CU's Jones To Race Against Simpson, Coburn In Boston
February 08, 2018 | Track and Field, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — It has already been a big month for Colorado junior Dani Jones.
It's about to get even bigger this weekend.
Jones last weekend ran the fastest mile ever by a woman on Colorado soil when she clocked a 4:36.05 in the Colorado Invitational, a time that turned heads around the nation, especially because it came at altitude. It was also the third-fastest fastest time ever by a Buff woman, trailing only Olympic and World Championships medalists Jenny Simpson and Emma Coburn.
Now, Jones will take the competition level up a notch — actually, several notches — when she competes Saturday in the New Balance Grand Prix 3,000 in Boston. When she puts her toe on the starting line there, she will be lining up against a stellar field of international competitors — including Simpson and Coburn.
Jones will be the only collegian in the race.
"It's going to be fun — but a little nerve-wracking," Jones said. "I'm out there with professionals from all over, some of the best in the world. But for me, there's no pressure to win. I think if I just enjoy my first experience running with people like that in that type of environment, it will be a good experience."
The meet comes at a perfect time for Jones. Originally, she would have been competing this weekend in the Husky Invitational in Washington, where she was scheduled to run a 3,000. But when CU coaches Heather Burroughs and Mark Wetmore noticed that the New Balance meet and the Husky Invite were the same weekend, the chance to give Jones a taste of world-class competition couldn't be ignored.
"We thought she could be competitive without being the headliner, they're on the same day and there's no change to her training schedule," said Burroughs, who will accompany Jones to Boston. "Now she just gets on a plane and goes east instead of west. It seemed like a good match."
Jones has established herself as one of the top middle-distance and distance runners in the nation. A year ago, she won the NCAA Indoor Championships 3,000 title, along with running the anchor leg on the winning distance medley relay team. She then finished fifth in the NCAA Outdoor 1,500 before claiming a Pac-12 cross country title in the fall and a 10th-place finish in the NCAA Championships.
But Saturday, she won't be among the favorites by any stretch. That designation will go to Simpson and Coburn, two runners Jones has gotten to know well in her time at CU (Simpson still regularly trains with the Buffs).
Jones said her goal will simply be to run a "good" race and get her first taste of international competition.
"I'm going to have a lot more experiences like that I hope," she said. "But it should give me a feel for it, what it's like to run in a race with people you hardly know and people who are way better than the you."
Still, there's little doubt that CU's coaches believe Jones could someday be competing regularly at the international level — and the only way to discover what that entails is through experience.
"I'm sure it's the first time in college that she's lined up as the only collegian," Burroughs said. "There's value to that. She can put her toe in the waters of the next level and she can have the spotlight off of her. Both of those things should be good for her continued development."
One benefit of the Boston race is that it is contested on a 200-meter banked track — the same kind of track the Buffs will compete on in the NCAA Championships.
"We rarely run on those until we get to a championship meet," Burroughs said. "The NCAA Championship or USA championship will always be on a 200-meter banked track. We have a 300 flat here, Washington is a little over 300 flat. It's not critical, she was certainly successful running last year without having run on a 200-meter banked track. But it will be helpful. Running with the crowd is different, running the turns is different. So that's a little bonus."
Jones said she has already benefited from her relationship with Simpson and Coburn, both of whom have been very willing to offer advice on everything from training to the time management issues student-athletes face.
"Jenny is around here a lot and is a big help and Emma's still in Colorado (Coburn now trains in her hometown of Crested Butte)," Jones said. "It's really helpful and means a lot from people of that stature."
Some of their best advice, she said, has been to simply be patient.
"They have had long careers and had every injury or issue in the book," Jones said. "They have succeeded in so much … be patient and enjoy every bit of it."
But Jones also knows that their friendship won't matter once the gun goes off. Asked if she might just for the fun of it engage in a little pre-race trash talk, she laughed.
"Absolutely not," she said. "I'll beg for mercy."
The New Balance Indoor Grand Prix will be shown live on the NBC Sports Network from 3 to 5 p.m. Saturday. The women's 3,000 is scheduled to start at 4:32 p.m.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
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