Colorado University Athletics
Buffs Ready For NCAA Cross Country Championships
November 16, 2016 | Cross Country, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Every year, the Colorado cross country teams begin their season in the hot days of August with a cold November day in mind.
It means four months of training and racing, four months of preparing mentally and physically, four months of building to a peak for the one day they know will define their season.
That day comes Saturday, when the Buffs women and men will line up at the NCAA Championships in Terre Haute, Ind., where — to no one's surprise — they will be among the favorites to win another national title.
The CU women, a unanimous No. 1 in the last two national coaches poll, are favored to win a third national title, adding to the trophies collected by the 2001 and 2004 CU women.
The CU men will enter the race as underdogs, carrying a No. 2 national ranking into the race behind No. 1 Northern Arizona, also a unanimous No. 1 in the latest poll. An upset victory would mean a sixth Colorado men's national title, adding to those won in 2002, 2004, 2006, 2013 and 2014.
What happens Saturday is anyone's guess. Upsets happen in cross country, as the CU men found out a year ago when they went into the NCAAs as the nation's top-ranked team all season, only to finish second to Syracuse.
But what is guaranteed is that the Buffs will be as well prepared as any team in the field. While the names on the start lists have changed through the years, the one constant with CU's national championships has been head coach Mark Wetmore and associate head coach Heather Burroughs.
They know the course. By Wetmore's estimation, CU teams have run at Terre Haute roughly 40 times over the years.
They know their team. Throughout the season, they have closely monitored virtually everything possible concerning each of their runners, from nutrition to training mileage to schoolwork to sleep habits.
They know the competition, they know what the weather will likely be (temperatures in the 40s, wind, 50 percent humidity and chances of wet ground from expected rain on Friday) — and perhaps most importantly, they know that no matter how much they plan and prepare, there are still too many variables to guarantee any kind of outcome.
As Wetmore has said more than once, in a sport in which national championships can be determined by a few seconds, results still come down to which team has the best day at the most opportune time.
The Buffs always plan on having their best day.
"Today will be about our last serious workout," Wetmore said at a Tuesday press conference. "When this workout is over, Coach Burroughs and I will gather both the men's and women's teams together and talk about the weather, the conditions, the opponents and explain to them what we think should be their race plan.
"Then, I will tell them that on Saturday morning when we call them together with a different race plan to smile and nod and agree — but don't do it. That's what I've learned in the last 20 years, is the closer we get to the race, the less sane I become and I better do my thinking three or four days out."
Neither team has a runner favored to win a national title.
But the women have an experienced lineup that has dominated competition this year with its depth.
"What makes this women's team special for us is the depth in the talent and the balance of egos," Wetmore said. "They all have room for each other, no one is jealous of each other's success. Whoever ends up the alternate this weekend will be disappointed, but will still be happy to see the other seven run well."
Expected to lead the women's team Saturday will be senior Erin Clark, a two-time All-American who was CU's top runner in three of the Buffs' four main fall races. But she'll be pushed by teammate and returning All-American Kaitlyn Benner as well as Makena Morley and Dani Jones, both of whom have had strong finishes this year.
Before the season began, Wetmore said this women's team had the chance to be one of the best in CU history. If they all run to their abilities on Saturday, they could live up to those expectations.
The men could get a top performance from one five runners. Redshirt freshman Joe Klecker is coming off his best race of the season, when he debuted at the 10K distance and finished third at the NCAA regional, leading all CU runners. The Buffs have also had standout efforts from senior three-time All-American Ben Saarel and sophomore All-American John Dressel, as well as junior Zachary Perrin and sophomore Ryan Forsyth.
"What makes a great team is you have three or four women and men that are so close that anybody could be the leader on any given day," Wetmore said.
NUTS AND BOLTS: The women's 6K race is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. with the men's 10K event set to start at 10 a.m.
A live stream of the event will be available at NCAA.com.
A total of 31 teams and 38 individuals not part of those teams will be participating in each race.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
Players Mentioned
