Colorado University Athletics

2008-2009 Club Sports Accomplishments

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  Baseball

The CU Club Baseball team began the season ranked 13th in the nation.  With the addition of a coach and several new players, the team had high hopes for the 2009 season.  After an impressive 5-1 showing in the Spring Training Showcase in Plant City, FL the Buffs looked to earn a bid to the regional Mid America Conference tournament.  The season ended with the Buffs finishing second in the conference to the defending national champion Colorado State Rams.  Although the regular season is over, the team awaits a chance to play in regionals and hopefully nationals.

  Crew

Colorado Crew has once again seen a season full of success.  The year started well with multiple gold medals being won at the Frostbite Regatta held over Halloween weekend in Wichita, Kansas.  Boats from both the men and women's team won multiple medals at the event.  The team stayed strong and completed millions of meters of erg training during the annual Winter Training "festivities" and emerged back onto the water ready to pounce.  A few extra weeks of valuable water training were acquired this year due to the unusually warm winter and the team entered its spring break training trip more prepares than ever. Victories over Baylor and Wichita State during the opening weekend of spring training propelled the crews to do their best and the results showed with a trouncing of arch rival Texas the following weekend.  The team entered the San Diego Crew Classic ready to show what its hard work had accomplished and did well for itself.  Next on the agenda is the regional championship (an event where all boats hope to medal) and the season concludes with the national championship at the end of May (again, with more medals in mind).

  Cycling

This school year, the CU Cycling Team reasserted itself as the top program in the country.  In the fall, the cycling team completed in the Rocky Mountain Conference Mountain Bike Series.  The team was a constant contender in all categories and was on the podium every weekend with a number of big wins.  CU took home multiple conference titles for individuals while the team was on the podium in the conference and at Nationals.  This spring, the team truly dominated.  CU competed in eleven race weekends and never drove back to Boulder without a win.  Last weekend the team traveled to Salt Lake City for conference finals and did not disappoint.  The team won yet another conference title and proved itself as the team to beat at Nationals. 

CU Cycling has had enormous success in 08/09 but is still on the rise.  The club goes into the next school year armed with the most experienced coaching staff in the country and a very motivated group of student athletes ready to defend their title and continue to be a integral part of the Colorado cycling community.

 Dance

Writing on behalf of the CU Buff Gold Dance Team, I think I speak for everyone when I say, GÇ£We canGÇÖt wait to get a fresh start next fall!GÇ¥  At the start of the year things were going beautifully; the team acquired a new talented and determined coach who brought together twenty-two girls on the team.  We worked hard, performed at state finals and continued performances during the spring.  Things were going great until our funds started to dwindle.  We were unable to pay for travel so nationals were not an option.  Disappointed, many of the girls left the team as did our coach.  We are currently student run and doing great with less than a dozen girls.  Even though we are sad to have missed multiple great opportunities this year we hope to start fresh in the fall with new members, new rules and new attitudes!  Our goal is to turn the team around, go to nationals and start a well-known reputation for the dance team.

 Equestrian

This year has been one of the best in our teamGÇÖs history! In our second year with English coach Jill Pelzell and our first with Western coach Lynn Hindman both teams had a great show season. The English team won several high point team and high point rider awards as well as the regional championships. In a first for our team we went on to compete head to head against West Texas A&M for a chance at nationals. To cap off the season we are sending three riders to compete at IHSA Nationals, April 23-26 in Nashville, TN. The Western team also had a very successful season with multiple high point team and high point rider awards, and finished third at regionals in February. What a great year!  

 Fencing

The CU Fencing Club enjoyed a successful year, with several individuals winning events at home and away.

In January, the club sent two teams, Men's Sabre and Women's Foil, to the West Coast Collegiate Invitational Fencing Challenge at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.  The Women's Foil team consisted of Katey Creel, Emily Martersteck, and Jessica Miltenberger, who was unfortunately unable to compete due to illness.  Nevertheless, Creel and Martersteck met and defeated all competitors, winning gold in their event despite being short one teammate.

