BOULDER – Former University of Colorado cross country and track and field coach Jerry Quiller, who coached 15 years and hundreds of student-athletes at the school, has passed away after fighting a battle against multiple myeloma.  He was 69.

Coach Q started his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Colorado State University and became an assistant with CU in 1970, holding that position for four years. In 1974 he took over the reigns as a head coach at Wayne (Mich.) State. After two seasons he came back to CSU (1976-80) before heading to Idaho State (1980-85). Quiller then took over the program at CU in 1985, replacing David Troy. He coached the Buffs until 1995 when he landed his final coaching post at Army (1995-2008).

“He had a resume of champions and All-Americans, but that is not why he was so loved,” Wetmore explained. “Simply, he was a great guy. He had a big smile, a nickname for everyone, and an arm around their shoulders. He made people feel happy, welcome, and at home. What greater measure of success could there be?”

During his time at CU, Quiller coached the Buffs to three Big Eight Conference titles and made a dozen (men and women) appearances at the NCAA Championships. He was named the league’s coach of the year five times in that span and directed 19 All-Americans (13 men and six women), including Olympians Adam Goucher and Alan Culpepper. In 1994, CU’s men placed second and the women were fourth at nationals, earning him national coach of the year accolades.

The program at CU was left to the very capable hands of Mark Wetmore, who was an assistant under Quiller. The two formed a strong bond and Wetmore has a great deal of respect for him.

“I’ve been lucky to know many people considered to be successful…athletic champions, Olympians, wealthy people, well known or influential people. But I’m not sure I ever knew anyone more successful than Jerry Quiller,” Wetmore said. “Everywhere I have traveled, people have asked me, “What do you hear from Q?”, “Can you get me Q’s phone number?”  We had a CU Track and Field reunion a year ago, with hundreds of graduates, going back forty years. Q was surrounded all night.

“He was also a coach up at CSU for a time. Just last year they had a similar gathering at one of their home track meets and the same thing happened. He moved around the meet like a celebrity, with an entourage following.”

“Our offices were side-by-side for over a decade, and I can’t recall a single day where he wasn’t always smiling,” said David Plati, CU’s associate AD for sports information.  “He was an ‘up’ person, even throughout his battle, a ‘glass is half full kind of guy.’  He left an indelible mark on those lives he touched.”

Coach Q was one of the most successful coaches in Army history. Quiller guided the Army men’s and women’s cross country and track teams to 37 Patriot League titles in 13 seasons on the job. He won a Patriot League title in either cross country or track and field in each of his 13 years at the Academy and was named the Patriot League Coach of the Year an astounding 22 times. He had two more athletes, Dan Browne and Anita Allen, become Olympians as they competed in the 2004 Athens Games.

As one of the most successful coaches in Army history, ‘Q’ went out on top, coaching the women’s team to their first outdoor Patriot League title in 10 years and earning 2008 Women’s Outdoor Track Coach of the Year honors from the Patriot League. He also earned one last trip to the NCAA Championships as distance runner John Mickowski advanced to the national competition under his leadership.

Quiller, a Fort Collins, Colo. native lettered in cross country, track and field and baseball at Fort Collins High School. He was a member of the Colorado State track and field team, graduating in 1964 with a bachelor’s of science degree in physical science. He earned his master’s in education in 1966, also from CSU. He was born on April 28, 1942 in Denver. He and his wife, Sandy, had three sons, Ryan, Rory and Robb, who were all pole vaulters.

Everywhere Coach Q went people could see what a genuine and amazing person he was. He left his mark on everyone he met, including Gary Ozzello, the Senior Associate A.D. for External Operations at CSU.

“I had the chance to know Jerry during his time at CSU and in his years since CSU,” Ozzello said. “He was very passionate about track and field and about his life and his family. I have nothing but great memories in all that Jerry did and every person he touched during his life.”

Quiller touched many lives in his nearly 40-year coaching career, including Idaho State coach Dave Nielson who served as an assistant for Quiller during his time at ISU.

“Coach Q has been a mentor to me and all whose lives he touched through his actions, style, and attitude.  In this very sad time, it is comforting to know that gifts to us in life are not lost in his passing,” Nielson said.

