Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
at Big 12 Championships
CROSS COUNTRY SWEEPS BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIPS
October 31, 2003 | Cross Country
AUSTIN, Texas ? Paced by individual wins by sophomore Dathan Ritzenhein and Natalie Florence, the fourth-ranked Colorado men's cross country team, and ninth-ranked women's teams successfully defended all four Big 12 Championship races, the Buffs' fifth-straight sweep of both team and both individual contests on the Barton Creek Lakeside Golf Course here Friday morning.
The men had four of the race's top-10 finishers, and the women all five scorers in the top-20 for the dominant wins.
“Overall these are tough conditions for us,” said head coach Mark Wetmore on the 80 degree temperatures and equal humidity. “We had to modify our race plan. It's not our intention to run conservative, but we had to today. But despite the weather, we ran very well today.”
He was not surprised that Ritzenhein and Florence made the statements that they did with their individual wins today, “With Natalie finishing third here a year ago and Dathan second in 2001, their presence up front was not unexpected.”
Colorado redshirt sophomore Dathan Ritzenhein extended CU's streak of individual men's titles to seven, when he crossed the finish line in 24 minutes, 11 seconds, a comfortable 14 seconds ahead of runner up and pre-race threat Paul Morrison (24:25) of host Texas who finished nine seconds ahead of Buff sophomore Billy Nelson (24:34). Both Ritzenhein and Nelson claimed career best conference finishes as Ritzenhein was the individual runner-up two years ago and Nelson, fifth last year.
“It feels great to win after finishing second two years ago and taking last year off,” said Ritzenhein. “I thought we finished where we should. It's a very important race and CU always wants to win Big 12s. We thought we'd have a couple of guys finish higher, but we're happy with how it turned out.
Despite Ritzenhein taking the lead at the 2-k mark, but it was a four-man race as Ritzenhein couldn't shake Morrison and Oklahoma State's Mindaugas Pukstas, while Nelson was right behind the three. The four ran as a pack until the last two kilometers, when approximately 20-m separated each of the four.
“He (Paul Morrison) definitely made it an interesting meet,” he said on the runner-up. “I could still feel him hitting my shoe at the 6k mark, but when I didn't feel or hear him, I began to open it up.”
“I was real happy with my finish,” said Nelson. “I really wanted to go 1-2 with Dathan, as we've done the last two years, but I pushed too hard to start the race. I was hoping for all five guys in thetop-10, but we got four. We knew we'd be pushed from the start in this race, so we've been practicing getting off the line quick and settling down.”
The Buffs took the team title with 38 points off four runners in the top-10, all five (all freshmen and sophomores) scorers among the top16 finishers. Freshman Brent Vaughn (24:57) paved the way for CU's future with an eighth place finish, followed by Bret Schoolmeester (25:09) in 10th and Casey Burchill (25:21) rounding out CU's scoring efforts in 16th.
Jon Severy (25:31) made it six runners in the top-20, ahead of Payton Batliner (25:40) who finished 26th and Jared Scott (25:55) who finished 33rd.
“I felt pretty good out there, but was outkicked at the finish,” said Vaughn on his first conference championship race. “A few of us got off course and lost a second or two, but it wasn't a big deal. It was a pretty descent race" I just need to work on finishing.”
The women's team and individual race picture was much clearer with a Buff in the lead, and its top three runners among the top-10 the entire 6k loop.
Big 12 Newcomer of the Year Renee Metivier took the early lead and held on until halfway through the race when teammate Natalie Florence took over. The two ran together through the 4k mark when Metivier dropped a few places, but never lower than fifth. With the race in hand for Florence, Metivier worked her way back up to the front and closed the gap on Missouri's Amanda Bales with a half mile to go, before really making a push with 200-m left in the race.
Big 12 Women's Individual Champion Natalie Florence
Just 16 seconds separated CU's top three finishers as Florence won her first collegiate race in 21 minutes, 25 seconds, 11 seconds ahead of Metivier (21:34), who finished just a pair of ticks ahead of Bales (21:36) while Kalen Toedebusch crossed the finish line in fourth (21:41). In her first race as a Buff, Laura Zeigle finished 18th (22:33) and Christine Bolf 20th (22:35).
“Our goal was to defend all four titles, and we did that today,” said Florence. “It was a hard race the whole time. I made my move at 3k and no one else decided to move with me and I was able to hold on for the last 3k.”
“I ran a pretty smart race today. It just wasn't my day,” said Metivier. “But I'm real proud of Natalie and proud that she's my roommate.”
Kendall Grgas-Wheeler (23:13) finished a career best 37th this morning while Jackie Zeigle (23:52) finished 52nd. The women's 45-points was 31 ahead of Baylor (76) and Missouri (88), both considered threats to CU's sweep prior to the race.
“Kalen ran a wonderful race today, and I was glad to welcome back Laura Zeigle to the start line,” said Wetmore on his surprises of the day. He added, “Brent Vaughn"that was a real nice step for him. And Renee has been coming up and coming up" I was hoping for a dive at the finish with her (in front of a hometown crowd) and Natalie.”
Both rosters of nine will be shaved to seven over the next two weeks before the Buffs continue their postseason schedule at the NCAA Mountain Region Championships, the national qualifying race, Nov. 15 in Riverdale, Utah.
2003 BIG 12 CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS
Barton Creek Lakeside Golf Course (Austin, Texas)
MEN'S TEAM SCORES: 1. COLORADO 38-points; 2. Oklahoma State 91; 3. Texas A&M 119; 4. Kansas 135; 5. Baylor 141; 6. Texas 150; 7. Oklahoma 154; 8. Missouri 161; 9. Kansas State 231; 10. Texas Tech 252; 11. Iowa State 282; 12. Nebraska 341.
TOP 10 FINISHERS: 1. Dathan Ritzenhein, CU, 24:11; 2. Paul Morrison, UT, 24:25; 3. Billy Nelson, CU, 24:34; 4. Mindaugas Pukstas, OSU, 24:45; 5. Matthew Chesan, KSU, 24:51; 6. Jason Woolhouse, OSU, 24:53; 7. Siverus Kimeli, OU, 24:56; 8. Brent Vaughn, CU, 24:57; 9. Matt Chance, BU, 25:00; 10. Bret Schoolmeester, CU, 25:09 OTHER CU FINISHERS: 16. Casey Burchill, 25:21; 20. Jon Severy, 25:31; 26. Payton Batliner, 25:40; 33. Jared Scott, 25:55; 69. Matt McCue, 27:17
WOMEN'S TEAM SCORES: 1. COLORADO 45-points; 2. Baylor 76; 3. Missouri 88; 4.Texas Tech 117; 5. Texas 124; 6. Nebraska 149; 7.Kansas State 171; 8. Texas A&M 194; 9. Oklahoma 211; 10. Kansas 223; 11. Iowa State 310; 12. Oklahoma State 358.
