cubuffs-blog1 - Tumblr blog

[cubuffs-blog1]

Kornieck Named To Hermann Trophy Watch List

by Andy Schlichting, soccer SID

ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Colorado soccer player Taylor Kornieck was named to the Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy Watch List on Thursday. It is the second year in a row she has been on the preseason watch list, a group of 44 women’s players from around the country.

Kornieck, a junior midfielder from Henderson, Nev., has been named All-Pac-12 twice already in her career and has started all 44 games in her two seasons in Boulder, totaling 18 goals and eight assists. Last season, she had seven goals and four assists.

The MAC Hermann Trophy is awarded annually to the top men’s and women’s collegiate soccer players in the country and is the most prestigious individual collegiate soccer award.

Click here for the complete watch list.

[cubuffs-blog1]

CU Fall Sports Media Day - Soccer Press Conference Transcript

Danny Sanchez, head coach Opening Statement “Like every other of the 340 Division I head coaches, we’re excited to get going. Everybody is undefeated. But I think there is a particular excitement around the group this year. I think it starts with our two captains, Scout and JJ. Big picture, we have a good group of young ladies who are committed. We have some players that are coming back with a lot of experience, some players that missed last season with injuries that are back, and we have five new players that have really fit in well and all have qualities. So this will be our deepest group for sure and competition for playing time will be intense. The league, as always, is brutal. Two of our teams in our league played for the national championship last year. The year before, a different team won the national championship. So it’s not up for debate that the Pac-12 is the top soccer conference in the country. We know that, as good as we feel about ourselves today, there’s 11 other teams in our league that are just as strong. There are no easy games. I think this could be a year like it was in 2014 where nine of the 12 teams made the tournament, depending how it goes in non-conference. Our goal for the season is to put ourselves in position to make the NCAA Tournament, which is difficult to do. If we can host, that’s great. Really, the next thing for us is to take the next step (to make the third round of the NCAA Tournament. We did that in 2013. Coach Jason Green was here in our second season and we kind of came out of nowhere. But we’ve had some tough draws in the second rounds the past few years. Hopefully we can do some work in the next 20 games to put ourselves in position where we can advance. I feel like we have the quality and leadership to be successful.

On being battle-tested for the postseason and getting beat up by such strong competition after playing in the Pac-12 during the regular season “You have to be smart in your non-conference play. We have nine non-conference games and I think we have a good balance of home games, some tough road matches as well. I think it prepares us for Pac-12 play. I think one advantage, and I can go both ways on it, is we are one of three conferences out of the 31 conferences in the country that don’t have a postseason conference tournament, which allows us to stretch the season out a week. So our last week of regular season we’ll have one game, we’ll play Utah, whereas the SEC, the ACC, the Big Ten and so forth, some of those teams will play two, three, sometimes even four games that week before the NCAA Tournament. We’ll beat each other up, but at the end of the day, we have 11 conference games stretched out over seven weeks. I think that you have to have depth, you have to have quality, and you have to have a little luck on the injury side and the performance side. You need players to come out of nowhere like we’ve had in the past and kind of perform [well]. But it’s a grind. You don’t need to look any further than the results in our league. Stanford won the national championship last year and USC the year before. There’s not a big gap between one and 12.

On the uniqueness of having two goalkeepers as the captains for two years in a row “When we announced it last year, I had about 15 or 20 phone calls from around the country saying, ‘what’s wrong with you? What are you doing?’ Mostly friends. But at the end of the day, if you’re a leader, you’re a leader. It doesn’t matter what year you are. We feel we have two great captains. This is, to be honest, the first year we didn’t vote for captains. At the end of the day, it’s a bit of a dictatorship and I’ll decide who’s going to be captains. The team’s always voted [in the past]. It was just obvious for [JJ and Scout]. I’ve never had two underclassmen as captains. They play the same position.”

“I mentioned this last year as well. If we were to have a draft, our goalkeepers would probably both be top-six picks. They just happen to play the same position. It would have been easy for one of them to bail, but they gutted it out because they want to be a part of the program and it’s all about the team. Of course, they both want to play, but they both understand it is what it is and Jason (Green) does a great job of preparing them. At the end of the day it’s my decision (on which one plays). They’re all about the team and I think that was a key to our success last year.

On Taylor Kornieck’s sophomore season compared to her freshman season. “Last year, we asked Taylor to do a lot. With Jorian Baucom, who missed the season, and Stephanie Zuniga, who missed the season, and Libby Geraghty, who got hurt in the first game and missed the season—we were scrambling a bit at the beginning of the season to find our identity. If you look at our results from non-conference, we started well because we were great in goal and good in the back. But at the end of the day, it took us a while to hit our stride in conference play. I think we started conference play 1-4-1 with no wiggle room. Taylor does a lot of work on both sides of the ball that she doesn’t get credit for, defensively, on set pieces, and she’s the focal point of the team last year so everybody geared towards her. I think we have more pieces around her this year. We challenged Taylor to be more professional in her approach. All of her numbers we’ve gotten back—she passed the fitness test, which is very difficult to do. Her body composition is much better than it’s ever been. We challenged her and feel like she’s really risen to the occasion. We feel that her best soccer is still in front of her.

