Colorado University Athletics
CU Hosts Champions Recognition Dinner
January 15, 2016 | Herbst Academic Center, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Since the day he arrived on campus as Colorado's sixth athletic director, Rick George has stressed a “culture of winning.”
It's why CU has started its tradition of a Champions Recognition Dinner, held each semester — but only if a Buffs team won a championship in the prior semester.
Earlier this week, the CU Athletic Department hosted its third consecutive fall sports recognition dinner, with the Colorado cross country programs once again making the event possible. Mark Wetmore's Buffs notched a Pac-12 sweep last fall, claiming the men's and women's championships, the second time since CU has swept the titles since becoming a member of the conference in 2011.
“We want to compete for and win championships,” George said. “It's important that we compete at the highest level … and we want to celebrate our team championships.”
After their conference sweep, the Buffs then swept the NCAA Mountain Region championships as well before both teams then finished second in the NCAA Championships.
George noted that after the NCAA meet, CU's men — who had been top-ranked the entire season — were disappointed with their finish.
“We shouldn't have been disappointed — we finished second in the nation,” George said. “I was really proud of the way our guys ran that day. They ran great, just like our women did. But for them to be disappointed, that's the bar we want to set. Finish second in the nation and you're disappointed. That's the culture we want to create, where we're doing it in the classroom and we're doing it on the playing surface.”
When the Buffs do have occasion to host a Champions Recognition Dinner, they also take the opportunity to recognize individual accomplishments, both academic and athletic.
Athletes recognized included:
Football
-
Pac-12 Academic Team – First Team
-
Pac-12 Academic Team – First Team, Second Team Academic All-American, National Football Foundation Scholar Athlete Academic All-District Team
-
Pac-12 Academic Team – Second Team
-
Pac-12 Academic Team – Honorable Mention
-
All-Pac-12 Second Team
-
All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention
-
9/21/15 Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week
Soccer
-
Pac-12 Academic Team – First Team, CoSIDA Second Team Academic All-District VII
-
Pac-12 Academic Team – Second Team
-
Pac-12 Academic Team – Honorable Mention
-
All-Pac-12 Second Team
-
Pac-12 All-Freshman Team, Canada's CONCACAF U-20 Squad Selection
-
9/29/15 Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week
Volleyball
-
Pac-12 Academic Team – Second Team
-
Pac-12 Academic Team – Honorable Mention
-
All-Pac-12, AVCA All-Pacific South Region
-
All-Pac-12, AVCA All-Pacific South Region Honorable Mention
-
All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention
-
Pac-12 All-Freshman Honorable Mention
Cross Country Individual
-
Pac-12 All-Academic First Team
-
Pac-12 All-Academic First Team
-
Pac-12 All-Academic Second Team
-
Pac-12 All-Academic Honorable Mention
-
All Pac-12, All-Region, All-American
-
All-Pac-12, All-Region, All-American
-
All-Pac-12 First Team, All Region
-
All-Pac-12 Second Team, All Region
-
All-Region
-
All-Region
-
Pac-12 Scholar Athlete of the Year, Pac-12 All-Academic Second Team
-
Pac-12 All-Academic Second Team
-
Pac-12 All-Academic Honorable Mention
-
All-Pac-12 First Team, All Region, All-American, Pac-12 Men's Cross Country Athlete of the Year
-
All-Pac-12 First Team, All-Region, All-American
-
All-Pac-12 First Team, All-Region, All-American
-
All-Pac-12 First Team, All-Region, All-American
-
All-Region, All-American
-
All-American
-
All-Region
Cross Country Team
-
Head Coach Mark Wetmore – 2015 Pac-12 Coach of the Year, National Coach of the Year, and Pac-12 Coach of the Century
-
Associate Head Coach Heather Burroughs – 2015 Nike Coach of the Year
-
Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator Billy Nelson
Women
Men
Players Mentioned
