James Strang

Height:
6-0
Class:
Junior
Hometown:
Signal Mountain, Tenn.
High School:
Baylor

COLLEGE--2005: Strang improved steadily throughout his sophomore campaign. He started off placing ninth at the Rocky Mountain Shootout as CU’s fifth runner. At Pre-Nationals, he moved up and finished as CU’s No. 4 racer, placing 19th overall. Strang moved up one spot yet again at the Big 12 Championships, finishing eighth (CU’s No. 3). At the NCAA Mountain Regional, he was the fourth Buff to cross the finish line, 11th overall. But Strang saved the best for last. At the NCAA Championships, he earned his first All-American honor by finishing 35th overall and was Colorado’s first to the finish. Along with his first All-American title, Strang captured his first All-Big 12 and All-Mountain Region titles. 2004: The Buffs’ No. 2 freshman in all but two races in ?04, Strang had four top-20 finishes under his belt heading into the last race of the season. He had his first top-10 finish in the career christening Rocky Mountain Shootout and finished two places later at Pre-Nats in Terre Haute. With Harkrader sidelined, he was the Buffs highest finishing freshman at the conference championships and highest finishing true freshman in the race, though he missed all-conference recognition by one place. He made up for it a week later when he picked up all-region honors with a 17th place finish at the NCAA Mountain Region Championships. He clinched CU’s NCAA Cross Country team title as the fourth-highest finishing true freshman and highest finishing fifth scorer in the meet, 49th overall, critically defeating Wisconsin’s fifth man for the dramatic four-point win. HIGH SCHOOL: Following a third place 2003 Foot Locker South Regional finish in Charlotte, N.C., Strang ran to an All-American time of 15 minutes, 31 seconds to finish 16th at Foot Locker nationals in San Diego, just 36 seconds off the winning pace. A four-year letterwinner in cross country and track (800-3,200-m, 4x4 and 4x800-m relays) for Baylor, the Red Raiders were the 2000 Division II state champions in cross country in the fastest and deepest Division in the state and the 2002 state champions on the track. In 2003, they were runner-up finishes in both the region and state meets. As a sophomore, Strang was all-state as part of the 4x800-m relay team, and he was first-team all-city and all-region in cross country as a junior, his first season with the sport. He repeated his all-state title in the 4x8 as a junior, and added all-state honors in the 4x400-m. In the classroom he is an honor roll student that has never slipped below the 3.4 mark. Strang had a keen interest in attending Oregon, Villanova, Oklahoma State, Virginia and Texas prior to committing to the Buffs and Colorado. IN THE CLASSROOM: A four-year honor roll student whose cumulative grade point average never dropped below a 3.4, Strang is an open option major at CU and would like to follow in his father’s footsteps and pursue a career in dentistry after college. PERSONAL: Born Dec. 7, 1984 in Chattanooga, Tenn., James Maynard Strang III is the youngest of Dr. James and Cheryl Strang’s three children. He has two older sisters: Amber is a ?99 SMU grad and Ellen is a 2002 graduate of Big 12 rival Kansas. His hobbies include riding horses (western), fly fishing and hunting. He has done volunteer work for Habitat for Humanity and has made frequent visits to a local hospital’s cancer ward. He has worked several summer camps, including Kanakuk, a Christian camp in Branson, Mo. His maternal grandfather, Charles Eubanks, played football at Tennessee-Chattanooga.