Rams Set For Pac-12 Championships - Colorado State Athletics

FORT COLLINS – The conference has changed and so have some of the teams. Other challengers remain the same, as do the goals Colorado State's cross country teams will carry into the Pac-12 Championships on Friday in Boise, Idaho.

"It is a lot of teams that we've seen in the Mountain West before, or we've seen out at the Mountain Region, or just at other invitationals. So, some of those familiar rivalries we're really excited to race again," CSU coach Kelly Voelz said. "But it's the same approach for us. Championships means so much to us here, and so it's an opportunity to go and try to compete for a title.

"Whether it's at Mountain West or Pac-12, it doesn't change how CSU feels going into a championship season."

For the rebuilt Pac-12, these become the first two championships handed out when the men's and women's team and individual winners are crowned Friday, Oct. 30 at Warm Springs Golf Course. The women's race starts at 10:30 a.m., with the men scheduled to race at 11:30 a.m. Live results will be available for both races, which will be streamed by the league.

There are no ranked teams in the Pac-12, with Washington State's men receiving votes in the coaches poll. Utah State's men rank seventh in the Mountain Region, while the Rams are 11^th. In the West, the Cougars are fifth, Boise State eighth and Gonzaga 10^th. As for the women, the West region finds Washington State (first), Gonzaga (fifth), Oregon State (sixth) and Boise State (seventh) all highly regarded, with Utah State and Colorado State sitting 8-9 in the Mountain.

Colorado State prepped for the event at the Pre-National Invitational earlier this month, with the women 23^rd as a team, the men 29^th in a deep field filled with national contenders. Catherine Garrison, who has built up from an injury at the end of the outdoor track season, posted a career-best time of 20:38.9 in the 6K race.

"I'm just really excited, and I'm very proud of the fact that we're extending," Garrison said of the women's squad. I feel like it was a little bit nerve-wracking coming into the season and having taken a long period of time off, but I was pretty happy with my performance at Pre-Nat. I'm really excited to get into the Pac-12, and I feel like the women's team as a whole has been building really well throughout the season. I think we're all just kind of riding the momentum going into the race."

Ruby Schwelm was not far behind Garrison in the race, and the Rams will have an experienced roster of runners at the line when the gun goes off at the start as Tatum Berg, Shea Volkmer, Allison Pippert and Amrie Lacefield all were part of the 2025 conference team.

The men also have some returning conference legs, just not as many. What they do have is a bit of confidence heading into the race based on results, as well as a bit of brotherhood built over the course of the season.

"I feel like the guys, we've got a really good team chemistry going right now. We've got a lot of traditions we do," said Ryan Schumacher, who along with Parker Westerman Jonas Scudamore and Chris Henry, has conference experience. "The van ride over, we play the same songs, and the last one we play before we get to the meet, I think that's something we've been doing for a really long time. And something we kind of started doing this year, we would do some intros, kind of what basketball players would do. We would announce it, and people would be like, 'starting at the 1 …', and that's just kind of a way to lift everyone's spirits a little bit, because the mental side, it can be really hard out there.

"It's tough. It's a battle, it's a grind. Everyone's always super nervous going into it, so trying to find little ways to get everybody to lift their spirits a little bit, get a little pressure off the shoulders, just kind of remind them this is fun, it's a privilege to get to do this. You get to go out there, you get to race with all your teammates, and you can't ask for anything more than that."

Voelz has seen her teams take different paths to reach this point, each one beneficial in their own way. The course will be new for all of them, but they will have the day prior to scout out what they need to know, such as which turns will require a certain position heading in, any potential pitfalls such as puddles and the straightaways where one can seek the space to make a move.

Most important to the coach is the mental state of mind for her squads, and in that regard, she's confident as well.

The women started the season in a rough spot, and we had a lot of people come back with injuries, and things have really gone about as well as you could hope with everyone's recovery back," Voelz said. "Truly every race has been a big step forward, and then there have just been a couple of key workouts where you've really started to see pieces coming together. Our final big workout before conference this past Wednesday was just the best the team has looked all season.

"I just love to have the positive momentum, and the guys have been a little bit more up and down while this season's a whole huge step forward from last year. The usual growing pains of we have a lot of freshmen who are racing on our varsity squad, and a lot of guys who might be a junior, but it's their first season traveling and racing in a jersey. The years we've run our best are when people are just really excited for the opportunity and ready and just run super hard for their teammates. They're ready and in a spot where they're super proud to represent CSU, and ready to lay it all out there this weekend."

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Players Mentioned

Tatum Berg

Catherine Garrison

Chris Henry

Amrie Lacefield

Allison Pippert

Ryan Schumacher

Ruby Schwelm

Jonas Scudamore

Shea Volkmer