Colorado University Athletics
Buff Harriers Ready For Run At National Title
November 16, 2015 | Cross Country, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Folks who follow Colorado's standout cross country program noticed a new name — sort of — in the mix for the CU men at last weekend's NCAA Mountain Region meet.
New because he hadn't raced this year. Not so new because Ben Saarel is a two-time All-American who has been an integral part of the Buffs' two consecutive NCAA championships — and will now have a role Saturday when Mark Wetmore's crew seeks a three-peat in Louisville, Ky.
For much of this season, Wetmore and associate head coach Heather Burroughs had been considering redshirting Saarel this season in order to have him available for two more years.
“He had never redshirted and the other juniors had all redshirted,” Wetmore said. “ We were looking down the road to trying to be good in '16 and '17 and '18. So if we could do very well this year without using him, we could save him for '17.”
It's a strategy Wetmore used last year with All-American Morgan Pearson, a key member of the 2013 national champion team. The Buffs redshirted Pearson last year, and he's now available this season as the Buffs make a run at their third straight title.
But after considering all the angles, Wetmore last week pulled the redshirt off Saarel and entered him in the NCAA regional, where he finished 21st and was CU's sixth runner across the line.
“I became cowardly, or maybe respective of the gods of the NCAA, and just thought, 'Let us not treat cavalierly an opportunity to win the NCAA Championship,'” Wetmore said. “That's why we decided to put him in.”
No doubt, Saarel would have been a major help the next two seasons. But, he will be back for a senior year next season, and, as Wetmore noted, “An opportunity to win one (NCAA championship) doesn't come along for most programs and most teams. If we had an opportunity to do that and held Ben out, he loses that opportunity. I just thought, 'We have a chance to win this one, let's win it and solve '16 and '17 when they come around.”
Two years ago, Saarel was CU's top runner at the nationals, finishing eighth as the Buffs claimed the men's title. Last year, he moved up a spot to seventh, and was the Buffs' second runner behind Ammar Moussa — who will also be running at Saturday's NCAA Championships in Louisville, Ky.
“For his first serious race in uniform (at regionals), I gave him a B-plus,” Wetmore said.
After sweeping the men's and women's titles at the Pac-12 and NCAA regional meets, the Buffs will enter Saturday's competition as the favorite in the men's race and a strong contender for top-three finish in the women's race.
“I would say it's fair that we are the (men's) favorites, but I don't think we are the prohibitive favorites,” Wetmore said. “I think Syracuse is very good and Stanford is very, very good. Either one of those teams could beat us if they have a good day and we're a little off. And there's always some team that I don't mention that has a great weekend, somebody that I overlook, that's fired up.”
On the women's side, New Mexico will be the heavy favorite — even though the Buffs beat the Lobos in the NCAA regional meet.
“If I'm not mistaken, New Mexico held out two of their top seven runners (at regionals),” Wetmore said. “Four of them ran quite easily side by side, talking, and another one ran fairly hard. They're a very good team. They would have to have something go wrong for anyone to beat them.”
That doesn't mean the CU women can't finish in the top three.
“If our women execute correctly and have a decent day, they're second to fourth, something in there,” Wetmore said.
With the race now just a few days away, Wetmore said he doesn't have any major concerns — at least about things he can control.
“Our teams are ready, they're healthy, they know what to expect at this particular venue,” Wetmore said. “I don't see anybody that looks green around the gills, that they've raced too much.”
One advantage the Buffs will have over some of the other teams is that they competed in the NCAA Pre-Nationals on the same course earlier this year. While the championships distance is slightly longer — the men will run 10K instead of 8K and the women will run 6K instead of 5K — they're still familiar with some of the course nuances.
And if Wetmore has any concerns, it's one of those course nuances.
“Honestly, what keeps me awake is a pileup,” Wetmore said. “This course has some narrow places, some sort of invisible ditches if you're not in the lead. But of course you can't win the whole race by sprinting to the lead. Then you can see the ditches but your race is over in a half a mile. My real concern is a pileup.”
At the Pre-Nationals, Wetmore said, there was a pileup in all six races held that day. The Buffs escaped relatively unscathed, but did have a runner who required stitches in his shin after getting caught briefly in one of the pileups.
“While they were searching for sutures, there was a guy in there getting his back stitched up from getting trampled,” Wetmore said. “That's what's keeping me awake.”
Saturday's races begin with the women's race at 10 a.m., followed by the men's competition at 11 a.m. Both events will be streamed live on NCAA.com.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
