Colorado University Athletics
Brooks: Buffs Set To Welcome Pac-12 XC To Altitude
October 30, 2013 | Cross Country, B.G. Brooks
BOULDER - When Colorado joined the Pac-12 Conference in time for fall competition in 2011, the CU men's cross country team introduced itself as league champions. With a second men's title in 2012, the Pac-12 might be growing accustomed to seeing the Buffs stand tall at the podium.
Nice tradition to start, but veteran CU coach Mark Wetmore doesn't believe past performances hold up well in the present. Wetmore, in fact, looked to Greek philosopher Heraclitus to make his point: "No man crosses the same river twice," Wetmore said.
Which is reasonably close to what Heraclitus had in mind when he uttered, "No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man."
And this just in from Heraclitus: "Nothing endures but change."
Which also is something Wetmore might be pondering as CU prepares to host the 2013 Pac-12 championships on Saturday at the Coal Creek Golf Course in Louisville. "This is a brand new day, a brand new title, and a brand new team," he said. "This CU men's team has never won any conference title. We are as excited as ever, we are more excited because it's at home."
Getting the conference to come to altitude to run cross country might seem like a set-up, and Wetmore says, yes, there is more of a home-field advantage in his sport than in football: "It is a greater advantage in cross country. Football fields are all flat, measured equally, and most of them are green. A cross country course is unique at every place, although we are not hosting this at our home course."
If that were the case, the Pac-12 would be introduced to "The Buffalo Ranch" on CU's south campus, and it is a course that Wetmore calls "extremely difficult and extremely a homer. I felt that I didn't want my opponents to go home from this saying that they had no chance at all, so we moved it . . . (Coal Creek) is not our home course, but we will know it a little better than our opponents (will)."
"There's definitely an advantage," said CU men's captain Connor Winter, a sophomore from Centennial. "You hear from other teams about altitude, so it's going to be exciting to see how the altitude plays into effect . . . we've done lot of workouts on the course, so we know all the little tricks and things. Maybe that's not an advantage but it helps us to know the course."
As for the altitude advantage, Wetmore doesn't discount it, but does furnish a disclaimer: "I think that if you ran the exact same course at sea-level and picked the whole thing up and moved it to our elevation, it would probably be about 40-45 seconds (difference) for men. That is about 10 seconds a mile for probably men and women, but a fit, excellent runner runs well at sea level and runs well out here."
Wetmore's guys and gals have run well in thin air and elsewhere. Winter and his fellow Buffs enter this weekend's meet ranked No. 1 in the latest USTFCCCA Top 30 Coaches Poll. It's the first time CU has reached that status since 2002, but Winter doesn't believe the top ranking piles any more pressure on him and his teammates entering the conference meet.
"I wouldn't say added pressure," Winter noted. "Rankings are fine for everybody to see and talk about, but most of it is just us wanting to do our best. If we wind up doing what we're capable of, we'll be high on the podium. There's no pressure to win or lose or whatever, you just want to go out and compete and have a good showing and a good crowd."
Pac-12 men's teams in the Top 30 include No. 4 Oregon, No. 13 Stanford and No. 25 Washington. The CU women - Pac-12 champs in 2011 and fifth-place finishers last fall - are ranked No. 16 nationally. The men's 8k race starts at 10:40 a.m. Saturday, with the women's 6k event beginning at 11:40 a.m. An awards ceremony is scheduled at 12:45 p.m.
Winter said hosting the conference championships "is going to be fun. I think everybody is really excited. (The course) turned out to be nice. It could be fun for everybody to see and have everybody at home."
By Saturday, it will have been two weeks since the CU men and women competed. Both teams ran in the 2013 NCAA Pre-National Invitational in Terre Haute, Ind. The Buffs men won the "pre-nats," the women finished seventh. That first-place finish for the men propels them into the Pac-12 meet with more pep in their steps - but for a different reason than you might think.
"Coach mentioned we were the rustiest team there at 'pre-nats,'" Winter said. "He said we could only improve. When you win and you're told you can only improve, well, that's pretty exciting to say."
Winter said Wetmore likes to talk about his teams' "synergy," and to Winter it is on display every time they race. The Buffs, he said, are "a good mixture . . . we got vets who've been there, done that and been All-Americans, and some freshmen who are just out there kind of wide-eyed and excited.
"The more the season has gone on, I've seen more confidence. I've seen the mentoring of the young guys by the older guys and the team come together. Coach likes to talk about synergy. It's fun running for the guy next to me, not so much for myself. You can't let everybody else down. That's a great and fun thing to have. Coming up to pre-nationals, I think we knew we could have something special. This is a good group of guys who enjoy hanging out and traveling together, just a fun group to be around."
Cross country runners form special bonds - maybe stronger and more lasting at CU than elsewhere. But the distance runners' connection in general is durable, and Wetmore might even call it sacred. At an on-campus news conference a week ago, he was asked about the unique bonds formed in his sport. His answer:
"Most of the people in this room have had the nightmare where you are in a dangerous situation, alone, scared and in your underwear, and that is cross country. People who share that nightmare - that day-mare - probably have some special bond. Our teams stay in communication with one another throughout the years. There will be a lot of alumni that will come back for this (this weekend). I was a high school coach thirty-five years ago and those people still write to me; they have shared something special and that bond doesn't go away."
Winter, an engineering major who won six individual state championships while at Arapahoe High School, feels that as well as the responsibility of his captain's role. That he was voted in by his teammates magnifies the honor and, to be honest, might leave him a bit stunned.
"I came in as a freshman didn't know what I was doing," he said. "I had a ton of questions. There were guys (upperclassmen) like Richard Medina, Joe Bosshard . . . they've done it, they're at a high level - All-Americans, big names at this school. I leaned on them."
He learned from them, too. When freshmen stepped on campus with the same wide eyes that he had, Winter mentored them. "I've tried," he said, "mainly telling them to skip the little mistakes I made. I'm not that vocal, I lead by example. I enjoy having the team feel like I can lead them into the field of battle."
Winning the Pac-12 this weekend might propel the Buffs into the NCAA Mountain Regional (Nov. 15, Ogden, Utah) and the NCAA Championships (Nov. 23, Terre Haute, Ind.) with added confidence. Unquestionably, said Winter, it would be a payoff: "It would be exciting and mean a lot because of all the hard work we put in. You spend hours during the summer, you sacrifice so many things, but it's all for the hope of winning a championship. It's fun to have that ability and be in contention . . .
"It would be a breakthrough. We've done third (nationally) consistently, but I'd like to get up there in the top one or two spots and know we are a national contender and can be competitive for many years to come. I like our chances."
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