Coach Q was an assistant coach for the 2000 Olympic team which competed in Sydney, Australia. The team included two of his former athletes from CU, Goucher and Culpepper. He was the U.S. men’s team coach at the 1981 world cross country championships and the women’s team coach at the same meet in 1994. Quiller also served as the distance coach for the U.S. team at the 1987 track and field world championships.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

Courtesy of CUBuffs.com

On Saturday the 28th January, Boulder Track Club (BTC) athletes will converged at Harlow Platts Park for the annual Fast and Flurry-ous 4 mile XC race staged by the Boulder Running Company.

The Fast and Flurry-ous was originally put together a few years back to give local runners the opportunity to race hard in order to tune their efforts before going off to the USATF Cross Country Nationals in February each year. But this year’s event was highly anticipated and talked about due to a newborn rivalry concept between the Boulder Track Club and the Boulder Running Company/ Adidas teams.

BTC and BRC/ Adidas will compete head-to-head in a 5 race series throughout 2012 with Race 1 being the Fast and Flurry-ous. The way the concept will work is the top 4 runners from each team will have their race times combined and the team with the lowest combined total time wins. Typically team scoring is based on place in the field, but what made it particularly interesting for this first race was that they combined both the Women’s and the Men’s team times.

First up was the women’s race with BTC’s Laura Thweatt dominating from the start. Laura was able to comfortably win the race in 22.24 from Ft. Collins athlete Adriana Nelson in 23:04 and Boulder’s Melody Fairchild 3rd running 23:22. Shannon Payne led the BRC/ Adidas women’s team home in 4th (23.43) and they easily beat the BTC women by 3mins and 6secs to take the points in Race 1 for the “Elva Dryer” perpetual trophy. Allison Sawyer was the BTC’s second best performance on the day in 8th (24.21), Mary Miller 23rd (26.43) and Jax Mariash 24th (26.48).

The men’s race was a much closer race early on with BTC’s Matt Tebo running controlled in the front pack with Colorado Springs John Mickowski and Boulder’s Christian Thompson. Tebo tried to break up the leading group just after half way but found the task to difficult with Mickowski taking the victory in 19.49, Thompson 2nd in 19.50 and Tebo fading to 3rd in 19.57.

The BTC men certainly atoned for the women, taking the team’s race for the “Mark Plaatjes” perpetual trophy at season’s end over BRC/ Adidas by 1min 48secs. The ever-reliable Clint Wells was BTC’s second best performer finishing 4th (20.10), then Josh Glaab 6th (20.27) and Curtis Begley 7th (20.28) rounding out the club’s top performers. Loren Ahonen for team BRC/ Adidas was their best performer on the day finishing 5th (20.16).

By comparison, last year’s race was won by BTC’s Jason Hartman who ran 21:05. That was bested by the top 12 of the field today and Joanna Zieger ran 24:21 last year which would have been good for 8th today.

“Today has been as a major success,” claimed coach of the Boulder Track Club, Lee Troop. “It was exciting to hear from all my athletes the enjoyment they got from the race today. The crowds overwhelming support and encouragement for the BTC athletes made them realize that they were not out there racing for themselves. The new race series component has added an extra element to their performance and today was about representing the club, sponsors, supporters but more importantly the community”.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank Cody Hill from BRC/ Adidas for embracing the concept and congratulate his team on the women’s victory as well as the overall victory. I would also like to thank Fast and Flurry-ous race director Henry Guzman for allowing us to conduct this rivalry concept within his event.” added Troop.

BRC/Addidas’ Adam Rich remarked: “The competition was great and everybody came to the event ready to give it their all. Hats off to the Boulder Track Club as they had the better team today and ran very well. The race series with them should be interesting and offer a good challenge for both teams as the races progress.”

The rivalry will be staged over 5 races (Race 2 – Bolder Boulder 10km/ Race 3 – Classic 10km Colorado Springs/ Race 4 – RMAC XC race Colorado Springs / Race 5 – The Fort Collins Thanksgiving Day Run), the team with the most wins at the end of the year, will receive the Mark Plaatjes Perpetual Trophy (Men) and the Elva Dryer Perpetual Trophy (Women).

