Season in Review: Women’s Cross Country – Stanford Cardinal

FOR THE FIRST 13 seasons of Pac-10/12 women’s cross country, no Stanford individual won an individual conference title. But in the 25 seasons since, the Cardinal won it 12 times. 

As Pac-12 cross country turned super nova, Stanford freshman Amy Bunnage sent the conference out with a bang, winning the individual title while leading the Cardinal to second as a team. 

Stanford leaves as the conference’s all-time winningest women’s team in the sport, capturing 17 titles in Pac-12 history. 

Bunnage, from Melbourne, Australia, was named Pac-12 Women’s Athlete of the Year and Pac-12 Women’s Freshman of the Year. Her conference-winning time of 19:09.7 for 6 kilometers was the fastest by a Cardinal since Ella Donaghu was second at the 2020-21 Pac-12 Championships over the same Chambers Creek Regional Park course in University Place, Washington.

The race quickly separated with Bunnage part of a four-runner leading pack. Oregon State’s Grace Fetherstonhaugh made a move with two kilometers to go, but Bunnage responded to stay on her heels. Then it was Bunnage’s turn, moving decisively into the lead and maintaining her advantage over the final 800 meters. 

Bunnage became Stanford’s first Pac-12 women’s champion since Fiona O’Keeffe led a 1-2-3 Stanford sweep in 2019. O’Keeffe went on to win the Olympic Marathon Trials and will represent the U.S. in Paris this summer. 

At the NCAA West Regionals in Sacramento, Bunnage was second on the team to Lucy Jenks as Stanford won the regional title for the fourth consecutive season and 19th overall. The result catapulted the Cardinal into the NCAA Championships for the 31st consecutive season, an ongoing record for any men’s or women’s Division I program. It was Stanford’s 36th appearance in the NCAA women’s race overall.

Jenks had led the Cardinal once before, in the Florida State Open in 2021. However, this season Jenks was a solid No. 2 behind Bunnage. Jenks was fifth at the Pac-12 Championships, 11th at the West Region race, and 93rd at the NCAA Championships. Freshman Sophia Kennedy was next at NCAA’s, in 95th. Kennedy was the sixth American true freshman in the NCAA field. 

At Panorama Farms in Earlysville, Virginia, the Cardinal placed 12th at the NCAA Championships. Bunnage again led the team, placing 59th. Stanford finished among the top 16 for the 31st consecutive season. Bunnage was the seventh freshman overall. 

For the 22nd time, Stanford’s men’s and women’s teams placed among the top 12 in the same season. This…