On what Jorian Baucom and Stephanie Zuniga bring to the team after missing last season with injuries “Stephanie just provided a huge spark for us [in 2016]. She probably is the best soccer mind on the team. She gets it tactically, technically. Obviously, not the biggest player in the world, but sees the game, plays quality final balls. She tied with Danica Evans for leading the team in assists in 2016 and was a big spark off the bench. She usually finished the game. I tell players, it’s great to start, but who’s in the game in the 110th minute in overtime against Cal like she was when she served it to Taylor and she scored with two seconds to go. That’s when you want to be on the field.”

“Jorian is just different than what we’ve had. She had a lot of success at LSU in the SEC and Jason and I are familiar with her. She played in Arizona with Les Armstrong, who I used to play with way, way, way back in the day. We’ve had a little bit of a connection with her. Missing last season wasn’t the best thing, but sometimes things happen for a reason. She was able to get more fit, train in the spring, play in the spring, then come in the fall and compete. But she also realizes that we have two forwards in Marty [Puketapu] and Tatum [Barton] that scored 14 goals last year and Libby [Geraghty] started the first game and earned a starting spot, and Camilla Shymka and Katie Joella had a great spring. And we have some freshmen in so it’s going to be very deep. I think Stephanie can play anywhere on the field. I think Jorian is just different than what we have, a little bit more of the SEC player that we don’t necessarily have that can run at people, put them under pressure, and is a physical presence. We’re excited to see what she can do and she’s probably champing at the bit to get into a real game.”

On advancing past the second round of the NCAA Tournament “To be clear, we want to get to the Tournament, and if we have to play Real Madrid in the first round, we should be happy with that. We don’t want to look too far ahead. Obviously in the back of their mind, it is what it is and there isn’t anything wrong with having high goals and talking about them. And sometimes they just happen. In 2015, we had our worst season ever and in 2016, we finished second place and in the second-to-last game of the season, if we beat USC, who won the national championship, we win the Pac-12. We don’t get too far ahead of ourselves, but obviously the team has some goals, as we do [as a coaching staff], and we’ll see how it plays out in November, hopefully.”

On what the team needs to improve on this season “I think we’re great in goal. We have a lot of confidence in both of our goalkeepers and we’re good in the back. At the end of the day, if you look around the country and the teams that really advance to the Final Four and Elite Eight, they score a lot of goals. They don’t give up a lot of goals, obviously, but they score a lot of goals. Those teams that get over 50 goals in a season, 2.5 goals per game, they’re usually the ones that advance. It’s easier to defend than attack. We feel good about where we are in the back. We feel like we have good experience and have some good freshmen who will be able to help us. But at the end of the day, we need to be able to score against the best teams and that’s the most difficult thing. Tactically, if you look at last year, especially the end of the year, I think we really relied on our goalkeeping and in the back and we were just gutting out wins. But to get to that next level, you need to be able to go on the road and score two or three goals on a really good team. We feel that we have some pieces this year that maybe we haven’t had in the past that can lead to that. But only 11 get to play at a time and hopefully early in the season, some of the players can show that they can create in the biggest moments.”

On the newcomers who could make an immediate impact “Sofia Weiner transferred in from Virginia, had a good spring and is very versatile. She’s a former U-18 National Team player. Great kid, killed the fitness test, can play in the back or in the midfield. She realizes the competition, but she’s done well. The four true freshmen that have come in, Jesse Loren has done really well. She’s versatile, just has a quiet maturity to her. I think all four of them do. She has the tools, the size, the mental makeup to make an impact right away. Kayleigh Webb is an athletic player, different than what we’ve had in the midfield than a lot of our players. She’s still kind of finding her way, but we watched her play for four years and every time we’ve gone to watch her play, we feel like she’s the best player on the field, no matter who she’s playing against. Where she’ll play will be interesting because we have four starting midfielders back. But we’ll get the best 11 on the field. Emily Groark is another player that’s shown really well in the preseason. Her dad’s a former professional soccer player and is our first player out of St. Louis that we’ve had as a coaching staff. She reminds us a little bit of Olivia Pappalardo and kind of glides on the ball, smooth, nothing looks too difficult for her, also very fit and professional. And Chaynee Kingsbury out of Windsor. Fast, flip-throw, and physically is ready to go. She’ll have a lot of competition in the attack. We’re really pleased; we don’t over recruit, so the ones we bring in, we expect to compete.”

On celebrating his induction to the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Hall of Fame “To be honest, it was a great night. My former athletic director, Joan McDermott, who is out at the University of San Francisco, flew in. Adrianne Almaraz played for us there [at Metro State], was captain of our national championship team, then became and assistant and head coach, flew in. There were a lot of other family and friends. It was a lot cooler than I thought it would be. And my parents were there. I had a speech and talked a lot about them and how proud I was of them because they always talk about how proud they are of me, and at the end of the day, we are a reflection of our parents. It was really neat. I just hope everyone’s not putting me out to pasture because when you think about hall of fame, you start thinking about  closing up shop. I’ve still got a little bit more in my game, hopefully.