The Men's Sabre team also performed flawlessly, as team members Walker Bradley, Max Ederer, and Mike Laxer won all their events to take the gold medal in Mixed Sabre.  Ederer was undaunted by the fact that he was competing in his first major out-of-state tournament, and scored numerous wins to help his teammates.  Laxer defeated all opponents save one, finishing with fourteen wins out of a total of fifteen bouts.  Bradley ultimately clinched the team's win in the final match against Swarthmore College.

For the rest of the year, the Fencing Club hosted several tournaments in the Rec Center, with several members finishing in the top ten.  The team looks to recruit new members and train existing ones in the Fall.
 

 Field Hockey

The Field Hockey Club at the CU is continuously growing and improving. This past season, fall of 2008, the club had a record turn-out with at least 30 new freshman; most of whom stayed with the club and played throughout the season.  Even though field hockey is not very big in Colorado, we still managed to have a fair amount of games playing the University of Denver, Colorado State University and some other small leagues in the area. Two new officers were elected to lead next year and plan to extend the program even more. The Field Hockey team will hopefully travel to either Arizona or California next fall and win more games.

 Fly Fishing

This was somewhat of a transitional year for the CU Fly Fishing Club, many past members graduated, nevertheless, our annual fall break trip to Almont, CO was a great success.  In total, we had about thirty people and enjoyed a great weekend of fisting in the Gunnison Valley.

This winter, Shawn Bratt and Tyler Bowman taught fly tying classes with a good turn out.  The current board members, Charles Koenig and Tyler Bowman are graduating this spring, so Ben Miller and George Gummerman will be taking over.  The main goal for the CU Fly Fishing Club is to recruit new members.  Next fall, the club is looking forward to another great fall break trip, casting competitions, and possibly a fishing competition with the University of Wyoming.


 Freestyle Skiing

The 2008/2009 season has been the most successful to date for the University of Colorado Freestyle Ski Team. With one National Title under their belts last year, CUFST successfully defended their title by again winning the USCSA National Collegiate Freestyle Skiing Championship competition.

The event, held in our own backyard at Winter Park, took place in March and hosted teams from all over North America. Highlights include CUFSTGÇÖs Amanda TestwuideGÇÖs repeat dual gold in womenGÇÖs skier cross and slopestyle, Lauren Ladley winning the womenGÇÖs halfpipe competition as well as Jeremy Brown and Jon Peot taking a respective 2nd and 3rd in the menGÇÖs slopestyle.

A total of twelve CUFST athletes competed in the national championship competition, each one contributing mightily to the overall team victory.

Other team successes throughout the year include Jeremy Brown and Kayleen Seaton taking 1st place in the April Loveland Vert Alert competition, Lexi DuPont qualifying for the IFSA Freeskiing World Championships competition in Alaska, and team members competing in a plethora of local and regional competitions throughout the season.

The CU Freestyle Ski Team looks forward to building on their great successes and looking ahead to continue to improve for next season.
 

 Men's Hockey

At the start of the 2008-2009 season, the MenGÇÖs Varsity Ice Hockey team had an entirely new coaching staff and ten new players on the roster. To kick off the year

CU traveled up to UNC an defeated the Bears in front of a capacity crowd, 4-1. On October 18th CU defeated a tough San Jose State team in Boulder 8-0. On November 1 at, CU defeated Eastern Washington 6-4 in a game that started to solidify CUGÇÖs ability to compete with anyone again in the 2008-2009 season.

As the second semester began the Buffs came back with a new energy and attitude. On January 16th of the New Year CU defeated Denver University at home 4-1. The next night their excellence continued as they shut out arch rivals UNC, 4-0. This would be the start of an 8 game win streak that the Buffs saw early second semester. They would end up taking home three wins, playing against BYU, Utah Valley and a tough Utah State team and crowd in Logan. At the end of the regular season the Buffs were ranked third in the West which qualified them for the top seed in the 2009 Regional Playoffs.

