Menu
What's new
By:
Filters
AllBuffs | Unofficial fan site for the University of Colorado at Boulder Athletics programs

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

  • Prime Time. Prime Time. Its a new era for Colorado football. Consider signing up for a club membership! For $20/year, you can get access to all the special features at Allbuffs, including club member only forums, dark mode, avatars and best of all no ads ! But seriously, please sign up so that we can pay the bills. No one earns money here, and we can use your $20 to keep this hellhole running. You can sign up for a club membership by navigating to your account in the upper right and clicking on "Account Upgrades". Make it happen!

Men Aim To Repeat, Women Set To Finish High (Cross Country)

RSSBot

RSSBot

News Junkie
Category: Cross Country

CU's top-rated men's cross country team is set to defend their 2013 title on Saturday at the 2014 NCAA Championships in Terre Haute, Ind.

Originally posted by CUBuffs.com
Click here to view the article.


"
BOULDER — The University of Colorado’s top-rated men’s cross country team is set to defend their 2013 title on Saturday, November 22, at the 2014 NCAA Championships in Terre Haute, Ind.


The men enter the meet as the unanimous No. 1 team and have been the undisputed top-ranked team in every poll this season. The women’s team is also looking to do well at the meet and are ranked eighth. This will be the 23rd straight NCAA appearance for men, while it’s the 22nd appearance for the women in 23 years.


“It’s [NCAAs] different every year, as I say every year,” head coach Mark Wetmore said. “This year we happen to be the favorite on the men’s side so that adds a little different flavor to it. No matter what, we’re at the point in the season where the work is done. We’re basically ready to get to it.”


“Everybody is healthy,” Wetmore added. “Everybody who has been healthy is healthy now. The last forecast I saw is that it’d be 40 degrees and a little breezy and rain all day. I wouldn’t say that’s average cross country weather but its normal cross country weather. To expect 50 degrees and sunshine and no breeze would be abnormal. So, it’ll be uncomfortable and that’s good. We like it that way.”


The women’s 6-kilometer race is first and is scheduled for a 10 a.m. (MST) start. The men will run the 10k course second at 11 a.m. (MST) at the Lavern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center. An awards ceremony will follow both races. The meet will be streamed live online at NCAA.com starting at 10 a.m. (http://www.ncaa.com/liveschedule/2014/11/22) and results will be posted there upon the completion of both races.


...
"
 
Last edited by a moderator:
More details on tomorrow’s races

1[SUP]st[/SUP], just to highlight the time, place and coverage (including free live streaming on ncaa.com) for the two (men’s and women’s) races tomorrow, please see the last paragraph quoted in the original post above.


_______________________________________________________

2nd, to slightly modify what was indicated in the above cubuffs article (Coach Wetmore’s quotes were from early in the week), it sounds like the weather may be in line for this to be a relatively quick race with mostly dry and clean conditions. Per http://www.letsrun.com/news/2014/11...coaches-no-fun-mcfarland-usa-winner-syracuse/ :

“Anyone who is a mudder is likely to be disappointed. People who like track but not xc are rejoicing. Why? Well it’s been cold and very windy here this week but it hasn’t rained since Monday, and the course was hard and dry when we visited it yesterday. There were several snowy patches, including the finish area, which had the most snow of any place on the course, but overall the course looks as if it will be relatively fast — as long as it stays dry between now and noon on Saturday.

Weather.com’s forecast for Terre Haute says there is a 30 percent chance of rain tonight but the rainfall doesn’t look like it will be very heavy. Wunderground.com says there will be less than a tenth of inch on rain on Saturday (but more than an inch on Sunday so the race will just miss be swamped). Temps are expected to be 48 degrees for the first race (noon ET) with a wind of 15 mph.

The course is going to almost certainly be very firm and in tons better condition than it was last year, when the start line had to be moved up because the original start area was waterlogged. None of the coaches or athletes we spoke to seemed to be worried about the conditions as most believed that significant rain won’t come until later Saturday afternoon, after the races have been run, if at all.”

