Colorado University Athletics
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Cross Country Starts Strong At Time Trial
September 01, 2007 | Cross Country
The men's race was first at 8:30 a.m. and the CU men took six of the top eight spots. As usual, seniors Stephen Pifer and Brent Vaughn helped to lead the team, but senior Pete Jason took second overall and was the top CU harrier. Janson completed the 8,000-meter loop in 26:38. Pifer was fourth, just one second behind Pifer and Vaughn was fifth with the same time.
“The course was faster today than it has been at pervious time trials,” Vaughn said. “Everyone ran really well. We knew we had a fit team coming in. A few guys we expected to be a bit higher up weren't, but a few we didn't expect to be that high up were. I think overall it was really good.”
“I felt like we had a good group,” Pifer said. “Everyone was chit-chatting it up out there and nobody seemed like they were too uncomfortable at that pace. This is kind of a workout for us and I think we got done what we needed to and got some good information for the season.”
CU uniforms also filled out the sixth through eighth spots. Sophomore Kenyon Neuman was sixth, running 26:39. Junior Chris Pannone was seventh (26:39) and senior Rob Thayer was eighth (26:44).
Richard Medina, a freshman at CU, ran unattached in the time trial.
“It feels pretty good and felt like a really good run,”
The women, who ran at 9:15, had a similar finish to the men. Six of the top 10 places where CU uniforms and the other four top 10 finishers were CU harriers who were unattached for the meet.
Junior Jennifer Hooper was third overall and finished the 5,800-meter course in 23:07. Sophomore Rachel Gioscia was fourth, finishing just one second later (23:08). Junior redshirt, Sara (Ensrud) Vaughn, was fifth in her first race in two years (23:08) and fifth-year senior and captain Erin Marston was sixth with the same time.
“I feel very excited,” Marston said. “I wasn't sure if we were going to be able to go the same time as last year or not. But we had some girls step it up and they showed they have been training hard this summer. It was exciting and a very good turnout.
“My race felt easy and good today and I'm excited to get some more races in down the road.”
Senior Shanna Sparks was eighth (23:10) and sophomore Dani Rodriguez was ninth (23:28).
Laura Thweatt, a freshman from
“It felt really good because before the race I was freaking out,” Thweatt said. “I was a nervous wreck. My goal was to hang with the top girls as long as I could. I really wanted to go out and run well and see what I could do. It felt great.”
The time trial is used to measure what work needs to be done and to see where the athletes are shaking out. Wetmore can get a good handle on who has had a good summer and who needs more work for the upcoming season. Overall, it can be a fairly good indication on what can be expected for that year.
“I'm pleasantly surprised on both sides,” head coach Mark Wetmore said. “The times on both sides, when you see them comparable to a year ago were faster than a year ago for both genders. Brent Vaughn told me he thinks the course is in a little better condition than it was a year ago; it was muddy last year. In general I am happy with how things went. The races were faster than I expected. By and large the order of the team shock out about how I expected, but there were some pleasant surprised so I am happy.
“If you look through the history of this race, you will see that a freshman almost always wins it. Once it is down to seven, then the finishing order generally has a freshman up front. Laura ran well and Richard ran well. I expected both of them to be up there.”
The Buffaloes will officially kick off the 2007 season on Sept. 29 when they host the Rocky Mountain Shootout. The collegiate women's race is scheduled for a 10 a.m. start and the men will race at 10:45.
Don't forget to check out junior Jenny Barringer's blog from
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