Wetmore-Wednesday Top Races: CU Men Capture First Title
May 13, 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.
2001 saw the final check in the quartet of championships for Wetmore, as he became the only NCAA Division I coach to have an individual and team cross country national championship in both genders at the same school.
MEN CAPTURE CROWN
When it comes to completing the unthinkable, Wetmore is the king. In just five years as head coach, Wetmore had put together numerous strong individual performances and finally captured a team title on the women's side in 2000 while the men were close but faltered in the final race. That all changed in 2001 with one of the strongest men's team ever compiled in CU history.
The major difference between 2000 and 2001 for the men was the arrival of freshman phenom Dathan Ritzenhein to challenge Jorge Torres, Steve Slattery and others. The two-time Footlocker National Champion was fresh off a bronze medal at the IAAF World Cross Country Junior Championship and came to Boulder ready to battle with the best.
Months removed from a third-place finish individually and as a team, Torres was ready to assert his dominance as one of the best in the nation. After an undefeated season heading to the championships last year, Torres was ready to better his work last season with a title.
Torres' goal was challenged early as Ritzenhein and Torres finished tied at the Rocky Mountain Shootout, both running the 8k course in 24:27, more than 30 seconds faster than the rest of the squad. The two battled all season long, with Torres getting the better in every race including the Regional Championships where the two were separated by just half a second.
Two weeks later the pair lined up with the rest of the Buffaloes on a hot day in Greensville, S.C., ready to battle with rivals Stanford and three-time defending champion Arkansas. Colorado had their orders, start out slow and catch people as they fade.
Boaz Cheboiywo of Eastern Michigan took the early lead, stringing out the race quicker than most anticipated after the first mile as Alabama's David Kimani (the 1999 individual champion) dropped out with an achilles injury. Torres hung tight to the leaders, moving to fifth. Ritzenhein was in the top-25, while Slattery and the rest were back nearly 100 runners. The CU men appeared out of the title race before the first half had even finished.
"For those of us who go out in the back and move up through the pack, cross country is the most petrifying sport in the world," said Wetmore after the race.
At the midway mark, Stanford, Arkansas and Notre Dame were all in the team race, but Torres moved up to second charging for an individual title and the best position to help his team.
Wetmore stood at the final kilometer mark, watching his first two runners blaze by in the top-four. He began to yell at the others, first at Ed Torres to get 10 runners, then to Slattery (who was in 45th place) to get 15, and to Sean Smith to get 10.
"It was rough out there," Sean Smith said. "Mark told me it was close, and I knew passing a couple of guys could make the difference. It is not easy to get guys; in the NCAAs runners don't give up."
In the final 1,000-meters, Ritzenhein moved up to third, running shoulder-to-shoulder to Arkansas' Allistair Cragg, who pulled away in the end as Ritzenhein finished fourth overall, the third-best finish for a freshman in NCAA history.
"This was the hardest race, the hardest I've ever run," said Ritzenhein. "It was so fast at the end. This is definitely a step towards my future. I was glad to take the next logical step here today. It was awesome," he said on the top newcomer title. "It was different running against them in a different uniform, but great to run against them again."
Jorge Torres finished second behind Cheboiywo, advancing a single spot better from his third place finish the year before. His back-to-back top-three finishes made him the first American to do so since Arkansas' Joe Falcon in 1986-87, and just the seventh to do so along with Godfrey Siamusiye, Jonah Koech, Yobes Ondieki, Zakarie Barie and Matthews Motshwarateu since 1980.
Behind the CU front runners, Ed Torres climbed to 15th overall, an injured Slattery battled to 28th and Smith finished 56th while passing nearly 15 runners in the final kilometer to round out the Buffs' scoring.
The initial count had CU at 90 team points, just a single ahead of Stanford at 91. Ritzenhein informed Jorge as the two were joined by Ed and the rest of the team in celebration. That was short-lived as the team was informed the results were based off chip timing and were unofficial. 20 minutes later, news was spreading that Colorado finished three points ahead, then the public address announcer said Stanford had won 90-91, causing even more scrutiny. The official results came nearly an hour later that one point was all the difference as the Buffaloes had succeeded in passing every runner needed, capturing their first title with a 90-91 victory over Stanford. The one point margin tied the 1970 men's championship as the closest in NCAA Division I history.