_________________________________________________________



Notable finishing position goals for teams and individuals

1) For the team competition, the top 4 teams get to be on the podium.
2) For individuals, the Top 40 in both the men’s and women’s races earn “All American” honors.

_________________________________________________________

Running site and organization race previews

Then, with this being THE National championships, of course the running world has all kinds of previews, so thought I’d link to them in case anyone wants to go in depth before tomorrow morning (in Mountain Time) races. Letsrun.com, flotrack.org, the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) and the NCAA have previews of all 4 “races”- The (a) individual aspect and (b) overall team competition for the (c) men and (d) women.

Men

Men’s Team race previews-

Note- One point I see mentioned often throughout various articles and videos- the last men’s cross country team to be ranked a strong #1 nationally from the 1[SUP]st[/SUP] to last pre-championship races (prior to the Buffs this year) was Wisconsin in 2006, who came in the STRONG favorites to win the championships that year (as the Buffs are favorites this year). The Badgers ended up losing to the Buffs that year, which should illustrate (as if we needed more illustrations from the sports world) that there are NEVER “sure things” in sports at the highest NCAA or pro levels, so the Buffs had better perform at a high level tomorrow to get a victory.

Flotrack.org - http://www.flotrack.org/coverage/25...icle/28738-NCAA-Predictions-Mens-Podium-Teams -(1[SUP]st[/SUP] paragraph (about the Buffs)- “They made history at the Rocky Mountain Shootout, torched the field at Pre-Nats and dropped another low score (30 pts) at Pac-12s to essentially prove that no one would touch them this year. The Buffaloes will cap off a dream season on Saturday in Terre Haute by winning their second consecutive national title.”

Letsrun.com - http://www.letsrun.com/news/2014/11...rk-wetmore-colorado-go-programs-first-repeat/ (Also picking the Buffs to win, but do provide DETAILED scenarios of how they might NOT win, and which other teams might have the talent to beat the Buffs.)

ustfccca.org- http://www.ustfccca.org/2014/11/featured/division-i-mens-team-preview (Lots of paragraphs on the Buffs, and their history. This article had lots of things I didn’t know about the Buffs (granted some of it obviously opinion rather than necessarily fact). Starting with the 1[SUP]st[/SUP] paragraph-

“Throughout the Wetmore era, the Colorado men’s cross country team has been painted by the media as a hard-working, under the radar team of no-names. (Well, as under the radar as you can be after having an iconic book written about you) And they’ve positioned themselves as the antithesis of the dream teams of foreigners and Footlocker winners cobbled together elsewhere in the country; Mark Wetmore told Running Times that he only recruits Americans. The need for narrative, true or otherwise, is the defining lust of the sports fan, and the narrative that’s emerged in the last ten years is pretty unambiguous. Colorado is the Spurs to Oklahoma State or Wisconsin or Oregon’s Heat.
…”)

Ncaa.com (article also discusses individual race)- http://www.ncaa.com/news/cross-coun...o-mens-cross-country-position-win-consecutive

Men’s Individual race previews-

Flotrack.org - http://www.flotrack.org/coverage/25...14/article/28739-NCAA-Predictions-Mens-Top-10 (Sr. Blake Theroux picked to be the one and only Buff in the Top 10, guessed to come in 5[SUP]th[/SUP].)

Letsrun.com- http://www.letsrun.com/news/2014/11...-preview-edward-cheserek-shoots-ncaa-title-5/ (Letsrun picking Theroux for 7[SUP]th[/SUP], again the only individual Buff in the top 10.)

ustfccca.org- http://www.ustfccca.org/2014/11/fea...dividual-preview-can-anyone-dethrone-the-king (Re the Buffs- “One team that hasn’t had an athlete mentioned is Colorado. The last team to win NCAAs without a runner in the top ten was… well, Colorado, in 2006. Jake Hurysz, Ben Saarel (8th overall in 2013, and not the Buffs’ first runner once before or since), and Blake Theroux all have a distinct whiff of top-ten on them; how many will actually do it?.”)

