When the season began, CU cross country coach Mark Wetmore didn鈥檛 mince words when he voiced his expectations for this year鈥檚 CU women鈥檚 team.
"Frankly I think it might be our best team ever,鈥� Wetmore said. 鈥淲e expect to finish very high in the national championships.鈥�
Considering Wetmore has coached two national championship women鈥檚 teams (2000 and 2004), and last year鈥檚 team finished second in the NCAA championships, that is no small set of expectations. But given the fact the latest national rankings had the Buffs a unanimous No. 1 pick in the nation, it鈥檚 also not an unreasonable projection.
鈥淥n Nov. 1, that鈥檚 still an accurate statement,鈥� CU associate head coach Heather Burroughs said Tuesday of Wetmore鈥檚 preseason prognostication. 鈥淗opefully on Nov. 20, it will still be accurate.鈥�
Nov. 20, of course, would be one day after the NCAA Championships in Terre Haute, Indiana, where the Buffs hope to add to their already healthy collection of NCAA titles鈥攁nd, so far, the Buffs are on the right path.
Last weekend, the Colorado women dominated the Pac-12 championships鈥攃onsidered to be among the toughest conferences in the nation鈥攂y running away with the team title for the second year in a row. CU finished with just 33 points, 41 ahead of rival Washington, which entered the race as the nation鈥檚 second-ranked team, while the CU men won their sixth consecutive conference title.
Individually, the CU women had the second-, third- and fourth-place finishers in Erin Clark, Dani Jones and Kaitlyn Benner; as well as the ninth (Makena Morley), 15th (Sage Hurta), 16th (Mackenzie Caldwell) and 17th (Melanie Nun) runners. Those finishes helped CU record the third-largest margin of victory in conference history.
But those results by no means have come as a surprise. Wetmore and Burroughs have watched the development of these Buffs over the last two years and have seen the potential this group has had.
鈥淚n the last three years we鈥檝e been seventh, seventh and second in the NCAA [championships],鈥� Burroughs said. 鈥淭hirteen months ago, I was saying this is a very good women鈥檚 team. But I knew the next year we were going to be at another level. I could see it happening; Mark could see it happening. We鈥檙e very pleased with the success we鈥檙e having, but we鈥檙e not surprised.鈥�
Indeed, this year鈥檚 women鈥檚 team is the product of a culture that has been developed over the long haul by Wetmore and Burroughs.
鈥淚 think CU has always had a culture we could be proud of鈥攂ut this women鈥檚 team in particular has taken it to another level,鈥� Burroughs said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 absolutely been a process. We have talented runners;听we鈥檝e been lucky in that we鈥檝e stayed pretty healthy and many of our runners have years of good, uninterrupted training.
鈥淏ut most of all, I think we just have some really righteous, hard-working, happy people鈥攁nd happy is an important part of that.鈥�
What鈥檚 quite clear is the Buffs believe in their coaching staff. They are willing to invest in a process built on dedication and discipline, because they have听seen what kind of returns such an investment can produce. Since 2000, CU has won seven men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 national championships, and just last summer听CU鈥檚 runners saw two Buffs from those teams collect bronze medals at the Rio Olympics.
鈥淭he head coach sets the tone, sets the ethic,鈥� Burroughs said. 鈥淚f you have a coaching staff that is competent and confident, you don鈥檛 have to have the athletes making a lot of decisions. That culture and ethic begins with Mark, and it spreads throughout the team.鈥�
Burroughs pointed to last summer as an example. Wetmore had to miss the first couple of days of CU cross-country practice because he was in Rio,听coaching Jenny Simpson and Emma Coburn to their bronze medals.
鈥淏ut as soon as the events ended there, he called and said, 鈥業 cannot wait to get home to my cross-country team,鈥欌�� Burroughs recalled. 鈥淗e鈥檚 relentless听and he鈥檚 totally invested;听and as a result, the team has become relentless and totally invested.鈥�
One big part of Wetmore鈥檚 and Burroughs鈥� philosophy includes teaching life lessons, as well as how to run fast鈥攁nd that includes excelling in the classroom.
Last fall, the CU women had the highest team GPA of any CU sport that competes in the fall, producing a 3.389 grade-point average. Last week, at the same time the Buffs were sweeping the men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 Pac-12 titles on the course, they were also sweeping the conference鈥檚 scholar awards, as Clark and Ben Saarel were named the women鈥檚 and men鈥檚 Pac-12 Cross Country Scholar Athletes of the Year.
Clearly, the discipline and dedication required to be a national-class distance runner translate directly to the classroom.
鈥淥ne usually complements the other,鈥� Burroughs said. 鈥淚n general, there鈥檚 a maturity and an ethic with our team. That鈥檚 more of what we preach. We don鈥檛 have to give them speeches about going to class and taking school seriously. We鈥檙e lucky that this is an academically-motivated group.鈥�
The goal is to send their runners out into the world equipped to succeed as more than 鈥渏ust鈥� competitive runners, Burroughs said.
"Our message to them is:听'Are you becoming the person you want to be? We are preparing you so that, at age 23, you don鈥檛 go home and move into your parents鈥� basement. That鈥檚 our primary job here . . . to have you ready for grown-up life and your degree in hand.'"
But another rather important part of the CU coaching staff鈥檚 job is to win championships, and the Buffs are now headed toward the most important part of their season. They will next compete in the NCAA Mountain Regional on Nov. 11 in Logan, Utah, then head to the Nov. 19 NCAA Championships in Terre Haute.
鈥淲hat our women have done in training, what they鈥檝e done in racing, it鈥檚 fair to compare them if not elevate them over our previous teams,鈥� Burroughs said. 鈥淣ow, our job as coaches is to help them continue on that path."