"When you win by one point you know that every single guy on that team counted," said Slattery afterwards. "If anybody got passed by even on guy – that would have been it for us."
"I can't be disappointed with second (individually) really," said Torres following the race. "Anytime you are second in the NCAA Championships with such great competitors in this field, you've got to be pretty proud of that. Would I have liked to win – yes I would've loved to win the individual championships, but there's always next year. The most important thing is that Colorado comes out as National Champions. Colorado deserves it. We've been right there year out and we've never gotten over that hill. Today was our day."
"This is a relief," said Wetmore on his fourth title, first men's championship. "I try not to wear my heart on my sleeve, but having won three of four, I was admittedly nervous. We were getting stronger every meet and felt the pressure of this one."
POST RACE INTERVIEWS
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Jodie Hughes National Title
Hughes became the first women's NCAA indoor national champion for the Buffaloes in the 5,000 after destroying the competition in Arkansas with a school record time of 16:08.61, breaking the previous mark held by Patty Roberts by more than six seconds.
"Jodie was absolutely dead last for about the first mile and a half," said Wetmore. "She didn't even make contact with the pack for that first part of the race, but we knew what she was capable of and that she runs real well if she stays patient. She's very good at trusting her race plan and not worrying about what other people do. The race went out really fast, but Jodie was much more realistic about what she had to do today, and slowly but surely, she reeled them in. She ran with Tara Chaplin of Arizona on the last lap, and ended up beating her by over five seconds. It was a decisive win and a wonderful accomplishment for a great, great lady."
With Hughes' title, Wetmore had now coached a men's individual champion in all three sports (cross, indoor, outdoor) and a woman's individual title in all three sports (cross, indoor, outdoor), as well as captured team titles in both men and women's cross country, all in just five years as head coach.
Women's Indoor Team
The 2001 women's indoor national team placed sixth overall in the nation, still the highest team placing for the men or women. Five women attended the championships; Amaris Buchanan, Hannah Cooper, Sara (Gorton) Slattery, Lesley Higgins and Jodie Hughes. Hughes led the way with the first indoor NCAA title on the women's side, while Higgins placed second in the mile. Gorton finished sixth in the 3,000 and Cooper was eighth in the 60 hurdles.
PAST TOP RACES:
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.
2001 saw the final check in the quartet of championships for Wetmore, as he became the only NCAA Division I coach to have an individual and team cross country national championship in both genders at the same school.
MEN CAPTURE CROWN
When it comes to completing the unthinkable, Wetmore is the king. In just five years as head coach, Wetmore had put together numerous strong individual performances and finally captured a team title on the women's side in 2000 while the men were close but faltered in the final race. That all changed in 2001 with one of the strongest men's team ever compiled in CU history.
The major difference between 2000 and 2001 for the men was the arrival of freshman phenom Dathan Ritzenhein to challenge Jorge Torres, Steve Slattery and others. The two-time Footlocker National Champion was fresh off a bronze medal at the IAAF World Cross Country Junior Championship and came to Boulder ready to battle with the best.
Months removed from a third-place finish individually and as a team, Torres was ready to assert his dominance as one of the best in the nation. After an undefeated season heading to the championships last year, Torres was ready to better his work last season with a title.
Torres' goal was challenged early as Ritzenhein and Torres finished tied at the Rocky Mountain Shootout, both running the 8k course in 24:27, more than 30 seconds faster than the rest of the squad. The two battled all season long, with Torres getting the better in every race including the Regional Championships where the two were separated by just half a second.
Two weeks later the pair lined up with the rest of the Buffaloes on a hot day in Greensville, S.C., ready to battle with rivals Stanford and three-time defending champion Arkansas. Colorado had their orders, start out slow and catch people as they fade.
Boaz Cheboiywo of Eastern Michigan took the early lead, stringing out the race quicker than most anticipated after the first mile as Alabama's David Kimani (the 1999 individual champion) dropped out with an achilles injury. Torres hung tight to the leaders, moving to fifth. Ritzenhein was in the top-25, while Slattery and the rest were back nearly 100 runners. The CU men appeared out of the title race before the first half had even finished.
"For those of us who go out in the back and move up through the pack, cross country is the most petrifying sport in the world," said Wetmore after the race.
At the midway mark, Stanford, Arkansas and Notre Dame were all in the team race, but Torres moved up to second charging for an individual title and the best position to help his team.
