Buffs and Whidden To Celebrate CU's 100th Game On Friday

BOULDER - When Ann Elliott Whidden took over as the head coach of a brand-new University of Colorado women's lacrosse program in March of 2012, few expected the team to ascend to national prominence in just 100 games.

However, just 100 games into her tenure, Whidden has built Colorado into one of the premier programs in the West. The Buffs have appeared in 31-straight IWLCA Coaches' Polls and made back-to-back trips to the NCAA Tournament.

Looking back on the 2014 inaugural season, Colorado defied the odds in going 11-8. Whidden acknowledged that turning an upstart program into a perennial top-25 team was a process. "The biggest thing when you're starting to build is, you've got to get coaches and you've got to get players. You want players that are going to believe and buy into what you're trying to create. We had to recruit a lot, and at that time we were behind in recruiting, so it was just about trying to find players that would fit into our style of play, have a little bit of a chip on their shoulder and come out here and buy into what we were doing. There's obviously a million other things like sticks and fields, but coaches, players and establishing that culture is the biggest part."

Whidden's passion in selling a vision for Colorado Lacrosse was infectious and All-American goalkeeper, and current assistant coach at California, Paige Soenksen recalls being sold right away. "When I think back on why I chose to go to Colorado, I remember the first ever meeting that I had with Ann on my visit. She outlined her vision for the program, spoke about where the program would be in the coming years and clearly defined the hard work and values that it would take to get there. She was so passionate that I bought into her vision for building Colorado lacrosse immediately."

When the Buffaloes finally took the field for the first time in Deland, Florida, it would have been easy to mistake them for an experienced veteran group. CU routed Stetson 12-4 in the first game in program history. The team returned to Boulder to open play at home, following Ralphie onto Folsom Field before defeating Regis 13-10. Beyond surprising many with a winning record, the 2014 season allowed Whidden to begin instilling a culture of toughness.

"I think the biggest thing was we entered that first season with no expectations. I didn't want to try to figure out which games we could win and what we were probably going to lose. I wanted to go into every game and just try to compete and see what we could do," Whidden said of the program's inaugural 2014 season. "I think that's a big part of what we try to do every time we step on the field, is just compete and not think about if a team is better than us or not as good as us or in the rankings, they're all irrelevant. At the end of the day you have to step on the field and prove something, and that was our mentality."

From year one to year two, the Buffs saw a slight improvement on the field going 11-7. It was in the 2015 season that newcomers such as current graduate assistant coach Carly Cox, among others, joined Whidden's first recruiting class to form the nucleus of future success.

"I think it was just the vision that Whidden had put forth when I first came out to visit," Cox said of her decision to come to CU. "I was pretty much set on staying East Coast because that's where I'm from. But when I came out to visit the environment and the atmosphere was a selling factor and just the vision that Ann had and the belief that she had in all of us to make a difference."

In the programs' third season, the Buffs began to take off. By then, Whidden had assembled a collection of talented players capable of competing with anyone in the west. Colorado opened the 2016 season with their first-ever win over in-state rival Denver and finished third in the MPSF with a 7-2 record. The only two losses came at the hands of established MPSF powers USC (No. 7) and Stanford (No. 12).

Building upon the success of the season before, the Buffs entered the 2017 season primed for a breakout as Whidden's first recruiting class had matured into an experienced group of seniors that were ready to compete with any program in the country. Whidden's Buffs opened the season with an emotional win over her former team, the ninth-ranked Northwestern Wildcats. It was CU's first ever win over a ranked team and jumpstarted a magical 11-0 start to the season. The 2017 season culminated in the program's first NCAA Tournament appearance after reaching the MPSF Championship Game.

"We knew it was a big year for us," Whidden said. "The junior and senior class were both very experienced and had played in a lot of games, so for us it was really a point to try to see what we could prove."

Whidden's program continued on its upward trajectory in 2018, winning the first-ever regular season Pac-12 Women's Lacrosse Championship. The team returned to the NCAA Tournament, this time advancing out of the first round. However, what made the 2018 Buffs so special was not what they accomplished on the field, but what they overcame off of it.

On January 13, 2018, senior attacker Julia Sarcona tragically passed away in a car accident. Then as the team was preparing to open the 2018 season in Florida less than a month later, freshman midfielder Aine Williams fell gravely ill and was hospitalized with what has since been diagnosed as Cryptogenic organizing pneumonia. Sports often seem trivial in moments of life or death, but Whidden used lacrosse to unite a group of young women.

"As these young women continue to grow, they're going to face challenges. The lessons we learn are much bigger than winning or losing games, they're about our character and how we react when life is challenging," Whidden said. "Can we be strong for not just ourselves, but for the people around us that we love? My role is to make sure they understand that when we're yelling at them in practice and pushing them, it's not about today's practice or tomorrow's game, it's about who they're going to be in life and how they're going to respond to life's real challenges."

Two-time All-American defender and current volunteer assistant coach at North Carolina Sarah Brown recalls leaning on Whidden at various points throughout her career, especially during a difficult 2018 season. "It is truly rare to come across a coach that matches Ann's compassion and work ethic," Brown said. "Not only does she possess these qualities, but she instilled these values into Colorado's program making us all better players and people. As a coach, Ann not only helped my teammates and me through the toughest times in our lives, but she turned our team into a family."

When Whidden reflects on her first 100 games as Colorado's head coach, it's easy to see what Brown means. She doesn't have a favorite win – the wins and losses have always been secondary to Whidden. Rather it's the life-long bonds formed on the lacrosse field that she has always valued the most.

"At the end of the day, it's about the players to me, it's not about the games. It's about seeing these young women once they've graduated and what they're doing in life, their excitement when they get to come back and be around each other. No game is ever going to be as special as that."

Buffs and Whidden To Celebrate CU's 100th Game On Friday

Players Mentioned

Sarah Brown

Carly Cox

Julia Sarcona

Paige Soenksen

Aine Williams

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