Colorado University Athletics
Buffs Host Champions Recognition Dinner
August 26, 2015 | Men's Golf, Herbst Academic Center, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Members of Colorado's 20th NCAA national champion ski team, along with the CU men's and women's golf teams, were honored Tuesday night at the semi-annual CU Champions Recognition Dinner.
Also recognized were a host of academic and athletic all-conference and all-America honorees from CU's spring sports.
Colorado athletic director Rick George started the event two years ago as a way to recognize CU's standouts for their accomplishments in a setting among their peers.
“One of the three components of our strategic plan is competing for and winning championships,” George said. “Sometimes you don't take enough time to celebrate your successes, and we have started to set aside a specific time to do that so our athletes can enjoy a night together.”
The dinner, held at the beginning of the fall and spring semesters, is not a guaranteed event. In order for the event to be held, one of CU's teams must win either a conference or national championship the previous semester.
Since the event started, the Buffs have had three of the dinners: two for the men's cross country national championships and one for the ski team. When they have occasion for a dinner, they also take the opportunity to honor other successful teams from the previous semester. Tuesday, CU's golf teams were recognized for earning berths in their respective NCAA Regional meets.
But George stressed that the event is more than just about athletic success. The department also takes the opportunity to honor students who earned academic honors, as well as recognize academic accomplishments throughout the department.
“Recognizing academics is important for us,” George said. “That's what's so neat about the program we honored tonight — not only did they win the national ski championship, they also had the best team grade-point average of any of our teams.
“Combining the two is really important. We had a lot of academic all-conference and all-Americans in the room tonight.”
Last spring's ski title was the eighth for CU coach Richard Rokos, moving him to the top of the list of all-time national championship winning coaches at CU. He surpassed former ski coach Bill Marolt (who was also in attendance Wednesday night) and current cross country coach Mark Wetmore, each of whom has seven.
Members of the team were presented with national championship rings.
“This is an important event,” said Chancellor Phil DiStefano, who addressed the student-athletes. “One of my goals is student success, and for student athletes, that means two things.
“That means student success in the classroom. Making sure you graduate on time. We have this six-year graduation rate moving from 70 percent to 80 percent, which means you've done a great job. This past year, your grade point average matched the regular campus, and I'm very proud of that.
“Secondly, it means student success on the field, on the slopes, on the courts — and you've done a great job there as well. I'm really proud of what our students are doing.”
Last year, the ski team recorded a cumulative GPA of 3.575, highest of any team in the department.
Overall, CU's athletes had a 2.901 GPA for the spring semester, and a 2.935 cumulative for the year, some of the highest marks since the department began keeping grade point records.
