Stanford

The Cardinal have been led this season by Amy Bunnage, a freshman, but the rest of their roster has a lot of experience.

Zofia Dudek, who was sixth at Pac-12s last year, returns as do their other top five runners from 2022.

The team placed fourth at the Nuttycombe Invitational, which featured most of the nation’s top squads, and is the top-ranked Pac-12 team in the national polls at the fifth spot.

Colorado

The Buffaloes were ranked as high as fifth nationally earlier in the season but have dropped all the way down to 20th after a lackluster performance at Nuttycombe.

To date, Bailey Hertenstein, the 2022 Pac-12 individual champion, has not competed but is still listed on the roster and appears to have eligibility remaining.

The same goes for prize transfers Natalie Cook (from Oklahoma State) and Marlee Striper (from NC State). Junior Emily Covert was third at Pac-12s last year but finished just 42nd at Nuttycombe.

Who will toe the line for Colorado?

Utah

The Utes’ meteoric rise to the top of the Pac-12 ranks culminated in the tie with Colorado last year.

But that appears to be in the rearview mirror this season, as the Utes lost frontrunners Emily Venters and Simone Plourde, second and fifth respectively last year.

Their top runner in 2023 is freshman Anna Peters and the rest of the team is on the young side.

Oregon

Like Colorado, the Ducks have several promising transfers, including Mia Barnett from UCLA, but none have competed to date.

Like Stanford, though, Oregon has an experienced team with five of their 2022 top six back. Oregon is led by Maddy Elmore, who finished second at the recent Pre-Nationals Meet.

Elmore placed just 35th a year ago but has flourished under the coaching of Jerry Schumacher and Shalane Flanagan.

Oregon State

The Beavers come into the Pac-12s with major momentum from their seventh-place team finish at Nuttycombe, where they soundly beat Pac-12 rivals Colorado, Washington, and Utah.

After that showing, OSU moved up 21 spots in the national rankings to number nine.

OSU has the best one-two punch in the conference with seniors Kaylee Mitchell and Grace Fetherstonhaugh.

Mitchell won the Dellinger Invitational in September and was the top Pac-12 runner at Nuttycombe, where she placed fifth.

Washington

The Huskies lost three of their top five runners from last year and Sophie O’Sullivan, their top returnee, has not yet run at last year’s level.

Still, UW is a talented and deep team that was ranked eighth nationally until a 13th place at Nuttycombe resulted in a drop of 11 spots in the rankings.

Chloe Foerster led the squad at Nuttycombe with her 40th-place finish.

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Team Picks

1. Stanford
2. Oregon
3. Oregon State
4. Colorado
5. Washington
6. Utah

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Individual Picks

1. Kaylee Mitchell, OSU
2. Maddy Elmore, Oregon
3. Amy Bunnage, Stanford
4. Grace Fetherstonhaugh, OSU
5. Izzy Thornton-Bott, Oregon
6. Ella Baran, Colorado
7. Emily Covert, Colorado
8. Zofia Dudek, Stanford
9. Chloe Foerster, Washington
10. Anna Peters, Utah

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Steve Ritchie’s Men’s Preview coming on Thursday