MONMOUTH, Ore. – STANFORD graduate student Steven Fahy and COLORADO senior Sage Hurta were named the Pac-12 Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Scholar-Athletes of the Year, the league office announced on Friday prior to the racing of the Conference Championships. The award, which is presented in each of the 24 sports the Pac-12 sponsors, was established to honor collegiate student-athletes who are standouts both academically and in their sports discipline.

Fahy (Carlsbad, Calif.) is currently pursuing his master’s degree in comparative medicine after completing his undergraduate studies in human biology with a focus on sport and exercise physiology last spring with a 3.76 grade-point average. Fahy is slated to compete in his fourth and final Pac-12 Championships on Friday after he helped the two-time defending Conference champion Cardinal capture the 2017 crown with a third-place individual finish to earn First Team All-Pac-12 accolades. He followed that up with third place at the NCAA West Regional to earn All-Region honors for the second straight year before going on to garner First Team All-America status with a 17th-place showing at the 2017 NCAA Championships. Fahy was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America Second Team for 2018-19, has twice earned recognition on the USTFCCCA Cross Country All-Academic Team (2016, 2017) as well as three selections to the Pac-12 All-Academic Second Team in the sport (2016-18). Fahy is the league-leading sixth Stanford recipient of the Men’s Cross Country Scholar-Athlete of the Year since the award’s creation in 2007.

Hurta (Hamilton, N.Y.), a chemical and biological engineering major with a 3.98 grade-point average, is the third Colorado woman in the past four years (Kaitlyn Benner 2017, Erin Clark 2016) to be selected the Pac-12 Cross Country Scholar-Athlete of the Year honor. The three awards ties CU with Oregon and Stanford for the most in league history since the award’s creation in 2007. Hurta is a three-time NCAA Cross Country All-American (2016-18) whose career-best 22nd-place finish helped the Buffaloes win the 2018 NCAA Championship. She also helped CU win a pair Pac-12 Championships (2016, 2017), highlighted by Second Team All-Pac-12 honors with a ninth-place showing in 2017. Hurta has twice earned recognition on the Pac-12 All-Academic First Team (2017, 2018) and three times on the USTFCCCA All-Academic Team (2016-18) in the sport.

In order to be eligible for the Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year award, student-athletes must be a senior (in athletics eligibility) on track to receive a degree, have a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher, participate in at least 50 percent of the scheduled contests in the sport and have a minimum one year in residence at the institution. Each Pac-12 institution may nominate one individual per sport, and the winners are selected by a committee of Pac-12 staff members at the conclusion of each sport’s regular season. The athletics accomplishments of the nominees are a consideration in voting for the award.

A Scholar-Athlete of the Year will be named in each of the Pac-12’s 24 sponsored sports: baseball, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, beach volleyball, men’s cross country, women’s cross country, football, men’s golf, women’s golf, women’s gymnastics, women’s lacrosse, men’s rowing, women’s rowing, men’s soccer, women’s soccer, softball, men’s swimming & diving, women’s swimming & diving, men’s tennis, women’s tennis, men’s track & field, women’s track & field, women’s volleyball, and wrestling. The award was first established during the 2007-08 academic year.

Both Fahy and Hurta are entered to compete at the 2019 Pac-12 Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Championships on Friday, Nov. 1 at Ash Creek Preserve in Monmouth, Ore. For the third straight year, the Pac-12 Cross Country Championships will be broadcast live on Pac-12 Networks with the men's race beginning at 11:00 a.m. PT, followed by the women’s race at 12:00 p.m. PT. For more information on the Pac-12 Championships and for live updates, please visit pac-12.com/xcchamps.

ALSO NOMINATED:
Men – Joe Klecker, COLO; James West, ORE; Millen Trujillo, UCLA; Mick Stanovsek, WASH; Cameron Dean, WSU.

Women – Jordyn Colter, CAL; Phily Bowden, ORE; Fiona O’Keeffe, STAN; Anna Busatto, UTAH; Katie Rainsberger, WASH; Josie Brown, WSU.