Colorado University Athletics
Ski Team In Washington D.C.
April 06, 2006 | Skiing
    WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The University of Colorado ski team, crowned national champions for the 17th time last month, is one of eight teams in the nation's capital this week to be honored Thursday, April 6, as part of the annual celebration for National Student-Athlete Day.
    The Buffaloes' travel party arrived here Wednesday afternoon. Members of the program did some afternoon shopping and sight-seeing, and then joined a few members of CU's Washington D.C. alumni group for an early evening reception.
    Afterwards, the group, including athletic director Mike Bohn, head coach Richard Rokos, assistant coaches Jed Schuetze and Daniel Weinberger, support personnel and the entire ski team roster of 27 student-athletes walked the Washington mall, taking in the new World War II Memorial area, finishing at the Lincoln Memorial and taking group photos along the way. Temperatures were in the upper 40s on a crisp, partly cloudy evening, and the entire group was "in awe of the beauty of our nation's capital," Rokos said.
    "This is something I never imagined," Rokos added. "And it's something none of us will ever forget. We have had a good time so far, and visiting the memorials was awesome, and emotional to many." The trip has special meaning to Rokos, who escaped a communist Czechoslavakia in 1980, eventually relocating in the United States and permanently in Colorado in 1982.
    "This is a great reward for these kids, it is really enjoyable to watch them take in a very special and memorable conclusion to a great year of success," Bohn said.
    The team joins the other schools being honored Thursday at the White House at 1:00 p.m. (EDT), where they will meet with President George Bush at 1:30, take photos, and then be seated on the White House south lawn for the ceremony. Rokos and the team will present Bush with a personalized team jacket and photo.
NOTE: CUBuffs.com hopes to post photos and video at some point. Photos with the president can be taken by only by the White House staff photographer, and anything we receive will be posted as soon as possible. SID David Plati, also on the trip, has made arrangements for a member of the Baltimore Ravens video staff to shoot the event, and that will be placed on the website in the near future (a big thanks to former CU SID staffer Patrick Gleason, now with the Ravens, to make this happen).