Women-

Note- as the #8 ranked team (in the latest USTFCCCA (coaches’) poll), and with sophomore Erin Clark being the highest ranked individual Buff women (#25 in the most recent Saucony Flo50 rankings), the Buffs aren’t generally mentioned as being favorites for either a team podium (Top 4) finish, or for Ms. Clark or any other Buff’s to end up in the Top 10 individually. However, for those still interested, below are the women’s previews. (Also, as I wrote above, a top 40 finish by Ms. Clark and/ or any other Buff individual runner will garner them “All American” status, obviously a great honor.)

Of course, as I mentioned above the men, anything can happen in a race- so go get a podium finish Buffs!

Re the previews linked to below, Michigan State is the STRONG favorite for the women’s team title, while the individual race is relatively wide open, with as many as 4-5 young women being considered strong enough to win individually depending on the day they have and how the race is run (slow vs. fast pace, etc..). Iona’s Kate Avery is the 1[SUP]st[/SUP] place pick for both Flotrack and Letsrun.

Women’s Team Race
Flotrack.org- http://www.flotrack.org/coverage/25...le/28736-NCAA-Predictions-Womens-Podium-Teams

Letsrun.com- http://www.letsrun.com/news/2014/11/ncaa-xc-womens-preview-can-michigan-state-complete-dream-season/

ustfccca.org- http://www.ustfccca.org/2014/11/fea...s-team-preview-can-anyone-beat-michigan-state (Unlike the other articles, they do at least briefly mention the Buffs- “Other teams in position for a run at the podium include No. 8 Colorado and No. 9 New Mexico, as well as No. 10 Stanford.”)

Ncaa.com (article also discusses individual race)- http://www.ncaa.com/news/cross-coun...an-state-seeks-first-xc-national-championship

Women’s Individual Race

flotrack.org- http://www.flotrack.org/coverage/25...7-NCAA-Predictions-Womens-Top-10#.VG-v6ovF_ng

letsrun.com- - http://www.letsrun.com/news/2014/11...n-crystal-nelson-battle-exciting-womens-race/

ustfccca.org- http://www.ustfccca.org/2014/11/fea...w-who-wins-countrys-most-unsettled-title-race
 
It's championship day- women's race start ~ one hour away!

[tweet]536186852009861120[/tweet]


[tweet]536182432178122752[/tweet]


[tweet]536177117554155520[/tweet]


[tweet]536167370633805824[/tweet]
 
Last edited:
Looks like fun classic/unpredictable cross country weather!

[tweet]536166315397234689[/tweet]




[tweet]536175802199846913[/tweet]




[tweet]536176272570060801[/tweet]




[tweet]536177985175703552[/tweet]
 
[tweet]536201399743549440[/tweet]

[tweet]536198652713512961[/tweet]

[tweet]536198316015763457[/tweet]

[tweet]536194997255946240[/tweet]
 
Last edited:
Looks like favorite Kate Avery taking it out pretty quick. This will not be a sit and kick race, at least not for the field at large.

Erin Clark 1st Buff I saw on the ticker at 2K, around 28st place?

Buffs not showing in top 8 at 2K in team race, but it's obviously VERY early. (Edit- detailed stats showed Buffs at 16th through 2K.)
 
Last edited:
At 4K, Buff's team up to 10th. Erin Clark still 1st Buff at 34rd. She's still in a good size pack, so could end up much higher or lower.

Iona's Kate Avery running away with it for the individual title.
 
Kate Avery from Iona does win in a landslide.

Unofficially, Erin Clark gets 31st, which would qualify her as an All-American!

Of local interest, Niwot's Elise Cranny of Stanford finishes 12th, a great result for a freshman.

Again, everything unofficial at this point (and often seems to change), but Buffs showing in 7th as a team, which would outperform their ranking, and be a solid result for the generally young team.
 
