Colorado University Athletics
Wetmore-Wednesday Top Races: Buffs Take Both National Runner-Up Titles
December 02, 2020 | Cross Country, Track and Field
BOULDER – The Colorado track and field and cross country program has a special history, one that began to hit full-stride under head coach Mark Wetmore.
CU track and field and cross country will take a look back at every year under Wetmore and recap the best races and teams of every calendar year.
Nov. 21, 2015 was a date that featured the two-time defending champion men looking to battle for a three-peat, while the women battled to their highest finish in nine years since the 2006 team.
2015 NATIONAL RUNNER-UP
Irony can be a cruel and unusual beast to deal with, one that came following the 2015 NCAA National Championships when both the men and women's teams finished in second. The irony comes in that despite the teams being the same place, the outlook couldn't have been more different. For the women the outlook was amazement and a positive motion towards the future. The team came and finished second, matching their best placement in nearly a decade. For the two-time defending champion men, things were a bit different when No.2-ranked Syracuse used three top-10 placers to steal the crown from the Buffaloes by just nine points.
"A tinge of disappointment is a good way to describe it," Wetmore said. "Second place by nine points in this deep of a field with all of the All-American recruits, I feel proud of them."
Pierce Murphy led the way for the Buffs, finishing third overall, the best finish for a CU male runner since Dathan Ritzenhein's championship in 2003. The Kauai-native put it all out there in his final race, leading the Buffs as he had all year long.
"I'm disappointed (about the team finish) but at the same time, I know we trained as well as we could have and ran as hard as we could have," Murphy said. "There was nothing else we could have done. We left everything on the course."
The Buffs placed all five of their runners in the top 35, but Syracuse had too many finishers before CU's herd came through. Syracuse went 4-8-9-39-47 overall to edge out Colorado.
Senior Morgan Pearson was second across the line for CU, finishing 25th overall (30:16.1). True freshman John Dressel was 26th in 30:16.4. Just behind those two were junior Ben Saarel (31st, 30:19.8) and senior Connor Winter (33rd, 30:19.8). All five of CU's racers were tabbed All-Americans for their performances. Senior Ammar Moussa just missed All-American honors with a 42nd place finish (30:29.9).
On the women's side, Erin Clark led the way with an 11th-place finish. Sophomore Kaitlyn Benner finished 16th, while Senior Maddie Alm was CU's third woman across the finish line, coming in at 47th overall. Freshman Dani Jones was two places from Alm at 49th. Redshirt sophomore Melanie Nun was the final scorer to finish for CU, taking 65th overall.
"I think it's an awesome step forward for us," Clark said. "We worked really hard and well as a group for this all season. There's more to come."
"It's an incredible experience," Benner said. "I wasn't expecting to be able to be this high at the beginning of the season. I just wanted to be an All-American. But to be far up there, especially alongside my teammate, was an awesome experience. We definitely wanted to get second, maybe sneak away with the win if we could, but we're very happy with second."
The 2015 squad was the best combined program finish of any school in five years since Florida State pulled off the double runner-up in 2010. Since the Buffs took both titles in 2004 (the last team to do so and fourth-ever), only four programs have combined for better than two runner-ups, CU in 2006, Oregon in 2007 and 2008, and BYU in 2019.
"I'm proud of the women," head coach Wetmore said. "I'm proud of the men. I wish we had 10 less points on the men's side but I know they ran their hearts out. I'm happy."
PAST TOP RACES:
2012 (OLYMPIC EDITION): COBURN & KIPP MAKE OLYMPIC TEAM TOGETHER; REPRESENT CU AND USA AT LONDON GAMES
2012: KIPP CARRIES ON COLORADO LEGARY WITH A PAIR OF STEEPLECHASE TITLES
2011: COBURN WINS FIRST NCAA & U.S. TITLES; BUFFS MAKE STATEMENT WINNING INAUGURAL PAC-12 CROSS COUNTRY TITLES
2010: COBURN AND KIPP BECOME STRONG 1-2 IN THE STEEPLE; DODSON SPRINTS TO A STRONG FINISH
2009: BARRINGER BREAKS 6 COLLEGIATE RECORDS IN FINAL TRACK SEASON (VIDEO)
2008 (OLYMPIC EDITION): BARRINGER AND NELSON TAKE BEIJING OLYMPICS
2008: MEN WIN BIG 12 OUTDOOR TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIP
2007: VAUGHN WINS 3 BIG 12 TITLES; BARRINGER TURNS DISAPPOINTMENT INTO FIRST U.S. CHAMPIONSHIP
2006: BARRINGER'S STEEPLECHASE LEGACY BEGINS; MEN'S XC WINS SECOND NCAA TITLE IN THREE YEARS
2005: METIVIER WINS INDOOR 3K; SLATTERY TAKES 10K TITLE
2004: BUFFS WIN MEN'S AND WOMEN'S NCAA CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS
2003: RITZENHEIN RACES TO THE TITLE (FINISH VIDEO)
2002: TORRES CEMENTS LEGACY (VIDEO)
2001: CU MEN CAPTURE FIRST TITLE (VIDEO)
2000: KARA GRGAS-WHEELER NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
1999: JAMES DAVIS 1999 4x400-METER RELAY ALL-AMERICAN
1998: ADAM GOUCHER 1998 CROSS COUNTRY NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP (VIDEO) (5,000) (3,000)
1997: ADAM GOUCHER INDOOR 3,000 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
1996: ALAN CULPEPPER NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 5,000/ WOMEN'S BIG EIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
(VIDEO)
CU track and field and cross country will take a look back at every year under Wetmore and recap the best races and teams of every calendar year.
