Colorado University Athletics
Rokos, Cranmer Tabbed National Coaches of the Year
April 16, 2015 | Skiing
BOULDER - University of Colorado head coach Richard Rokos and Nordic coach Bruce Cranmer were both named National Coach of the Year honors by the United States Collegiate Ski Coaches Association Thursday as the organization announced its coaches and skier of the year.
Rokos capped his 25th season with Colorado, claiming the eighth NCAA Championship in his time there. He broke a tie with the Buffs' Bill Marolt, who won seven titles, all consecutively from 1972-78, for most titles at Colorado and is now third all-time behind Denver's Willie Schaeffer, who won 13 titles from 1954-70 and Utah's Pat Miller, who claimed nine championships from 1981-97.
With a slim seven point lead entering the final day of the NCAA Championships, Rokos' six alpine skiers all safely completed two runs apiece to help the Buffs secure their third championship this decade and third straight in the east, also winning in 2011 and '13.
Cranmer led the Buffs dominant Nordic squad, who once again claimed the mythical Nordic championship at the NCAA Championships, racking up 306 points in Nordic action, 35 more than any other team. Five of the Buffs six Nordic skiers at the NCAA Championships both earned two top 10 finishes and all claimed two All-America honors.
The Buffs' men's Nordic duo of Rune Oedegaard and Mads Stroem finished 1-2 in nine of the 10 races leading up to the NCAA Championships and then finished 2-3 and 3-4 in the two races at NCAAs as the CU men outscored all other teams at the Championships. Cranmer has seen his team score more points on the Nordic side than any other team in seven of the last 12 NCAA Championships, the only seven times the Buffs have accomplished that feat since skiing went coed in 1983.
Middlebury's Robert Cone won the National Men's Alpine Skier of the Year and Dartmouth's Patrick Caldwell the National Men's Nordic Skier of the Year. Denver's Monica Huebner was the Women's Alpine Skier of the Year and Utah's Veronika Mayerhoffer earned Women's Nordic Skier of the Year honors.
