title was won by Colorado, and CU's Dani Jones won the individual title.
In the men's championship race, ASU finished ninth as well with 282 points.
John Reniewicki was the top-finisher once again for the Devils. He started out fast and was near the leaders through the first 800 meters of the meandering course.
Reniewicki finished 66th, and Erik Gonzalez took 72nd to finish as the Sun Devils' No. 2 runner for the first time this season, and score for the fifth consecutive race.
"John went out there with big goals for himself," Rasmussesn said. "He'd been sick for the last week and a half, so with him not having a great race and everyone else performing average, it didn't set us up well."
J.P. Nelson bounced back after pulling up at last weekend's regular season finale to take 76th in Springfield. Alexander Stevens and Michael Renner wrapped up the scoring in 77th and 78th, respectively.
"J.P. raced today and I thought for not running much, he did a decent job," Rasmussen said. "The place isn't indicative of the effort. And with him just coming back, asking him to do that over 10,000 meters [in two weeks] is going to be a bigger challenge."
Arizona finished eighth to take the Territorial Cup point.
The men of Stanford broke Colorado's six-year conference title win-streak, and the Cardinal's Grant Fisher won the individual title.
ASU gets back in action in two weeks in Seattle at the NCAA West Regional Championships.
Pac-12 Cross Country Championships | Springfield, Ore. | Oct. 27, 2017
Women's 6K Results
14. Chelsey Albertson – 19:23.6
53. Alexis Nichols – 20:23.4
61. Samantha Ortega – 20:34.1
62. Courtney Lewis – 20:35.3
67. Daan Haven – 20:43.3
75. Billie Jo Dytrt – 20:54.8
85. Anna Pruter – 21:07.7
92. Angela Saitta – 21:35.0
Men's 8K Results
66. John Reniewicki – 25:30.2
72. Erik Gonzalez – 25:54.5
76. J.P. Nelson – 26:29.9
77. Alexander Stevens – 26:33.6
78. Michael Renner – 26:40.4
79. Jackson Lewis – 26:45.2
81. Nick Dale – 27:51.1
Women's Team Results
1. Colorado – 53
2. Stanford – 71
3. Oregon – 71
4. Washington – 128
5. California – 132
6. Utah – 146
7. Arizona – 186
8. UCLA - 221
9. Arizona State – 232
10. Washington State – 259
11. Oregon State – 263
Men's Team Results
1. Stanford – 41
2. Colorado – 47
3. UCLA – 103
4. Oregon – 109
5. Washington – 114
6. Washington State – 138
7. California – 158
8. Arizona – 234
9. Arizona State – 282
The achievement was Arizona State's first all-conference honor since Shelby Houlihan won the individual title in 2014.
"She did a good job," coach Jeremy Rasmussen said. "This race was more indicative of what she has done in practice and what kind of runner she can be. The race plan was to stick herself out there in the front and when the group broke, she was just on the outside, but she did a great job of putting herself in position to be successful."
Albertson held onto the leaders for the entire race and barely fluctuated in position, between 17th and 14th, through the second and fourth splits. Even as the pace quickened and the lead pack of three runners started to break away, Albertson remained composed and managed to take the final all-conference place.
ASU's No. 2 was Alexis Nichols, who ran her best 6K of the season to finish 58th. The time was nearly two minutes better than what she ran at her last outing in Louisville two weeks ago.
Samantha Ortega and 2017 ASU Cross Country Invitational champion Courtney Lewis finished 60th and 61st, respectively, and ASU closed the book on its scoring just eight seconds later when Daan Haven crossed the line in 67th.
"Sam got strep throat at the end of last week and was fighting through a pretty nasty cold this week," Rasmussen said. "She went out and fought, but it got the best of her today. The rest of the women did a good job and followed the race plan. If Sam was with Chelsey where we think she could have been, we would have been at 190 [points], so today was an OK day. We have some work to do if we want to be in the top-half of this conference, but if we can get there, we'll be a top-30 team."
Overall, the Devils finished ninth with 232 points. The result saw the Devils drop the women's cross country Territorial Cup point as the Wildcats took seventh as a team.
The Pac-12 women's team title was won by Colorado, and CU's Dani Jones won the individual title.
In the men's championship race, ASU finished ninth as well with 282 points.
John Reniewicki was the top-finisher once again for the Devils. He started out fast and was near the leaders through the first 800 meters of the meandering course.
Reniewicki finished 66th, and Erik Gonzalez took 72nd to finish as the Sun Devils' No. 2 runner for the first time this season, and score for the fifth consecutive race.
"John went out there with big goals for himself," Rasmussesn said. "He'd been sick for the last week and a half, so with him not having a great race and everyone else performing average, it didn't set us up well."
J.P. Nelson bounced back after pulling up at last weekend's regular season finale to take 76th in Springfield. Alexander Stevens and Michael Renner wrapped up the scoring in 77th and 78th, respectively.
"J.P. raced today and I thought for not running much, he did a decent job," Rasmussen said. "The place isn't indicative of the effort. And with him just coming back, asking him to do that over 10,000 meters [in two weeks] is going to be a bigger challenge."
Arizona finished eighth to take the Territorial Cup point.
The men of Stanford broke Colorado's six-year conference title win-streak, and the Cardinal's Grant Fisher won the individual title.
ASU gets back in action in two weeks in Seattle at the NCAA West Regional Championships.
Pac-12 Cross Country Championships | Springfield, Ore. | Oct. 27, 2017
Women's 6K Results
14. Chelsey Albertson – 19:23.6
53. Alexis Nichols – 20:23.4
61. Samantha Ortega – 20:34.1
62. Courtney Lewis – 20:35.3
67. Daan Haven – 20:43.3
75. Billie Jo Dytrt – 20:54.8
85. Anna Pruter – 21:07.7
92. Angela Saitta – 21:35.0
Men's 8K Results
66. John Reniewicki – 25:30.2
72. Erik Gonzalez – 25:54.5
76. J.P. Nelson – 26:29.9
77. Alexander Stevens – 26:33.6
78. Michael Renner – 26:40.4
79. Jackson Lewis – 26:45.2
81. Nick Dale – 27:51.1
Women's Team Results
1. Colorado – 53
2. Stanford – 71
3. Oregon – 71
4. Washington – 128
5. California – 132
6. Utah – 146
7. Arizona – 186
8. UCLA - 221
9. Arizona State – 232
10. Washington State – 259
11. Oregon State – 263
Men's Team Results
1. Stanford – 41
2. Colorado – 47
3. UCLA – 103
4. Oregon – 109
5. Washington – 114
6. Washington State – 138
7. California – 158
8. Arizona – 234
9. Arizona State – 282