Photos by BoulderRunner

View other photos from Jim Heuck.

Results

Women

Joana Zieger handedly grabbed the Masters win. Full Results »

Men

Rich Dissley fought off Darren DeReuck for the Masters title. Full Results »

Flanagan set to defend women’s title, Tegenkamp leads men’s field for USA Cross Country Championships

Olympic Bronze medalist and American record holder Shalane Flanagan (Portland, Ore.) and 2008 Olympian Matt Tegenkamp (Portland, Ore.) lead the fields at the 2011 USA Cross Country Championships scheduled for Saturday at Mission Bay Park in San Diego, Calif. Flanagan will be seeking her fifth USA Cross Country title.

USATF Cross Country Championships in San Diego, CA

In addition to the national titles up for grabs in San Diego, open and junior men and women will qualify to represent Team USA at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships March 20 in Punta Umbria, Spain.

In the women’s race Flanagan, whose 12th place finish at the World Cross Country Championships last year in Bydgoszcz, Poland led Team USA to a third place team finish and a spot on the podium, will face training partner and NCAA 10,000 meter record holder Lisa Koll (Portland, Ore.); American Record holder at 5,000 meters Molly Huddle (Providence, R.I.) and 2007 World Championships bronze medalist at 10,000 meters Kara Goucher (Portland, Ore.).

Flanagan’s 2010 World Cross Country teammates Renee Metivier Baillie (Boulder, Colo.) and Magdalena Lewy Boulet (Oakland, Calif.) will be in the hunt for a Team USA spot, along with 2009 champion Emily Brown (Minneapolis, Minn.) and 2006 champion Blake Russell (Pacific Grove, Calif.).

On the men’s side, Tegenkamp, one of only five U.S. men to break 13 minutes for 5,000 meters, leads a field that includes Olympians Abdi Abdirahman (Tucson, Ariz.), Jorge Torres (Boulder, Colo.) and past Team USA harriers Scott Bauhs (Mammoth Lakes, Calif.); Bobby Curtis (Ardmore, Pa.); Ben Bruce (Eugene, Ore.); Ryan Vail (Portland, Ore.); and Bobby Mack (Raleigh, N.C.). Veterans Max King (Bend, Ore.) and Matt Gabrielson will both be seeking to make their fourth Team USA cross country squad.

The championships will consist of six cross country championship races for men’s and women’s categories with national titles on the line for junior, masters and open divisions. The nation’s premier cross country event, the Championships will feature $38,000 in prize money.

Masters Championships

National championships will also be decided for masters men and women at 8 km with titles on the line in five-year age groups beginning at age 40 and up.

The fields will feature masters aces Pete Magill (South Pasadena, Calif.); Doug Bell (Greeley, Colo.); Colleen De Reuck (Boulder, Colo.), Carmen Ayala-Troncoso (Austin, Texas) and Kathryn Martin (Northport, N.Y.).

Fleet Feet Sports Boulder will be fielding a deep Men’s and Women’s Masters teams,  Darren De Reuck will be leading his Running Republic of Boulder team, and the Boulder Road Runners will also be sending harriers.
Webcast Information

The USA Cross Country Championships will be webcast in cooperation with RunnerSpace.com at www.USARunningCircuit.com beginning at live beginning at 9:45 a.m. PST.

For more information on the 2011 USA Cross Country Championships visit www.usatf.org.

Fiona Docherty and Jason Hartman each controlled Saturday’s Fast and Flurry-ous 4-miler cross country race Saturday at Harlow Platts Park in South Boulder.

The Fast and Flurry-ous was originally put together a few years back to give local runners the opportunity to race hard in order to tune their efforts before going off to the USATF Cross Country Nationals in February each year.

The field is often stacked with local talent who train in Boulder. This year’s fields were a little shallower, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t some serious racing going on.

The women’s race kicked off at 9am and control was taken immediately by Fiona Docherty who pushed the pace out front virtually the entire race. She finished the 3 loop 4mile course in 24:21

Jason Hartman, who clocked a 2:11 marathon at Chicago in October, controlled the race from the start but was closely trailed by a lead pack containing Michael Chaves, Patric Rizzo, Tyler McCandless, Joshua Merrick, Ewen North and many others.

