A new season for the Colorado Buffaloes cross country team is off and running.
The Buffs will kick off their season Oct. 2 at the Rocky Mountain Shootout in Boulder.
Both the men’s and women’s teams are looking to start off with a bang.
“We’d loved to get started with a win at our home meet,” said senior women’s runner Laura Thweatt.
Both the men’s and women’s teams cruised to victories last year and had success throughout the rest of the 2009 season. Both teams had second place finishes at the Big 12 Championships which earned them both trips to the NCAA National Championship meet.
On the women’s side, despite the loss of top runner Jenny Barringer, the 2010 women’s team has added depth to its squad. The team hopes to use it to improve on its 20th place finish at the 2009 National Championship.
Head Coach Mark Wetmore is looking forward to having a much deeper squad in the 2010 season.
“If [Assistant] Coach [Heather] Burroughs and I stay patient and sound on the training with this present women’s group, then we could get to the starting line with nine good runners on it at the conference meet,” Wetmore said on Media Day Aug. 7.
On the men’s side of the team, they have their expectations set high. The 2010 team returns six scoring runners from last year’s National Championship meet and has no intention of looking back.
To Wetmore, however, it will take leadership from veteran runners to make the 2010 Buffs squad successful.
“Well Richard [Medina] and Matt [Tebo] and Christian Thompson are all battle-scarred veterans,” said Coach Wetmore. “I hope that they can teach that to whatever young guys have to step up this year because the men’s team is not as deep as the women’s [team].”
Although the Buffs are focused on the season ahead they are well aware of the move to the Pac-10 and what it means for the future of the program.
“The Oregon women are always good. The Stanford women are always good,” Wetmore said. “Same on the men’s side. It will be a challenge, but we’re looking forward to it.”
Wetmore said he does not think the change to the Pac-10 will sway the Buffs’ squad off course.
“It really only changes the site of the conference championship in cross country and outdoor track,” Wetmore said. “It’s really only one meet a season.”
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Mark McNeillie at Mark.mcneillie@colorado.edu.
