For Buffs, Road To Rio Runs Through Champions Center
June 28, 2016 | Track and Field, Neill Woelk
Current, former CU stars reap benefits of Indoor Practice Facility
BOULDER — Beginning Friday, at least 13 athletes with strong University of Colorado ties will compete at the Olympic Track and Field Trials in Eugene, Ore. Their goal will be a berth in the XXXI Olympiad in Rio de Janeiro.
For a number of those Olympic hopefuls, the Road to Rio has traveled through the new University of Colorado Champions Center, a facility that has greatly enhanced their training by providing a dimension to their preparation that did not previously exist.
"I think I'm probably one of the old-school people who would say to be a great runner, all you need is a pair of shoes that doesn't fall apart," said former Buff Jenny Simpson, who will be seeking her third Olympic berth next week in Eugene. "But the IPF has been an experience that has really opened my eyes to the advantages that someone can have by greater facilities. This year, I think it really enhanced my training to a degree I didn't even fully understand until the facility was available to me."
Simpson, who will run the 1,500 meters, is one of eight former and current Buffs who will compete at the trials training under CU coaches Mark Wetmore and Heather Burroughs. The other former Buffs working with Wetmore and Burroughs include Emma Coburn (vying for her second trip to the Olympics in the steeplechase), Shalaya Kipp (also seeking her second Olympic berth in the steeplechase), Jessica Tebo (5,000), Sara Sutherland (1,500) and Aric Van Halen (steeplechase). Also, two current members of the Buffs track team, Erin Clark (steeplechase) and Ben Saarel (1,500) will be making their first Olympic Trials appearances.
Other competitors in Eugene with CU ties will be current CU assistant coach Casey Malone (a two-time discus Olympian who will be competing in his record 21st consecutive U.S. National Championships), Emily Hunsucker (hammer throw), Sara Vaughn (1,500), Laura Thweatt (5,000 and 10,000) and Sara Slattery (10,000).
What the Champions Center Indoor Practice Facility has provided is a guaranteed place to train. In years past, CU athletes — and Olympic hopefuls — have seen their training schedules at the mercy of the weather. Heavy snows, high winds, cold temperatures and icy conditions have either canceled or greatly altered workouts.
That's no longer the case.
"Boulder is a geography that has extremities of weather," Wetmore said. "Every year we lose — either the professionals or collegians — some number of days, or compromise some number of days, due to those extremities. If it's very cold, or very hot, or icy, or raining particularly hard, or in the spring quite windy, our workouts for 20-something years have been changed or compromised or canceled. Now there's no reason to ever have to make a compromise."
Indeed, more often than he would like to remember, Wetmore has found himself shoveling snow off the outdoor Potts Field track so his runners can complete their workouts. And to be fair, Buffs and former Buffs seemed to survive quite nicely under those conditions, as evidenced by the regular number of NCAA All-Americans and Olympic Trials competitors.
But even those athletes who "grew up" under the spartan conditions now freely admit that the Champions Center IPF has enhanced their training.
"I went through the program from 2005 to 2009," said Simpson, who also has a 2011 World Championships gold medal on her resume. "Mark has done a great job showing how a blue-collar team can work really hard and succeed, and you don't need a lot of fancy, shiny things. I think there's a lot of value and character built out of that.
"But you can't replace the advantages of having a facility like the IPF. This year, I think it really enhanced my training to a degree I didn't even understand until the facility was available to me."
Simpson is by no means alone in her assessment of the IPF's advantages. Coburn, another former NCAA champion and the 2012 Olympic Trials champion, said the facility helped keep her healthy this spring.
"For me, it really helped because in the winter we didn't have to go out on the (Boulder) Creek Path and try to do a workout in the snow and ice and slip and sprain our ankles," Coburn said. "It was helpful to me specifically because I had some lower leg injury and it was nice to be protected in a dry facility. In terms of health and safety, it was extremely helpful."
Simpson, who will turn 30 just a few days after the Rio Olympics conclude, said a dependable, safe place to train becomes more important as athletes get older — and she noticed the difference this year. She also noted that the new facility signals a commitment from the university to its student-athletes.
"You can have fast runners without the IPF," Simpson said. "But the investment they've made is a game-changer for health and wellness.
"You can always run outside, you can always run on a treadmill, you can do different things — but as far as athletes having a safe place out of the elements, it's a tremendous advantage. You aren't slipping around on ice, you aren't out sweating in sub-zero temperatures. Those are elements I've worked through for many years in my career, and this year I just had a far healthier winter with fewer tweaks, fewer colds, fewer problems. There's no question in my mind the game-changer was the IPF."
Interestingly enough, CU officials have said that original plans for the IPF did not include an indoor track. Athletic department officials credit Wetmore with pushing for a track once plans for the Champions Center and IPF were started.
"It's been beyond valuable already," said CU Associate A.D. for Business Development Lance Carl. "But if Mark Wetmore had not brought this to (Athletic Director) Rick George's attention, it never would have happened. That's Mark being a visionary, thinking about what we had and what we could do with a new facility. It's already had a big effect and I think you'll see that effect continue to grow."
Wetmore credits CU Senior Associate A.D. Ceal Barry with bringing the track to the administration's attention.
But no matter how the roots began, the outcome has been solid results.
"We still have to train outside in the winter on some days," Coburn said. "That's expected. "But when you look out the window on a track session day and get to say, 'OK, I'm going to the IPF and execute a fast workout,' it's a relief. You don't have to question or worry or change your schedule. It definitely creates a sense of security when you know that track is always there for us."
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
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