Colorado University Athletics
Five Buffs Honored, Three To Be Inducted Into Sportswomen of Colorado Hall of Fame
January 28, 2009 | Cross Country, General, Track and Field, Women's Basketball, Soccer, Skiing
DENVER - A total of five Buffs will be honored at the 35th annual Sportswomen of Colorado annual awards banquet, slated for March 8 at the Marriott Denver Tech Center hotel. Three of the five CU honorees will be inducted into the Sportswomen Hall of Fame for receiving three such awards over the years.
Jenny Barringer (cross country/track & field), Nikki Marshall (soccer) and Lucie Zikova (skiing) comprise three-quarters of the hall of fame inductees. The fourth is Carol Callan, director of the women's national team for USA Basketball and also the CU radio analyst. Jackie McFarland (basketball) and Maria Grevsgaard (skiing) will also be honored.
Barringer racked up a lot of awards during her Olympic run in 2008, including the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame 2008 College Female Athlete of the Year honor. At the Games of the XXIX Olympiad in Beijing last August, she finished ninth in the 3,000-m steeplechase, setting a U.S. record in 9:22.26 as the top American finisher. A semifinalist for the Coach Wooden Citizenship award, Barringer won her second NCAA individual championship in the steeplechase in an NCAA record time of 9:29.20, which is the second fastest time ever run on American soil.
Marshall played for the United States Under-20 National Team at the 2008 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup this past December in Chile and helped Team USA win a World Championship. She was named Sierra Mist woman of the match (MVP) against North Korea in the world championship game. A three-time All-Big 12 and All-Region performer for the Buffs, Marshall has propelled the Buffs into the NCAA tournament each of her three years in Boulder and the Buffs have advanced to the Big 12 Championship game twice during her tenure, as well.
Zikova finished her career on the slopes with the Buffs in style, winning two individual NCAA Championships and helping the Buffs to a second place showing as a team. Zikova won both the giant slalom and slalom races at the NCAA meet, giving her three individual national championships and 16 overall wins in her career. She also earned seven out of a possible eight first-team All-America performances during her career in Boulder, including two as a senior last year.
Grevsgaard completed one of the most dominant seasons in NCAA history in 2008 as the nordic skier won 11 out of 12 races (and finished second in the other) including two NCAA individual titles and two first-team All-America performances. With another full season left, she has already won more races than anybody in school history with 19 while her 11 victories in 2008 tied the school record.
McFarland was a two-time Associated Press honorable mention All-American and first team All-Big 12 Conference pick for the Buffaloes. She led Colorado to a 19-15 record and WNIT semifinal appearance in 2008 season averaging 18.7 points and 8.2 rebounds per game while shooting 57 percent from the field. A Lowe's Senior All-America, she finished her distinguished playing career in the top five of eight career charts at Colorado including second in scoring with 1,957 career points. She averaged 25 points and 9.5 rebounds during CU's WNIT run to the semifinals at the end of the season.
The keynote speaker on March 8 will be Constantine Tomescu-Dita, the 2008 Olympic women's marathon winner.
