The CU ski team rallied in a big way on the final day of the NCAA Championships in Vermont to claim its 19th national title in the sport and second in the last three years. Seven of those 19 championships have come under head coach Richard Rokos, who tied former ski coach聽Bill Marolt聽(Bus鈥�67), who later served as athletic director.
鈥淭hat was my goal originally, to reach what Marolt accomplished in seven years,鈥� Rokos says jokingly. 鈥淚t took 23 years, but you know, seven isn鈥檛 my lucky number, so I鈥檒l keep going.鈥�
Down 54 points entering the final day, the Buffs posted the biggest final-day comeback by a champion in NCAA finals history.
厂别苍颈辞谤听Joanne Reid聽won the women鈥檚 15K Nordic freestyle, followed immediately by teammate聽Eliska Hajkova.听Rune Oedegaard聽helped in the men鈥檚 20K Nordic freestyle with a runner-up showing. Earlier in the meet, he won the 10K Nordic Classical event.
Reid鈥檚 mother, onetime speed-skating and cycling world champion Beth Heiden, won an NCAA cross country ski title for Vermont in 1983.
The NCAA national title was CU鈥檚 25th overall, with five in cross country and one in football.
That weekend men鈥檚 golf claimed a team championship at the Bandon Dunes tournament, tennis won its first Pac-12 dual and in track聽Emma Coburn聽clinched CU鈥檚 first NCAA indoor mile title.
Photo courtesy Colorado Athletics
