CORVALLIS, Ore. –The official start of the postseason sends the Sun Devil cross country squads up to the Pacific Northwest where they will line up for the 2019 Pac-12 Championships Friday in Monmouth, Oregon.
Nine men's teams and 12 women's programs will take to the course at Ash Creek Preserve in what will arguably the deepest fields in the nation this weekend.
"We have to be pretty perfect in terms of race execution on both sides," coach Cory Leslie said. "With the depth of this conference, we've been stressing over the last few weeks that it's going to come down to one or two points to finish where we want to be, and we can't leave any on the table."
More than half of the men's programs set to run for the title on Friday will come into the race ranked in the top-30 or receiving votes, including T-No. 3 Colorado, T-No. 3 Stanford and No. 7 Washington.
The women's race will be even deeper as six of the 12 Pac-12 squads are at least receiving votes, and 10 of the 12 are regionally ranked.
While a pair of Pac-12 titles is on the line for the entire conference, the Devils will be running for something extra as Friday's meet is the first chance to collect two of the six Territorial Cup Series points up for grabs during the cross country and track and field seasons.
Although the women's team is going into it seeking back-to-back wins over the Wildcats for the first time since 2014-15 after claiming the point last year, the men are looking to grab the point for the first time in three seasons.
For the men, taking the point from the Wildcats will start with a front three that's been consistently leading the way all season in Ian Kebenei, Jackson Lewis and true freshman Vincent Mauri.
"This team has gone kind of how Jackson goes," Leslie said. "He's been the guy that I've leaned on heavily to make sure Ian and Vinny get through the early part under control, then from there, it's up to Ian and Vinny to pull Jackson through."
While the men's five scorers have been the same in each of their three outings, the women have had nine different student-athletes finish in the top-five and three different front-runners.
"Any time you're that interchangeable, there's a worry that when you see a teammate pass you by, it can throw you off," Leslie said. "But, we've got a group of women that know where ever they are, the rest of their teammates are doing their jobs and they feed off of that."
The 2019 Pac-12 Cross Country Championships will be broadcast live on the Pac-12 Network, starting with the men's 8K race at 11 a.m. PT, and the women's 6K race to follow at noon.
A full recap and results from ASU's day in Oregon will be available following the races at thesundevils.com.
Nine men's teams and 12 women's programs will take to the course at Ash Creek Preserve in what will arguably the deepest fields in the nation this weekend.
"We have to be pretty perfect in terms of race execution on both sides," coach Cory Leslie said. "With the depth of this conference, we've been stressing over the last few weeks that it's going to come down to one or two points to finish where we want to be, and we can't leave any on the table."
More than half of the men's programs set to run for the title on Friday will come into the race ranked in the top-30 or receiving votes, including T-No. 3 Colorado, T-No. 3 Stanford and No. 7 Washington.
The women's race will be even deeper as six of the 12 Pac-12 squads are at least receiving votes, and 10 of the 12 are regionally ranked.
While a pair of Pac-12 titles is on the line for the entire conference, the Devils will be running for something extra as Friday's meet is the first chance to collect two of the six Territorial Cup Series points up for grabs during the cross country and track and field seasons.
Although the women's team is going into it seeking back-to-back wins over the Wildcats for the first time since 2014-15 after claiming the point last year, the men are looking to grab the point for the first time in three seasons.
For the men, taking the point from the Wildcats will start with a front three that's been consistently leading the way all season in Ian Kebenei, Jackson Lewis and true freshman Vincent Mauri.
"This team has gone kind of how Jackson goes," Leslie said. "He's been the guy that I've leaned on heavily to make sure Ian and Vinny get through the early part under control, then from there, it's up to Ian and Vinny to pull Jackson through."
While the men's five scorers have been the same in each of their three outings, the women have had nine different student-athletes finish in the top-five and three different front-runners.
"Any time you're that interchangeable, there's a worry that when you see a teammate pass you by, it can throw you off," Leslie said. "But, we've got a group of women that know where ever they are, the rest of their teammates are doing their jobs and they feed off of that."
The 2019 Pac-12 Cross Country Championships will be broadcast live on the Pac-12 Network, starting with the men's 8K race at 11 a.m. PT, and the women's 6K race to follow at noon.
A full recap and results from ASU's day in Oregon will be available following the races at thesundevils.com.