Hartman crossed the line in 21:05

More photos

Results

1.     284     Fiona Docherty     Boulder CO      35      24:21      5:57      35 to 39      1st
2.     266     Kathy Butler     Nederland CO     37     26:45     6:32     35 to 39     2nd
3.     367     Martha Tenorio     Boulder CO     43     26:59     6:35     40 to 44     1st
4.     326     Samantha Lewis     Boulder CO     16     28:10     6:53     15 to 19     1st
5.     275     Jen Collins     Boulder CO     29     28:19     6:55     25 to 29     1st
6.     297     Lauren Gregory     Windsor CO     11     28:47     7:02     14 & under     1st
7.     333     Bethanie Merrick     Alamosa CO     29     28:50     7:02     25 to 29     2nd
8.     314     Kristi Jordan     Longmont CO     47     28:59     7:04     45 to 49     1st
9.     282     Lydia Dissly     Boulder CO     43     29:24     7:11     40 to 44     2nd
10. 315     Karen Kantor     Morrison CO     40     29:44     7:15     40 to 44     3rd
11. 389     Megan Hebbe     Portland OR     27     30:51     7:32     25 to 29     3rd
12. 368     Jeana Thayer     Denver CO     26     31:00     7:34     25 to 29     4th
13. 280     Glenys De Wet     Westminster CO     28     31:29     7:41     25 to 29     5th
14. 390        Lori Cooper     Boulder CO     35     31:42     7:44     35 to 39     3rd
15. 268     Michelle Carpenter     Boulder CO     33     32:06     7:50     30 to 34     1st

Full Women’s Results »

1.     302      Jason Hartmann      Boulder CO      29      21:05      5:09      25 to 29      1st
2.     350     Patrick Rizzo     Boulder CO     27     21:10     5:10     25 to 29     2nd
3.     271     Michael Chavez     Fort Collins CO         21:18     5:12
4.     332     Tyler McCandless     Boulder CO     24     21:32     5:16     20 to 24     1st
5.     334     Joshua Merrick     Alamosa CO     29     21:39     5:17     25 to 29     3rd
6.     310     Patrick Hunt     Boulder CO     32     21:54     5:21     30 to 34     1st
7.     349     Adam Rich     Colorado Springs CO         22:02     5:23
8.     338     Japheth Ngojoy     Greeley CO     23     22:09     5:25     20 to 24     2nd
9.     348     Bobby Reyes     Longmont CO     26     22:10     5:25     25 to 29     4th
10. 356     Levi Severson     Boulder CO     30     22:39     5:32     30 to 34     2nd
11. 342     Ewen North     Louisville CO     32     22:41     5:32     30 to 34     3rd
12. 347     Ramin Razavi     Boulder CO     32     22:42     5:33     30 to 34     4th
13. 312     James Johnson     Boulder CO     42     22:58     5:36     40 to 44     1st
14. 371     John Tribbia     Boulder CO     28     22:59     5:37     25 to 29     5th
15. 323     Rob Kosick     Denver CO     32     23:12     5:40     30 to 34     5th

Full Men’s Results »

CU Cross Country

The University of Colorado cross country teams are ready for the 15th Annual Big 12 Championship on Saturday, October 30 at the Oklahoma State University Cross Country Course.

Admission is free to the public.

The women will start the day at 10 a.m. with the 6-kilometer run and the men will run the 8k at 11 a.m. A short awards presentation will follow with the top 15 individuals earning All-Big 12 honors.

This will be the final Big 12 championship for the Buffs who have a rich tradition of winning team and individual titles. The CU men have won 12 of 14 conference titles, while the women have taken 11. The Buffs have won 17 individual titles; the men taking eight and the women with nine. The last time a male won the conference crown was Brent Vaughn in 2007 and Jenny Barringer won the title last year.

This season’s top male has been Joe Bosshard. He won the Rocky Mountain Shootout and was seventh in the white race at the NCAA Pre-National meet. He has been named the CU Athlete and the Big 12 Runner of the Week. Bosshard raced to a 19^th-place finish at the Big 12 meet last season.