The 2009 National Tournament was in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The Buffs found themselves in a tough draw, having been placed in a pool with the defending national champion Davenport University Panthers. CUGÇÖs first game was against William Patterson. They proved to be tough in the early going as they held a 3-1 lead going into  the final period.  But the BuffGÇÖs cam back out onto the ice on fire lighting up the William Patterson goalie for seven third period goals, eventually earning the Buffs and 8-4 victory. Game two was against defending champs, Davenport University. After two periods of play the Buff and Panthers were tied 1-1. In the third period DavenportGÇÖs experience took over and lead them to a win from which they would build on and eventually win the National Championship again. In the last game of the season the Buffs watched as senior goaltender Marc Torrente had a stellar performance against the University of Miami-Ohio. CU finished the 2008-2009 seas ranked 10th in the country. Next year the Buffs return a solid core group of players and coaching staff as they look forward to chasing after next seasonGÇÖs National Championship Title, again.
 

 Women's Hockey

This season started out with many new players and lots of excitement. We took various trips out to play the University of Minnesota, Ohio State University, the University of Massachusetts, the University of  Rhode Island, and to Nationals in Rochester, NY.  We finished out our season by taking first at the WACH State Tournament. The team bonded extensively through 19 hour road trips in one van and all our other
chaotic adventures. It was a fairly successful year, but we hope to only progress further.
 

 Kayak

At our regional competition (the Colorado School of Mines Icebreaker) we placed third in the Collegiate division, in the event we had 4 members competing for the first time.  Our hard work over the winter practicing and playing local schools at kayak polo as we beat the CSU kayak club 4-0 in our kayak polo match.  In boatercross Tom Janney won his semifinal heat to get into the finals and was barley edged out in the finals.  In the Rodeo competition Celine Cooper and Steven Benedict competed for the first time and placed in the middle of the pack a very good accomplishment for their first competition. 

 Men's Lacrosse

The CU Men's Lacrosse Team is just wrapping up a 17-game season. After a very productive fall season, in which the Buffs hosted an alumni game, hiked 12 miles into the Rocky Mountain National Park, and began work on a new training regiment, the CU team stormed the spring-season for a 12-5 record and 1st Place in the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse Conference.

Highlights of the season not only include defeating rival CSU for the first time in 10+ years, but also going undefeated on a 3-game road trip to Utah; beating BYU (ranked 4th in the Nation at the time), Utah State, and the University of Utah.

With the help of several interns the club that have donated their time for the experience, the men's lacrosse team took more of an active effort this season to spread the news of their events and developments, launching a new website (culax.org), and to each game adding photography, LIVE internet-radio play-by-play commentary, PA announcing, and press releases for all team-related occasions. The Buffs have been highlighted by several media outlets this season including web coverage, multiple magazine articles, and "Team of the Week" awards (4/10/09 - CollegeLax.us).

The team is hosting the 2009 Conference Playoffs this weekend, a tournament of 10 teams within 2 divisions, competing for the title of "Conference Champion". All of which is on route to qualifying for the National Championship tournament, which being held at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Denver.


 Women's Lacrosse

 The CU WomenGÇÖs Lacrosse team has had a very successful season thus far. We attended two out-of-state tournaments, one in Santa Barbara and the other in Atlanta, Georgia and came back home undefeated from both. The highlight wins of our season include beating Cal Poly, UCLA, Virginia Tech Club, and Michigan. All of which are top ten nationally ranked teams. Our record of 14-3 has granted us the forth seed for WDIA National Championship in Phoenix, Arizona. We leave for nationals May 5th, very hungry to bring home the National Championship to Boulder.

 Racquetball

The University of Colorado Racquetball Team was a strong presence on the Colorado intercollegiate scene this year thanks to a core of very passionate players. We consistently had players rank in the top 3 of their brackets and finished the year by sending two players to the Colorado state championships where one of our players won her division. Much of this success is due to the dedication of our coaches who have worked through tough schedules to assist the team in everything from drilling and technique to providing weekly conditioning exercises to keep us in shape. The racquetball team looks forward to the summer season and to preparing for the next intercollegiate matches in the fall.