AztecBuff said:
Kate Avery from Iona does win in a landslide.

Unofficially, Erin Clark gets 31st, which would qualify her as an All-American!

Of local interest, Niwot's Elise Cranny of Stanford finishes 12th, a great result for a freshman.

Again, everything unofficial at this point (and often seems to change), but Buffs showing in 7th as a team, which would outperform their ranking, and be a solid result for the generally young team.
Click to expand...

Terrific! Very young team with an awesome showing.
 
As expected, Michigan State is showing with a solid team win (85 points, with 2nd place Iowa State a ways back at 147).

Edit- A little more info re the unofficial team results. Buff's are the 2nd Pac 12 team in, just 18 points behind overall 6th place Oregon. Also, New Mexico, who the Buffs beat in regionals (although New Mexico didn't race everyone that day), had a great race, and are showing with a 3rd place (podium) finish. Congrats to them.

I will re-post if there are changes, but here are the final Buff women's results as they unofficially stand right now:

[SIZE=+3]Colorado[/SIZE]
[SIZE=+1]Place: 7 | Points: 267 | Avg Time: 20:59.9[/SIZE]



RunnerPlaceTimePoints
Erin Clark (SO)3120:37.723
Maddie Alm (JR)5120:53.035
Kaitlyn Benner (FR)8121:06.362
Jenny DeSouchet (JR)9521:11.073
Sara Sutherland (SR)9621:11.474
Annie Kelly (SO)9821:11.976
Mackenzie Caldwell (FR)19521:54.4157
 
Last edited:
:gobuffs: That's the way for the women's team to represent. They are who we thought they are. Solid team effort.
 
Cross country- not a sport for those who can't take pain!

[tweet]536207730248540160[/tweet]
 
7th in the nation is a fantastic result! Especially since I got the feeling all season that the women's team was building for next year.
 
Men's race is ~10 minutes away. NCAA streaming coverage has begun again.

Edit- as the women already showed today (progressing from 16th at 2K to 10th at 4K to 7th at the end), no one should be concerned if the Buff men aren't near the top in points at the 1st couple checkpoints. (If I remember correctly, Buff men might not have been in the top 10 after the 1st checkpoint last year, and ended up winning.)
 
Last edited:
[tweet]536214579668598784[/tweet]

(As I always say, love the well deserving smiles from athletes who have done a great job and given it their all.)
 
Big pack so far. Buff's look to largely be safe in the front (minimizing the chance of getting tripped up in the pack).
 
Connor Winter in a great spot up front five minutes into the race. I hope he does well, as he had a disappointing race at nationals last year. He's a great local kid from Arapahoe who is easy to root for. Go Buffs!
 
At 1st checkpoint, Buffs with the lead and only 102 points. Again, it's still a big pack, so scores don't really mean anything.

Buff's Moussa and Winters look to be one of a few runners setting the (slow) pace from the front.

6 of the 7 Buffs are still in the lead pack, so no issues there.
 
Last edited:
At 2nd checkpoint, Buffs are just behind Oregon (100 to 105). most importantly, still 6 Buffs in the main/ front pack. Still a SLOW pace overall. Stanford also in 3rd, so so far so good for Pac 12 overall.
 
Tight race at the half with the best of the Pac also being the best in the country.
43b4bf12359ea3bf57c8455d523027f7.jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
As announcers have said, hope pace picks up some (as I'm sure it will), as the Buff's strength is depth and long distance strength, so they don't want to be reliant on a slow pace to the end, as that would favor teams that have more runner's who specialize in shorter races (1500M) on the track (like Villanova ), so probably have better kicks than the Buff runners.
 
At last checkpoint, CU up on Stanford by 7 or so points- so CLOSE. 2K left men- take it home!

In the individual race, as expected, Oregon's Cheserek has now put the hammer down and has a decent size lead.
 
Oregon's Cheserek leading
 
Last edited by a moderator:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top