Colorado University Athletics
Marolt, Plati Honored By Alumni Association
BOULDER - Two longtime members of the University of Colorado Athletics family, David Plati and Bill Marolt, were among 12 honored Thursday evening by the CU-Boulder Alumni Association at its 86th annual awards ceremony.
Marolt received the George Norlin Award. Norlin was CUGÇÖs fifth president, and he oversaw the redesign of the campus to its current architecture, and resisted the efforts of the Ku Klux Klan to remove the universityGÇÖs Catholic and Jewish faculty. The Norlin award recognizes alumni who have demonstrated a commitment to excellence in their field and a dedication to the betterment of society.
Marolt was a four-time NCAA champion skier for Colorado and also a member of the 1964 U.S. Olympic team. He graduated from CU with a business degree in 1967 and returned to Colorado in 1969 when he was hired as the schoolGÇÖs ski coach.
MaroltGÇÖs teams won seven consecutive NCAA championships under his guidance (1972-78) and boasted 30 All-Americans. Marolt also oversaw the creation of the womenGÇÖs skiing program at Colorado.
Marolt left Colorado in 1979 to take over as head coach of the U.S. Ski Team. His skiers won a U.S. record five medals at the Sarajevo Olympics in 1984 before CU called again, this time handing him the reins as the schoolGÇÖs athletic director.
Under his direction, CU then enjoyed one of its most successful eras ever in athletics. He made the-then controversial decision to extend the contract of football coach Bill McCartney in 1984, and the risk paid off GÇö the Buffs won a national championship in 1990 and claimed three consecutive Big Eight titles. He also oversaw the construction of the Dal Ward Center, which was one of the nationGÇÖs premier facilities when it opened in 1991.
In 1996, Marolt left CU again, this time to take over as president of U.S. Skiing, and once again he led the U.S. program to unprecedented heights. He retired after the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
Plati has been sports information director at Colorado since 1984, and received the Robert L. Stearns award. Stearns was CUGÇÖs sixth president, from 1939 to 1953, and the award named in his honor recognizes CU faculty and staff for extraordinary achievement in teaching, service to the university, work with students, research or off-campus service.
Plati is being honored for his long service with CUGÇÖs athletic department. He worked in public relations for the sports information office as an undergrad in CUGÇÖs School of Journalism, and was hired to a full-time position after he graduated in December 1982. Two years later, he was the youngest sports information director in the country.
Plati has worked more than 1,500 CU sporting events. HeGÇÖs known for his incredible memory, and was the first statistician to track how efficiently football teams score in the red zone. He also still serves on statistic crew for the Denver Broncos, is KOA's game day statistician for Bronco games and is one of the official scorers for the Colorado Rockies. Since arriving as a freshman at CU in 1978, he has worked the entire time for the Buffaloes sans the summer of his senior year, when he was the PR director for the Denver Bears, the city's former minor league baseball team.
Others honored at the awards ceremony were Jimmy Calano and Pamela Drew, who were also given the George Norlin Award, Adam Bradley and Steven Pollock, who were also given the Robert L. Stearns award, Paris Ferribee and Juedon Kebede, who were given Forever Buffs Student awards, Nan Joesten and Joe Neguse, who were Alumni Recognition recipients and Meshach Rhoades and Evan homas, who were the Kalpana Chawla award winners.