Regional Title Sweep – Stanford University Athletics

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The Stanford men’s and women’s cross country teams swept the NCAA West Regional team titles for the third consecutive year on Friday with Ky Robinson capturing the men’s individual championship at Haggin Oaks Golf Complex.

For the 30th consecutive season, the Cardinal will send both their men’s and women’s teams to the NCAA Championships, to be held Saturday, November 18, in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Needing to finish among the top two teams to earn an NCAA automatic berth, Stanford won both races in the same year for the 12th time. It was the 19th regional title for the Stanford women and 18th for the men. This will mark the 31st consecutive NCAA Championships appearance for the women and 30th for the men. 

Robinson, the Pac-12 cross country champion and a two-time NCAA track champion, led comfortably throughout the race on the 10-kilometer (6.21-mile) men’s course. He finished in 28:55.6 for a nearly four-second victory over Portland’s Matt Strangio. Robinson’s time was the fastest at a regional hosted in Sacramento, breaking the previous best of Washington’s Kieran Lumb (29.28.5) in 2021.

Cole Sprout (29:07.0) was fourth and Robert DiDonato (29:16.2) seventh. Freshman Leo Young, competing in his first race since September 23, was the Cardinal’s No. 4 runner, in 26th place. Evan Burke followed in 35th as the final scoring Cardinal runner.

Stanford, ranked No. 10 nationally and No. 2 in the West Region behind Cal Baptist, scored 73 points to win. Gonzaga placed second with 98, followed by Portland (125) and Cal Baptist (125). 

Robinson became Stanford’s first individual men’s champion since Maksim Korolev won at Stanford Golf Course in 2014. This was the ninth victory by a Stanford male and accomplished by eight different runners overall. 

The Stanford men, the Pac-12 champion, trailed conference foe Washington at 1.5 miles, 59-77, before taking the lead by the 3.1 mile checkpoint, thanks to a big move by DiDonato, who moved up 12 places, and Sprout, who moved up four. 

At 3.6, Stanford held a slim lead on Gonzaga, 81-83. But while Stanford runners maintained their places or moved up, others teams were unable to do so and the Cardinal extended its lead throughout the rest of the race. 

The Stanford women, ranked No. 7 nationally and No. 1 in the West, led at every checkpoint and won handily, scoring 77 points to 109 for runner-up Oregon. 

Lucy Jenks was Stanford’s top finisher, placing 11th in 19:42.7 over the 6K (3.73-mile)…