The Buffs returned a large number from last year’s squad, including seniors Richard Medina and Matt Tebo. Juniors Christian Thompson and Andy Wacker have been making huge contributions to the team over the last two seasons. Thompson was named All-Big 12 in 2009 after placing ninth. Martin Medina and Aric Van Halen have also raced at the conference level and look to score points for CU.

Laura Tremblay has been CU’s top women’s scorer this season. She won the Rocky Mountain Shootout and placed second at the NCAA Pre-Nats in the ‘white’ race and was subsequently named the CU Athlete and Big 12 Runner of the Week. Tremblay earned her first All-Big 12 honor in 2009 by placing 15^th overall at CU’s No. 4 scorer and looks to improve on that this season.

Laura Thweatt, the only senior on the team, will race in her last conference meet and has been a scorer for the team since joining the team as a freshman. She had her best outing at the Big 12 Championship last year, finishing 12^th overall to earn her first all-conference honor.

Emma Coburn, Katie Cumming and Allie McLaughlin also raced in 2009. McLaughlin was the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year after finishing second behind Barringer. Coburn was 22^nd and Cumming finished 33^rd. Redshirt freshman Shalaya Kipp has played a big part this season, finishing second for the Buffs at pre-nats, 12^th overall. Camille Logan and true freshman Rachel Viger have also been a part of this year’s success.

Both of CU’s squads placed second at the 2009 championship. The women were just 14 points outside of first with 52 total points, while the men were 32 points from the top of the podium (56).

The Buffs will have some tough competition as usual. Texas Tech has won the women’s championship the last two years. TTU is ranked No. 4.  Iowa State is ranked No. 11, Texas is No. 15 and OSU is No. 27. The men’s side also looks to be challenging. OSU, the reigning NCAA Champion, has won the last two conference titles and is ranked second in the nation. The Cowboys will have an advantage since the race will be on their home course. Oklahoma is No. 5 and Texas is the other nationally ranked opponent, coming in at 30th.

Following the conference championships, both rosters will be cut to seven over the next couple of weeks before the NCAA Mountain Region Championships, Saturday, November 13, in Salt Lake City, Utah, and the NCAA Championships, November 22, in Terre Haute, Ind.

2010 BIG 12 CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIP

Saturday, October 30

OSU Cross Country Course, Stillwater, Okla.

10 a.m. (CT) Women’s 6k

11 a.m. (CT) Men’s 8k

2003 CU Rocky Mountain Shootout

Updated: 10/25/10

When Sara Slattery joined the staff of the C-Club back in January, she saw an immediate need to raise awareness for the program and to stay in touch with former teammates

“Track and Field hasn’t had a reunion in twenty years. I thought it would be good to reach out to everyone again, get current and former athletes together, to put names to faces and have a chance to share their stories.”

Slattery herself, a highly decorated alum, planned a full weekend of events around CU’s Homecoming festivities. “The first year is always the hardest, rounding up names and getting contacts from former athletes.”

Slattery started where she could. She worked with former Coach Jerry Quiller who was instrumental in building the program, taking the 1985 men’s team their first podium finish at the NCAA Cross Country Championships, and Rich Castro who worked with Quiller and later went on to coach the Women’s XCountry team and founder of the Boulder Road Runners.

Starting out Friday night, about 225-250 of the 650 former letter winners packed into the back space of the Boulder Draft House where alumni and current athletes mingled, shared stories and laughed about the good ‘ol days. The guest list had such austere names as CU miler John Lunn to Mike Macinko who still holds the 800m record, to almost everyone immortalized in Leer’s Running with the Buffaloes and of course, Coach ‘Q’ who many former athletes were excited to see again.

“I am looking forward talking with is Coach Quiller who has had a significant impact to the program, recently survived cancer, and still has a great attitude. I am honored to meet and work with him.” added Slattery.

Dan Reese, Chuck Trujillo and Coach 'Q'

Over the din of the crowd, Slattery, introduced Coach Quiller and his 3^rd place Men’s team, then Coach Wetmore who waxed poetic before introducing his 2000 women’s National Champions which included Sarah Slattery, Leslie Higgens, and Tera Moody.

The following day, alumni gathered to tailgate at CU’s homecoming football game. And although the Buffs football team was unsuccessful in winning their game, it provided another successful opportunity to catch up and for young and old to hear each other’s stories.

