Jeremy Dodson, a senior, placed fifth at the NCAAs, the highest for a CU sprinter since 1998. CU athletics

CU sophomore Emma Coburn placed second in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in June.

Other All-American performances by CU athletes in the season finale were a fifth place by senior Jeremy Dodson in the 200-meter dash, a fifth by freshman Shalaya Kipp in the steeplechase, a sixth by freshman Joe Bosshard in the 10,000 and a ninth by sophomore Richard Medina in the 5,000.

Coburn, the Big 12 and NCAA West Regional champion, recorded a personal-best time of 9:51.86 in the national meet.

“For Emma to come here and run 15 seconds faster than last year and five seconds faster than her best time this year is a great run for her,” CU coach Mark Wetmore says.

Meanwhile, CU assistant coach Casey Malone claimed the USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships discus title for the second straight year in late June. The two-time Olympian’s winning throw was 205 feet 3 inches.

Jenny Barringer’s (Econ, PolSci’09), right, 2009 track and field season was possibly the best ever recorded by a collegiate athlete, male or female. She signed on with New Balance in January. At left is freshman Allie McLaughlin who placed fifth at the NCAA meet in November. Photo courtesy of CU athletics.

Jenny Barringer (Econ, PolSci’09), who set six NCAA records as a senior, was given the inaugural Bowerman award, which recognizes the outstanding collegiate women’s track and field athlete in the nation. Barringer won two NCAA track titles as a senior (the indoor 3,000 and the steeplechase), giving her a CU-female-record four for her career. She didn’t lose a college race during the 2009 track season.

The 2008 Olympian also was voted women’s college athlete of the year by the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame for the second straight time and was named the college athlete of the year for 2009 by Mile High Sports Magazine.

Barringer, the Big 12 and NCAA regional champion in cross country, struggled in her college finale, the NCAA cross country meet, where she was considered the prerace favorite. She fell during the race and finished 163rd.

“She’s had a lot of great races for us and was probably bound to have one not-so-great one,” coach Mark Wetmore says.

Freshman Allie McLaughlin earned All-America honors with a fifth-place finish at the NCAA meet where the CU men placed sixth in the team standings and the women 20th.

Wanting to give back to the golf program he participated in as a student, Steve Kerr (Rec’78) purchased Vista Ridge Golf Club in Erie and created Colorado National Golf Club, which is the official course for the CU’s women’s and men’s golf programs.

The men’s golf team will host two tournaments during the 2010-11 season at its newly designated home course, Colorado National Golf Club in Erie. The first will be an invitational tentatively scheduled for Sept. 27-28, 2010. The other will be an NCAA Regional May 19-21, 2011.

CU’s fall tournament, which is expected to become an annual event, will mark the first time the Buff men have hosted a full-fledged invitational in Colorado since 1993, when the last CU-Fox Acres Invitational was held at Red Feather Lakes in northern Colorado.

The May tournament will be the first NCAA regional ever held in Colorado.

“Standing up on the podium after the game was surreal, a feeling I have never felt before,” Marshall wrote on a cubuffs.com blog. “Surprisingly (ha ha) I could not control my emotion and I had tears of joy in my eyes. We sacrificed so much to be here and it all became worth it when that gold medal was placed around us.”

Minus Marshall, the Buffs were ousted in the first round of the NCAA tournament, ending their season with a
1-0 loss to South Dakota State.

“It’s just a difficult loss to swallow with everything we have done leading up to this point,” coach Bill Hempen says.

The Buffs, who earned an NCAA berth for the sixth straight year, finished with a 14-5-4 record, winning 14 games for just the third time in program history.

CU senior Michelle Wenino was named Big 12 Co-Defensive Player of the Year and to the all-conference first team for the second straight year. Marshall, the all-time scoring leader for CU, joined Wenino on the first team, earning the honor for the third consecutive year.