Wetmore stood at the final kilometer mark, watching his first two runners blaze by in the top-four. He began to yell at the others, first at Ed Torres to get 10 runners, then to Slattery (who was in 45th place) to get 15, and to Sean Smith to get 10.
"It was rough out there," Sean Smith said. "Mark told me it was close, and I knew passing a couple of guys could make the difference. It is not easy to get guys; in the NCAAs runners don't give up."
In the final 1,000-meters, Ritzenhein moved up to third, running shoulder-to-shoulder to Arkansas' Allistair Cragg, who pulled away in the end as Ritzenhein finished fourth overall, the third-best finish for a freshman in NCAA history.
"This was the hardest race, the hardest I've ever run," said Ritzenhein. "It was so fast at the end. This is definitely a step towards my future. I was glad to take the next logical step here today. It was awesome," he said on the top newcomer title. "It was different running against them in a different uniform, but great to run against them again."
Jorge Torres finished second behind Cheboiywo, advancing a single spot better from his third place finish the year before. His back-to-back top-three finishes made him the first American to do so since Arkansas' Joe Falcon in 1986-87, and just the seventh to do so along with Godfrey Siamusiye, Jonah Koech, Yobes Ondieki, Zakarie Barie and Matthews Motshwarateu since 1980.
Behind the CU front runners, Ed Torres climbed to 15th overall, an injured Slattery battled to 28th and Smith finished 56th while passing nearly 15 runners in the final kilometer to round out the Buffs' scoring.
The initial count had CU at 90 team points, just a single ahead of Stanford at 91. Ritzenhein informed Jorge as the two were joined by Ed and the rest of the team in celebration. That was short-lived as the team was informed the results were based off chip timing and were unofficial. 20 minutes later, news was spreading that Colorado finished three points ahead, then the public address announcer said Stanford had won 90-91, causing even more scrutiny. The official results came nearly an hour later that one point was all the difference as the Buffaloes had succeeded in passing every runner needed, capturing their first title with a 90-91 victory over Stanford. The one point margin tied the 1970 men's championship as the closest in NCAA Division I history.
"When you win by one point you know that every single guy on that team counted," said Slattery afterwards. "If anybody got passed by even on guy – that would have been it for us."
"I can't be disappointed with second (individually) really," said Torres following the race. "Anytime you are second in the NCAA Championships with such great competitors in this field, you've got to be pretty proud of that. Would I have liked to win – yes I would've loved to win the individual championships, but there's always next year. The most important thing is that Colorado comes out as National Champions. Colorado deserves it. We've been right there year out and we've never gotten over that hill. Today was our day."
"This is a relief," said Wetmore on his fourth title, first men's championship. "I try not to wear my heart on my sleeve, but having won three of four, I was admittedly nervous. We were getting stronger every meet and felt the pressure of this one."
POST RACE INTERVIEWS
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Jodie Hughes National Title
Hughes became the first women's NCAA indoor national champion for the Buffaloes in the 5,000 after destroying the competition in Arkansas with a school record time of 16:08.61, breaking the previous mark held by Patty Roberts by more than six seconds.
"Jodie was absolutely dead last for about the first mile and a half," said Wetmore. "She didn't even make contact with the pack for that first part of the race, but we knew what she was capable of and that she runs real well if she stays patient. She's very good at trusting her race plan and not worrying about what other people do. The race went out really fast, but Jodie was much more realistic about what she had to do today, and slowly but surely, she reeled them in. She ran with Tara Chaplin of Arizona on the last lap, and ended up beating her by over five seconds. It was a decisive win and a wonderful accomplishment for a great, great lady."
With Hughes' title, Wetmore had now coached a men's individual champion in all three sports (cross, indoor, outdoor) and a woman's individual title in all three sports (cross, indoor, outdoor), as well as captured team titles in both men and women's cross country, all in just five years as head coach.
Women's Indoor Team
The 2001 women's indoor national team placed sixth overall in the nation, still the highest team placing for the men or women. Five women attended the championships; Amaris Buchanan, Hannah Cooper, Sara (Gorton) Slattery, Lesley Higgins and Jodie Hughes. Hughes led the way with the first indoor NCAA title on the women's side, while Higgins placed second in the mile. Gorton finished sixth in the 3,000 and Cooper was eighth in the 60 hurdles.
PAST TOP RACES:
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)