 Roller Hockey

After many key seniors leaving and a new coach this year was a rebuilding year.  Freshman standout Evan Meredith lead the team in goals with 12, lead the team in points with 18 and help solidify a new defensive system.  Team captain Nick Vogt was a force to be reckoned with and was easily one of the best players in the Rocky Mountain division.  Senior goalie Adam Dyrek finished second in save percentage in the Rocky Mountain division helping CU gain a goal stingy reputation. New coach Jared Apjoke instituted a triangle plus one defense and set plays such as "the duece" which left other teams dazed.  In all CU finished 3rd in the Rocky Mountain standings.  In regionals CU played rival UNC.  Regulation ended in a 2-2 tie.  Sudden death ensued with UNC scoring the winning goal.  This year's team will only be graduating three players: Nick Vogt, Erik Bocks, and Adam Dyrek.  The team is excited for next year's team expecting a large freshman talent pool.

 Men's Rugby

The University of Colorado Rugby team came into the 2008-2009 season after a trip to the final four the previous year. Although many players from that final four team left, the CU MenGÇÖs Rugby Team was hit with a wealth of young talent in their program. In league play, CU went 2-2 and narrowly missed the playoffs. In the spring, they faced some of the toughest competition in collegiate rugby in preparation for next year. The MenGÇÖs Rugby team has nearly all of their players coming back for the 2009-2010 season and are looking for another run to the final four.

 Women's Rugby

CU Women's Rugby Team is an amazing team that has many opportunities for players to play in high level rugby and gain more rugby experience while traveling around the nation.  This past season has surpassed our expectations.  Overall we have won four games, lost to only two, and tied once in the Eastern Rockies Rugby Football Union league.  We traveled to Arizona were we won the Wild West Rugby fest, and we even
traveled to California. We set a new record (2-5) at Stanford. Moreover, we qualified to play at West Playoffs for the third year in a row. 

Not only do we have success on the field, but we also set a new record in fundraising.  This allowed us to have more girls travel with us to tournaments than ever before and we had many girls who really wanted to get in the game and play college rugby.   Overall, we have great memories of this season that we'll never forget.  We have high hopes for what is to become of this team next year.
 

 Men's Soccer

The 2008-2009 Season was an overall success for both teams that make up the CU MenGÇÖs Club Soccer program.  The Gold team finished their league season with an astonishing 11-1 record, including a valuable win against rivals, CSU.  The Gold team easily cruised into Nationals with momentum on their side.  As the tournament began the Gold team won crucial games against University of Wisconsin, Mizzou, and UCSB, only to fall short in the quarter finals with a heart-breaking loss to Ohio State.  The Black team, under the new leadership of coach Deven Sellers, assimilated quickly to the transition, and not only gained a spot in the NIRSA Nationals tournament, but also won the Colorado Mountain College Tournament after an amazing run of performances that included wins against Mesa State College, Fort Lewis College, and Weber State.     

 Women's Soccer

WomenGÇÖs Club Soccer produced three very young, but very talented teams this year under the experienced guidance of Dorian Barnes and Brian Greenwood for the Gold team, Chris Ellis and Julio Correa for the Black team, and Brad Greenwood for the White team.  The Gold team closed out its season with a record of 22-5-3, the Black team with 15-7-2, and the white team with 12-11-2.  The program hosted a very successful home tournament with schools from all around the country traveling to Boulder to attend.  Our teams traveled to tournaments in Santa Barbara, Greeley, and Glenwood Springs, and the Gold and Black teams made another intimidating appearance at the National Tournament at the University of Alabama.  We are hopeful that the new youth in the program will have gained valuable experience from this past season and will be able to step up with power next season.

