Colorado University Athletics
Brooks: Sutherland's Choice Perfect For Her, Buffs
May 26, 2015 | Track and Field, B.G. Brooks
BOULDER - Sara Sutherland has a set-in-stone tenet when she's working out: Cell phone calls, text messages, emails and tweets don't get answered. Leave a number, leave a message, leave me alone.
But this time, she made an exception. Good call, er, answer.
She was in Austin last year on the University of Texas campus riding a stationary bike while rehabbing a knee injury. The incoming caller ID showed a Colorado area code, and in Sutherland's words, "The wheels started turning."
She wasn't referring to the stationary bike.
"I thought I should probably answer this one," she said.
After the caller identified himself as coach Mark Wetmore, he said, "'I'd like to talk about your fifth year,'" Sutherland recalled. "I was so excited; Colorado was kind of my dream and I was so excited that the interest was mutual."
So Sutherland was able to follow her dream, enrolling at CU last fall for her fifth year of track eligibility and first year of graduate school. She might have fallen into the Buffs' figurative laps as a cross country/track competitor, but she was far from unknown to Wetmore and associate head coach Heather Burroughs.
Sutherland had competed for the previous four years for Texas, and let's just say she competed pretty well. She earned All-Big 12 recognition nine times (four outdoors, five indoors), was a three-time indoor All-American and left UT holding the indoor 5k record (15:50.04). She was several strides beyond decent in cross country, too, earning a pair of all-conference and three all-region honors.
"We're thrilled to have her here," said Burroughs, noting that it was a year ago this week that CU's compliance department emailed the track office and gave Wetmore, Burroughs & Co. the green light to contact her.
"Sara is a happy person, one of those people you like to have around," Burroughs continued. "She doesn't show up angry at people or angry at the weather. We thought that might be a problem because she's from Texas (Dallas, Highland Park High School) and spent her whole life in hot and humid.
"But she was probably in her best mood when it was 10 degrees and snowing this winter - maybe because it was so new to her. But she's one happy, motivated person and that's wonderful for our team dynamic."
Sutherland is to bubbly what Old Faithful is to punctuality. But there was a brief time when the fizz faded.
She had earned about every high school running honor imaginable, among them Dallas Morning News newcomer of the year in 2006, cross country runner of the year in 2007 and Texas Girls Cross Country Coaches Association athlete of the year in 2009. But when her stellar prep career ended, she simply felt fried.
"Coming out of high school I was pretty unsure about running in college," she said. "I was a little burned out from being pretty focused for four years. I had an amazing high school experience but going into college I looked for place that would fit all my needs as a person."
SHE TOOK TIME OFF, REGROUPED, recharged and settled in Austin. All went well until a knee injury that required surgery in February 2014 "changed her whole plan - same thing for Texas," Burroughs said. "She didn't run for almost six months. Texas had finished recruiting for the next year and had no idea she would be back. She left (Texas) on good terms; it was just unexpected circumstances that led to her having another year of eligibility (as a graduate student) and Texas not having athletic aid for her."
Searching for a graduate program and using the same comprehensive game plan she had coming out of high school, Sutherland said she didn't want to "settle on a place solely for school or for running. I wanted a school to encompass all my needs. And I found it here.
"It all just fell into place here. I knew I wanted to do something in international relations with a global health focus. Many graduate programs could be tailored for that. It was less an issue of which school would fit academic needs and definitely more of how to make a school that fits those needs work well with running."
She was able to check all those boxes at CU, and her running plan sounded doable to Burroughs and Wetmore. But Sutherland wasn't the first potential track transfer to target Boulder. Not that they were overly wary, said Burroughs, but "we always want to know what's the story? If you've been very successful somewhere, why would you want to leave? Many times people contact us and we tell them you should stay where you are."
Sutherland's circumstances didn't warrant that answer. With her knee rehab entering its final stages last summer, she enrolled at CU with a year of eligibility remaining and raced four times in cross country for the Buffs last fall. Improvement came meet-to-meet, ultimately earning her All-Mountain Regional recognition after a ninth-place finish at the Mountain Regional meet in mid-November and helping the Buffs finish first.
