Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
Alumni/Open/Time Trial
Buffs Start Strong At Time Trial
August 30, 2008 | Cross Country
There were a lot of new faces for the Buffs as they added 18 to their roster over the summer months. This was the first chance to get out and compete for a spot on the varsity roster.
“There were a lot of newcomers this year and that is one of the fun things about this race,” head coach Mark Wetmore said. “Everybody met my aspirations.”
The Buffs had an excellent showing with several newcomers finishing in the top 10. Freshmen Emma Coburn (23:39) and Katie Cumming (23:39) placed 1-2 and Katie Smith (23:48) was seventh overall. Coburn and Cumming both ran unattached but look to be ready for varsity duty.
Both ran the entire race with Allison Sawyer, Aislinn Ryan and Morgan Ekemo who finished 3-4-5. Ekemo was the top finisher who wore a CU uniform.
“We wanted to set a pace today that not everyone could take so we pushed the pace right away and as soon as it was the five of us, we relaxed a little bit,” Coburn said. “It was really nice to be up there with Aislinn, Allison (Sawyer) and Morgan. Everyone was feeling really comfortable.
“Coach Wetmore told us to run it like a workout and that is what I did. I never felt uncomfortable or like I was going too hard.”
The top five all finished within one second of each other. Sawyer also had a time of 23:39 while Ryan and Ekemo finished in 23:40.
“It felt really awesome, “Ekemo said. “This is a wonderful program and they have done so much for me. It (the race) just felt really good.”
Ryan was also pleased with the performance of the women.
“We were all definitely out there and in it together,” she said. “It's such a great feeling. I felt like this (race) meant so much more (after missing the time trial and Rocky Mountain Shootout last year) since I was up there with everyone and they were all looking to me for leadership.”
The men's team took eight of the top 10 spots in their race. Brett Walters was the top finisher for CU in third place, although he did not race in a CU uniform. He finished in 27:02.
Nick Miller was the top uniformed Buff in fourth place. His time was also 27:02. Miller earned his spot on the CU roster after walking on to the team at last season's time trial and was in the lead pack with CU's top returners.
“We started the pace off fairly slow and started to squeeze it down as we went,” Miller explained. “The older guys on the team, Bradley (Harkrader) and (Chris) Pannone took charge of most of the pacing and I just hung with them. It felt good the whole way.”
Jordan Kyle, a transfer from
“I feel really good,” Thompson said. “One of my goals was to stay with the lead pack. About halfway through I was getting a little worried, but I stuck with it. We have a pretty good crew this year. The freshmen finished up with us and it was a good start to the season.”
Sophomores Matt Tebo and Richard Medina also ran sans CU uniform and placed seventh and ninth, respectively.
Overall, Wetmore seemed pleased with the results.
“The veterans on the women's side are where they need to be and a couple of freshmen looked pretty good too. This is a long difficult course for high school girls since they run 5k. The same goes for the high school men. They also run 5k and this is an 8,000-meter race. This is one of the harder courses there is. So to see Jonny Stevens up there pretty high (12th) and Joe Bosshard (15th) and Brett Walters (3rd) is a perfect opener. The veterans were where they needed to be.”
Several familiar faces on the CU roster did not compete today, but that is nothing to worry about.
“We sat out a couple of people,” Wetmore explained. “Our policy is that only people with absolute perfect health run this race and so some of our veterans and some of the new people sat out. Some of the people missing will certainly be back.”
This is just the start of what looks to be another great season for the
“We are very optimistic as always,” Wetmore said.
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