 Softball

The GÇÖ08-GÇÖ09 CU Club Softball team had the strongest and most solid team in recent years.  As reigning champs of the NCSA Mid-America West conference and after going 7-2 in conference, we clinched another conference title in the spring, qualifying us for the national tournament held in Cary, NC.  Although the tournament didnGÇÖt go as well as we wouldGÇÖve hoped, it was still a great ending to an amazing season.  The team hit over .400 on the season and hit .500 in the national tournament.  Trips to Lamar, CO, and Hastings, NE, added some quality competition and traveling adventures our teamGÇÖs repertoire, and we simply could not have asked for a better lineup of girls.  We are dying with excitement just thinking of what next year will hold for us.     

 Swimming and Diving

 Both our men's and women's teams had a very successful season, swimming again both club and NCAA divisions I-III teams and dominating the competition. The men and women both placed in the top three at all our competitions and combined won the Colorado Classic in Colorado Springs, beating both division II and III teams. In the Spring we hosted the second annual ASA U. Regional Invitational hosting Club teams from the area. This meet was exciting and a chance to show our skills, coming up on top of the competition to win the meet. To close another great season, the team traveled to Oxford, OH to compete in the ASA U. National Championships. We swept the Nation as our talented swimmers swam national records and personal bests. The men's team, women's team and our combined scores, allows us to come home crowned national champs as well as men's and women's champs. We are very excited about our accomplishment and looking forward to next yearGÇÖs season.

 Synchronized Skating

CU Synchronized Skating had a wonderful season. This being only their second competitive season there were some kinks to be worked out, but overall they had a fantastic year. The season began with the team's second trip to the Dr. Richard Porter Synchronized Skating Classic in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The girls had a great time and the newcomers to the sport got quite an introduction at one of the biggest competitions
synchro has to offer. The team skated a solid program and came in fourth up against some big teams from around the country. After Porter the team turned their attention to sectionals. The Midwest and Pacific Coast
Sectional Championships were held in Broomfield this year, so the girls were excited to defend some hometown ice. They skated a nearly flawless program and became Pacific Coast Sectional champions over rival Colorado State. A wonderful season was capped off with  a show performance at a Rocky Mountain Rage game, again at the Broomfield Event Center. CU Sync! Synchronized Skating has come a long way in their short tenure at the university, and the future looks bright. The girls look forward to welcoming new faces next year in the hopes of continuing their legacy.

 Tae Kwon Do

This year the Tae Kwon Do team demonstrated its dedication. Athletes on the team continued to win awards in sparring and forms competition at a variety of local tournaments in addition to regional competitions. Furthermore, the team dominated the other Colorado universities in a continuing series of scrimmages (they did not lose even one this season). As a club they also did some practice restructuring and tried new team encouragement techniques. Due to these strategies the team was able to send 10 athletes to Brown University over Spring Break for Collegiate Nationals who brought home 5 medals (including one gold and two silver medals). The level of competition at the NCTA nationals continues to increase, but so does the caliber of CU Tae Kwon Do. Finally, the Tae Kwon Do team also had 4 athletes who achieved new belt ranks throughout the course of the season. This is a difficult and noteworthy achievement. The team seeks to continue as a strong program both locally and nationally and hopes to have another good season next year as a new team of officers takes command. 

 Tennis

There were many new freshman players this year. They all adapted really well to the competitive format of college team tennis. Placed 8th at the 4th Annual Badger Classic in Madison, Wisconsin in November, only loosing to the 2008 Nationals Champions Texas A&M University team. We took 3 teams to Sectionals in Las Vegas, Nevada in February and placed 1st through 3rd earning ourselves a bid and a first seed in our pool for Nationals. Nationals will take place April 15th-19th in Surprise, Arizona.


 Triathlon

The CU Triathlon Club has grown into a dedicated team in this last school year. With relatively few returning members, our new coach, Mike Ricci, and our young teammates crafted a talented, close knit squad of athletes that have made quite an splash within the collegiate triathlon community.

