Colorado Finishes Championships With Three All-Americans

STILLWATER, Okla. — The University of Colorado cross country programs closed out the 2022 season here Saturday morning with three All-American finishes as the men finished eighth and the women finished 11^th overall.
 
The highlight of the day came from Pac-12 Champion Bailey Hertenstein who made a massive move in the final 400 meters to go from 16^th to fifth with a time of 19:45.1. Hertenstein led the way for CU most of the race, moving from 30^th in the first 2000 meters to 16^th for the second half. Coming up the final hill into the turn, Hertenstein charged from the late teens, then cresting the hill to the final downhill she passed 11 runners, including numerous All-Americans like Alabama’s 5,000 national champion Mercy Chelangat.
 
“I think she was 12th with 500 to go,” said head coach Mark Wetmore on Bailey’s finish and future. “She needs to continue to gain confidence. Continue to get fitter. She’s back with us next year. So she’s going to be a real force in a year. We’ve only had her since August really. She will sit out indoor season probably because she only has one left. Which means she now has five or six months to do excellent uninterrupted training. She can be an even better runner by May, than she is now and then keep getting better all through next year.”
 
Fellow grad transfer Ella Baran also finished her first season in the black and gold as an All-American, passing 20 athletes in the final 700 meters to finish 30^th in 20:09.2. Baran started the race in the middle of the pack around 80^th, then moved up to 54^th at the 4,000m mark before blasting to an All-American finish.
 
The Buffs stuck to their game plan and had a number of strong finished. Gabrielle Orie was 169^th in the first third of the race, then caught 22 runners or more at every kilometer to finish 78^th in 20:29.0. Emily Covert battled through a lower leg injury and finished 105^th in 20:39.0, followed by Kaitlyn Barthell placing 129^th in 20:47.6.
 
Also for the Buffaloes, Alisa Meraz-Fishbein finished 228^th in 21:44.8 and Whitney Valenti finished 234^th in 21:52.0.
 
The women matched their incoming ranking, scoring 286 points to finished 11^th. The Buffaloes were the top finishing Pac-12 school, upsetting Utah, Stanford and Oregon who were all ranked higher than CU in the final poll. NC State defended their title, finishing with 114…