Castro and Quiller reminisced about the days old, including when they drove down to the Texas Relays in a van. “The drive was so long we barely remember the race” quipped Castro.

On Sunday a few of the alum went out for a Sunday jog with the Boulder Road Runners to cap off the weekend’s events.

This weekend’s events also gave opportunity for the C-Club to kick off the Chris Severy Endowment.

The Chris Severy Endowment will also be recognized during the reunion. The endowment is named in honor of Chris Severy, a former CU athlete who was tragically killed in a bike accident while competing at CU. He was an All-American and an Academic All-American for the Buffaloes. The endowment directly supports the track and field and cross country programs.

The interest from the endowment would go to items directly support the Track and XC program. Even though Track and Field/Cross Country is one of the most successful programs in the school, they are severely affected by decreasing budgets.

”I would like the team to have things like I had when I went through the program, like the Fall training camp, which was cut due to budgets and currently the Track and Field offices are in the dungeons of the Balk Field House.” Slattery added.

The endowment would also help support CU’s hosting of the 2013 Pac 10 Championships. In order to hold a race of that magnitude, the course would need to see some improvements to the surface of the course (grass) and facilities to support the amount of fans it would bring.

The planning around the championships and working with the city looks to be the next in the order of business.

**Slattery is a 10-time All-American, two-time national champion in the indoor 5,000m and outdoor 10k, a member of two NCAA Cross Country Championship winning teams in 2000 and 2004, and set four CU school records in the mile (4:40.35), 3k (9:07.16), 5k (15:39.25) and the outdoor 5k (15:24.97). and also won the 2006 Bolder Boulder 10k.

CU Cross Country

The University of Colorado men’s and women’s cross country team will host its first varsity team scoring meet of the season on Saturday, October 2, when CU hosts the 25th Annual Rocky Mountain Shootout at the Buffalo Ranch on CU’s South Campus.

The meet is one of the longest running collegiate cross country races in the nation and will have participants from some of the top NCAA Division I and Division II programs along the Front Range, which includes Colorado’s fourth-ranked men’s and 13th-ranked women’s teams.

The shootout has two categories for team scoring. The Division I opponents are scored against each other, while the non-Division I opponents are scored as one, resulting in two team champions per gender. There is only one individual winner per gender.

For the second straight year the Rocky Mountain Shootout will only have two races. Open runners will compete in the same race at the collegiate competitors. The men’s 8 kilometer race will kick off the meet at 9 a.m. and the women’s 5.8k race commence at 10 a.m.

CU’s men have won the last 19 shootout titles and 20 of the last 24. The last men’s Division I team to beat the Buffs was BYU in 1990. The women have won the previous 11 titles and 17 of the last 18 races.

Colorado captured four titles at last year’s shootout. Jenny Barringer won the individual women’s title after running a course record of 19 minutes, 25 seconds. Kenyon Neuman (@KenyonNeuman) was the men’s champion, finishing in 24:51. Both the men’s and women’s teams took the overall Division I titles, besting runner-up Wyoming.

The Buffaloes will race against Division I opponents Air Force, Northern Colorado and Wyoming at this year’s meet.  Adams State is the top ranked team in the NCAA Division II poll while Western State is ranked second on the men’s side and eighth on the women’s side. The men’s team at Colorado School of Mines is ranked third overall.

Results will be available at www.CUBuffs.com. Admission and parking are free to the public.

Boulder High School phoneme Kelsey Lakowske is interviewed by DyeStat.com just after the Colorado State Championships in November. With only 2 years of running under her belt, she has emerged as one of the region’s best. Currently under the tutelage of Monique Guidry the Head Coach at Boulder High School and also trains with Melody Fairchild and her Fairchild Flyers.

The interview covers her recent success, how she found running, her coaching and training, and her other interests.

Kelsey Lakowske says had never really “competed” in sports before her sophomore year at Boulder HS – just playing soccer for fun, some training in ai-kido, some ultimate Frisbee.  Then upon transferring to her current school, she went out for XC and found herself very quickly going from wondering if she could finish hill runs to motoring under 20:00, under 19:00, then finally 18:09 at her first Liberty Bell, taking 4th.  She went on to take 3rd in the Colorado 5A meet, then went the USATF JO route for the post-season, going all the way to Virginia for nationals where she won the Intermediate Girls race.