Nov. 21, 2015 was a date that featured the two-time defending champion men looking to battle for a three-peat, while the women battled to their highest finish in nine years since the 2006 team.
2015 NATIONAL RUNNER-UP
Irony can be a cruel and unusual beast to deal with, one that came following the 2015 NCAA National Championships when both the men and women's teams finished in second. The irony comes in that despite the teams being the same place, the outlook couldn't have been more different. For the women the outlook was amazement and a positive motion towards the future. The team came and finished second, matching their best placement in nearly a decade. For the two-time defending champion men, things were a bit different when No.2-ranked Syracuse used three top-10 placers to steal the crown from the Buffaloes by just nine points.
"A tinge of disappointment is a good way to describe it," Wetmore said. "Second place by nine points in this deep of a field with all of the All-American recruits, I feel proud of them."
Pierce Murphy led the way for the Buffs, finishing third overall, the best finish for a CU male runner since Dathan Ritzenhein's championship in 2003. The Kauai-native put it all out there in his final race, leading the Buffs as he had all year long.
"I'm disappointed (about the team finish) but at the same time, I know we trained as well as we could have and ran as hard as we could have," Murphy said. "There was nothing else we could have done. We left everything on the course."
The Buffs placed all five of their runners in the top 35, but Syracuse had too many finishers before CU's herd came through. Syracuse went 4-8-9-39-47 overall to edge out Colorado.
Senior Morgan Pearson was second across the line for CU, finishing 25th overall (30:16.1). True freshman John Dressel was 26th in 30:16.4. Just behind those two were junior Ben Saarel (31st, 30:19.8) and senior Connor Winter (33rd, 30:19.8). All five of CU's racers were tabbed All-Americans for their performances. Senior Ammar Moussa just missed All-American honors with a 42nd place finish (30:29.9).
On the women's side, Erin Clark led the way with an 11th-place finish. Sophomore Kaitlyn Benner finished 16th, while Senior Maddie Alm was CU's third woman across the finish line, coming in at 47th overall. Freshman Dani Jones was two places from Alm at 49th. Redshirt sophomore Melanie Nun was the final scorer to finish for CU, taking 65th overall.
"I think it's an awesome step forward for us," Clark said. "We worked really hard and well as a group for this all season. There's more to come."
"It's an incredible experience," Benner said. "I wasn't expecting to be able to be this high at the beginning of the season. I just wanted to be an All-American. But to be far up there, especially alongside my teammate, was an awesome experience. We definitely wanted to get second, maybe sneak away with the win if we could, but we're very happy with second."
The 2015 squad was the best combined program finish of any school in five years since Florida State pulled off the double runner-up in 2010. Since the Buffs took both titles in 2004 (the last team to do so and fourth-ever), only four programs have combined for better than two runner-ups, CU in 2006, Oregon in 2007 and 2008, and BYU in 2019.
"I'm proud of the women," head coach Wetmore said. "I'm proud of the men. I wish we had 10 less points on the men's side but I know they ran their hearts out. I'm happy."
PAST TOP RACES:
2014: HUNSUCKER EARNS NCAA RUNNER-UP FINISH IN HAMMER THROW; MEN'S XC RACES TO SECOND-STRAIGHT NCAA TITLE
2013: COBURN FINISHES CAREER WITH PAIR OF TITLES2012 (OLYMPIC EDITION): COBURN & KIPP MAKE OLYMPIC TEAM TOGETHER; REPRESENT CU AND USA AT LONDON GAMES
2012: KIPP CARRIES ON COLORADO LEGARY WITH A PAIR OF STEEPLECHASE TITLES
2011: COBURN WINS FIRST NCAA & U.S. TITLES; BUFFS MAKE STATEMENT WINNING INAUGURAL PAC-12 CROSS COUNTRY TITLES
2010: COBURN AND KIPP BECOME STRONG 1-2 IN THE STEEPLE; DODSON SPRINTS TO A STRONG FINISH
2009: BARRINGER BREAKS 6 COLLEGIATE RECORDS IN FINAL TRACK SEASON (VIDEO)
2008 (OLYMPIC EDITION): BARRINGER AND NELSON TAKE BEIJING OLYMPICS
2008: MEN WIN BIG 12 OUTDOOR TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIP
2007: VAUGHN WINS 3 BIG 12 TITLES; BARRINGER TURNS DISAPPOINTMENT INTO FIRST U.S. CHAMPIONSHIP
2006: BARRINGER'S STEEPLECHASE LEGACY BEGINS; MEN'S XC WINS SECOND NCAA TITLE IN THREE YEARS
2005: METIVIER WINS INDOOR 3K; SLATTERY TAKES 10K TITLE
2004: BUFFS WIN MEN'S AND WOMEN'S NCAA CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS
2003: RITZENHEIN RACES TO THE TITLE (FINISH VIDEO)
2002: TORRES CEMENTS LEGACY (VIDEO)
2001: CU MEN CAPTURE FIRST TITLE (VIDEO)
2000: KARA GRGAS-WHEELER NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
1999: JAMES DAVIS 1999 4x400-METER RELAY ALL-AMERICAN
1998: ADAM GOUCHER 1998 CROSS COUNTRY NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP (VIDEO) (5,000) (3,000)
1997: ADAM GOUCHER INDOOR 3,000 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
1996: ALAN CULPEPPER NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 5,000/ WOMEN'S BIG EIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
(VIDEO)
Players Mentioned
Distance
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Distance
/ Track and Field
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
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