Some of Sutherland's best performances at Texas were indoors, but at CU her indoor eligibility had expired. No one was upset. She was able to train, gain some much-needed overall rest and slowly turn her focus to the outdoor season.
"I didn't even think about racing," she said.
The layoff made her "really antsy to get out there and see what I could do (outdoors)," she said. "I feel like I'm hitting my stride. The timing is perfect. An athlete hopes everything will come together, so it's been really wonderful to see that come to fruition."
In the Pac-12 meet earlier this month in Los Angeles, she placed second in the 1500 meters with a time of 4:13.56 - nearly five full seconds better than her previous PR (4:18.30). Also, her Pac-12 time moved her into fifth on CU's all-time 1500 performance list, with the four runners ahead of her all Olympians (Kara Grgas-Wheeler, 4:12.15; Shayne Wylie, 4:10.80; Emma Coburn, 4:06.87; Jenny Barringer, 3:59.90 - the NCAA record).
Sutherland's 1500 Pac-12 race was a payoff for all parties and one of those events where almost everything aligns for an athlete. Said Burroughs: "We'd been waiting for that race. She'd been waiting for that race. She had an interruption (with the knee injury) and missed months and months of training. She's been bulletproof since then but it's still taken her awhile to get back to a level of fitness where she can start breaking PRs. And that 4:13 was a big step . . . but it wasn't a surprise."
Moreover, with most of Sutherland's experience and success at Texas coming at longer distances - specifically the 5k - her 1500 in L.A. offered proof that she can excel in a shorter, more tactical race. She called the 5k "a different animal . . . more aerobically based (and) a bit less tactical. Switching to the 1500 you have to learn to be a great tactician and still have that fitness component. I knew it was there but I needed to improve on my race strategy."
PLUS, AT THE PAC-12s, SHE KNEW she was more prepared than for a couple of previous meets in California when she was sick (Stanford Invitational) and simply had an off day (Payton Jordan Invitational). "I knew based on my workouts I was ready," Sutherland said. "I haven't missed a single day of training since I moved to Colorado . . . I know I'm in great shape, been working out with great girls and having solid workouts and doing everything Mark and Heather have asked.
"They're absolutely phenomenal. I've been nothing but blown away with my experience here, both as a student and an athlete. It's been really wonderful. They told me it would come together and the key for me was just relaxing. I definitely thrive in a team setting where I know I'm representing my school, coaches and teammates when I step out on that line. I think that was part of what helped Pac-12s go so well."
Sutherland will continue to concentrate on the 1500, but Burroughs believes more success can come in the 5k. CU's original plan for Sutherland focused on one event because of her missed training time and the possibility of preparing for two events detracting from the 1500.
"We passed on some potentially fun PRs at other distances because we didn't have three years with her," Burroughs said. "But I do think with another six months of training she can be really good at multiple distances. I think she can be national-caliber good at both (the 1500 and 5k)."
Next up is the NCAA West Preliminary meet, with Sutherland among 23 Buffs who have qualified. The competition will held Thursday-Saturday in a very familiar locale - Austin - and Sutherland is trying not to overhype herself about a trip home.
"I've been saying all week I've trying to keep my excitement at bay a little bit, keep the expectations where they should be - which is focus on the race, focus on making it to the next round and being a supportive teammate," she said. "But it'll be exciting to have friends and family there. All the Pac-12 competitions are on the West Coast, so I haven't had people see me race. This is the first time for that and I'm pretty jazzed about it."
It's also pretty nice to be riding a PR in your event and feeling fresh, fit and self-assured. Sutherland was certain she could run faster in L.A. than she had in any other meet this spring, but to do it and have that 4:13 posted next to her name "makes me feel like a different athlete," she said.
"I know you still have to line up and on any day it's how you run then - the past doesn't matter. But it's really nice to get out there and know how it feels to run fast. It's just good to have that confidence and momentum more than anything else."
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