Her 2009 track season was also a first, and it concluded with her dramatic 3200 win in 5A state as she passed two in the final lap to win in 10:49.18.  Add a lot of confidence and a super summer of training, and Lakowske has now become the dominant force in talent-rich Colorado.  She’s unbeaten, with big wins at St. Vrain, Liberty Bell, and 5A state last weekend, getting down to 17:19 at regional and 17:28 at state for 5k.  Update: Lakowske also finished 5th Overall at Footlocker Midwest in 17:52

Read the interview with Kelsey at DyeStat.com in their Star Squad Spotlight

http://www.dyestat.com/?pg=us-Star-Squad-Spotlight-SS09-IndGirl-KLakowske-CO

CU Cross Country

BOULDER— The University of Colorado women’s and men’s cross country teams are each ranked No. 6 in the final USTFCCCA Coaches Top 30 after placing first and second, respectively, at the NCAA Mountain Region Championship on Saturday.

Colorado will race at the 2009 NCAA Championship on Monday, November 23, in Terre Haute, Ind. The men are slated to run first at 10:08 a.m. and the women will race at 10:58 a.m.

Set your DVR

NCAA Cross Country Championships

Barringer will be eying the individual championship as she has been the runner-up the last two times she has raced at the meet (2006, 2007). Both championship races will be broadcast live on Versus Network (Comcast Channel 73) and streamed online via NCAA.com.

The Buffalo men collected 296 points in the poll for their No. 6 ranking. They dropped from fifth to sixth while BYU moved up from 14th to fifth with 306 points. BYU defeated the Buffs by a single point at regionals. CU had all five scorers place in the top 24 to earn all-region honors, but BYU had its top five finish in the top 16 to win the title. Stanford remained the top team in the poll and has had the ranking for the last six polls. The Cardinal earned 11 first-place votes to take the top honor with 359 points, while Oklahoma State is No. 2 with 349 points.

The CU women picked up 299 points in the poll for their sixth-place ranking. Colorado won the women’s regional championship for the first time since 2006. Jenny Barringer became the first CU female to win the regional title since 2004. Washington has been ranked on top of the poll for all eight polls. The Huskies took 10 of 12 first-place votes on the women’s side with 358 points. Villanova, the second-place team, recorded the other two votes and took 350 points.

Courtesy of CUBuffs.com

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.

The University of Colorado men’s and women’s cross country teams punched their tickets to the 2009 NCAA Championships on Saturday afternoon at the University of New Mexico Golf Course.

The No. 6 ranked women’s team won the regional for the first time since 2006 and the No. 5 ranked men’s team took second; ending a streak of six straight regional titles. Senior Jenny Barringer also won the women’s race and was the first CU woman to win the individual title since 2004 when Renee Metivier took home the crown. (The top two teams automatically qualify for nationals while the top four individuals not associated with either of those teams also qualify.)  The NCAA Championship is Monday, November 23, in Terre Haute, Ind.

“It was really exciting,” Barringer said. “I ran at this course in 2006 as a sophomore and I remember having a great team and coming in and taking second to Sally (Kipyego) and I feel like that was so long ago. So, coming back here and being in a different position with an equally amazing team and this time pulling in the win was really fun.”

Barringer ran a different race this time. Instead of jumping out to a lead and leaving the pack in the dust, she ran with the top pack for the first 4k. Freshman Allie McLaughlin was in the lead pack with Barringer and the two ran side by side along with the top three harriers for Tech. McLaughlin was even able to lead the race for part of the way.

“I wanted to run with Allie for the majority of the race and then start to pull away with about 2k left,” Barringer explained.

When Barringer finally did pull away from the pack with 2k remaining, she won the race easily and had 12 seconds on the runner-up Cecily Lemmon from BYU. Barringer broke the tape in 20 minutes, 29.0 seconds and Lemmon finished in 20:41.1.

Read the rest of the article and watch post race interviews with Jenny Barringe, Jordan Kyle, Richard Medina and Allie McLaughlin

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