Colorado Buffaloes Lacrosse clinch inaugural Pac-12 Championship

The Colorado Buffaloes have had a dominant cross country team for a long time, a top-tier skiing program since the 1960s, and the track team has won their fair share of championships, plus of course the 1990 National Championship-winning football team. There may be a new sport that’s getting to that height.

Women’s lacrosse under Ann Elliott has enjoyed a meteoric rise to the top. Now this year, just the fourth year of the program, they clinched a Pac-12 title with a 19-9 victory over Oregon on Friday evening.

This is also the first time the Pac-12 Conference has fielded enough lacrosse teams for a conference group, and CU dominated them all, including a clean sweep of second-place Stanford. In addition to being ranked 13th in the nation, the Buffs’ 9-1 conference record is good enough to have sole ownership of the conference crown. This means that CU will host the conference championships in Boulder, which start next week on April 26.

On a somber note, the Buffs dedicated the season to Julia Sarcona, 21, who tragically died in a car accident in January. She was a senior on the team and was going to graduate with a degree in public relations.

This conference championship could not have meant for the program, on and off the field. If you can support this team, you should. The games are enjoyable, easy to get to (they play at Kittredge Field on the south side of main campus), and it’s great to see them dominate, especially with who they’re playing for.