Working together with Coach Mike Ricci, we pushed ourselves and each other to greater levels at each 7:00AM swim and snowy run and windy bike ride. Because of this determination, we exploded onto the collegiate triathlon scene. At our regional championship race, our CU Tri Team placed first and second for women and first and third for men, giving us an overall victory.

Just one month later, we geared up for our national championship. In articles written about the event, journalists and commentators made their picks for the winning schools. Quite noticeably, CU was not mentioned as a contender for the top spots. However, on race day our fearsome womens' team placed second in the nation with the first-place female finisher. Our men's team, led by third-place finisher Cedric Wane, earned fourth place in the nation. Together, our men's and women's team secured a third place overall victory for the CU Triathlon Team and an insatiable hunger for victory next year.
 

 Men's Ultimate

Mamabird, Colorado's Men's Ultimate team, is currently ranked second nationally (out of more than 150 collegiate programs).  Anchored by a seasoned veteran core which includes national player of the year candidate Mac Taylor, Mamabird has compiled a record of 35 and 9 at tournaments in Missouri, Texas, California, Nevada and Colorado.  This past weekend, Colorado won the Southwestern Regionals and advanced to the National tournament, where the team expects to deliver the University of Colorado a second Men's Ultimate National title this May.

 Women's Ultimate

In the past two years Kali, CU women's Ultimate, has ended their season in gut wrenching games to go (to nationals) losses at Regionals. This past weekend was regionals, and Kali came out with incredible intensity, heart and fury.  Seeded 5th going into the tournament, they upset CSU who was first in their pool and went undefeated in pool play! In the last game on Saturday they went up against UCLA, one of their biggest rivals, and one of the top teams in the country. Kali beat UCLA by two points, which was a HUGE win, especially because it secured their definite bid to nationals, and sent them into to finals! Although they lost in the finals to Santa Barbara in a tough windy game, they beat UCLA in the game afterwards, claiming the second place in the region! Kali can't wait to bring their best at Nationals this May, and is looking forward to some more heart felt victories!

 Men's Volleyball

This season, the Men's volleyball team endured some ups and downs but finished the year strong, improving with every match played.

We entered last weekend's National Championships ranked 27th in the country.  We left the tournament tied for 5th in the country, including the first CU gold bracket win in over 4 years!

Next season looks to be a very promising one with almost the entire team returning with the exception of right side hitter Sean Bartowecz. We should start the season top 15 in the nation and we look to only move up from there.
 

 Women's Volleyball

?    1st place in RMR tournament
?    Participated in Girls in Sports Day!
?    Travelled to 3 out-of-state tournaments
?    Top 10 at Las Vegas Open
?    2nd place at CSU tournament
?    Competed in Gold Division for Nationals

 Men's Water Polo

The 2008 season brought the menGÇÖs water polo team their best finish in almost ten years.  After loosing 3 regular season games to conference rival Utah, the team was able to rally past the UteGÇÖs in the conference championship after a close win over Colorado State in the semi-finals.  At their first national appearance in eight years, the buffs finished 12th after a close loss to Dartmouth, a win over host Ohio, and two overtime losses to Texas A&M and Duke.  Senior Alex Lin was named Rocky Mountain Conference Player of the Year.  Alex and fellow senior Clint Beal were named first team all conference while senior Rob Greg and sophomore Steve Nester were named to the second team. 

 Women's Water Polo

This year was very special to us because we had two very special seniors graduating. Alex McLain has been the President and captain of our team for the past three years and we couldnGÇÖt be more proud of her. Michael Donnelly has also be a huge part of our team and it will be sad to see her go. We finished this year in fourth place against some great teams. Next year will be even more competitive and we are all very excited.

 Wrestling

This season came with many important changes for the Wrestling Team. We pulled together and decided that we did not just want to be a club that casually wrestles a few times a week, but we wanted to be a real team, and we wanted to train like a real team. Since then we have trained hard, learned from each other, and with the help of our new coach, Osiris, were able to compete against teams that were together long before we were. We have grown together as wrestlers, and we intend to keep growing as a team over the coming years.