On what the player could take away from watching the World Cup “The beauty of the World Cup is Croatia has four million people, so it’s metro Denver, Louisville and Boulder. And they could’ve won the World Cup. That’s the beauty of soccer. Anybody could win, any demographic. I’m biased of course. Some of you may think the other football is the most popular sport, and we love that sport too. But from a world stage, we reference it all the time in training. We use examples from the world’s game because it’s the same game. It’s 11v11 on a field with a ball and two goals. It’s the same game we’ve played since we were six years old. I hope they got a lot out of it, the passion of it.”

Scout Watson, senior, goalkeeper On the uniqueness of having two goalkeepers as the captains for two years in a row “JJ and I are really good friends off the field as well. I think our chemistry together to lead the team is really strong and the team bought into the idea of having two goalkeepers as captains because one’s leading on the field and one is always going to be on the bench as well. It’s nice someone also off the field that the team can look up to. It just keeps the bench focused and each one of us is always ready to go every practice and game as well.

On why she has stuck it out at CU as a backup when she could start elsewhere “I’ve gotten that question a lot from friends and family. I just love this team and this school and Jason is an amazing coach. A lot of people would second-guess it and want to leave as soon as they don’t play. But for me, there’s always a fight to get back in it and it would just be too easy to give up and transfer. It’s a great program and we’re in the toughest conference in the country. Really, there’s no reason to leave.”

Taylor Kornieck, junior, midfielder On her sophomore season compared to her freshman season “I was moved around last year. I played forward, which was a different position than attacking mid. My sophomore season, I wouldn’t say it would be a slump. I would say it was different. I played a different position and I didn’t want my freshman to be my peak. So I’m looking forward to my junior year and I feel a lot stronger, a lot fitter and I’m just ready to go.”

Jalen Tompkins, junior, goalkeeper On the non-conference schedule “We have a good non-conference schedule. We just try to take it one game at a time. On the 16th, we play Air Force and we are going to compete our hardest then. Then just the rivalries with Colorado State and DU are important to us. We just want to establish ourselves as the Colorado school and come out and compete every game and represent the state and that’s the Colorado Cup. We want to win that; that’s always a goal for us. Our biggest thing is to win the state and go from there. We just try to take it one game at a time.”

On the team’s goals for the season “We want to win the Colorado Cup, that’s a big goal for us. And then we want to compete for a championship in the Pac-12, compete as much as we can. I think we have a really good ability to do that. And if we do well in Pac-12 play and non-conference play, host a game, and then make a deep run into the NCAA Tournament and hopefully breaking the second round.”

On advancing past the second round in the NCAA Tournament “You have to get a good draw in the NCAA Tournament to get past that second round. That’s something we’ve talked about a lot. We played South Carolina my [redshirt freshman] season, and then last season, North Carolina. We have to do better in the Pac-12 and just get lucky some games and win some games out. Based off of that, we’ll get a better draw and hopefully host a game and then make a run.”

[cubuffs-blog1]

CU Women’s Basketball Pro Update

By Andy Schlichting, Women’s Basketball SID

BOULDER – Three former Colorado women’s basketball players played professionally this past winter in Europe. Here is a recap on their seasons:

Chucky Jeffery (played at CU for four seasons from 2009-13)

Jeffery played in Hungary’s A Division for ZTE Noi Kosarlabda Klub, leading the team to a fourth-place finish in the 11-team division with a 13-7 record in league games. Jeffery led the team in scoring and averaged 14.2 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 23 games overall. She was a second-round draft pick by the Minnesota Lynx in the 2013 WNBA Draft.

Aija Putnina (played at CU for two seasons from 2006-08)

Putnina played in the top level in Turkey during the 2017-18 season and played for two teams. She opened the year with Canik Belediye and averaged 11.7 points and 4.4 rebounds in 11 games. During the winter, she transferred to Mersin Buyuksehir Belediye, where she played the final 14 games of her season. She averaged 9.1 points and 3.3 rebounds with Mersin BSB. She also led the team to the quarterfinals of the Eurocup, scoring 13 points in a win over Flammes on Feb. 1. Putnina also represented her native Latvia at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.

Jamee Swan (played at CU for four seasons from 2012-16)

Swan appeared in 21 games for Athinaikos AS Vurona in the A1 Division in Greece. She was second on the team in both scoring and rebounding, averaging 16.0 points and 10.1 rebounds. Her top performance of the season came on Nov. 26 when she tied a season high with 27 points and had a season-best 18 rebounds in a win over Panathlitikos.

[cubuffs-blog1]

CU Soccer Team Extends Academic Success Streak

by Andy Schlichting, Soccer SID

BOULDER – Colorado’s soccer team completed yet another outstanding semester in the classroom during the spring semester. The Buffs have thrived in the classroom in head coach Danny Sanchez’s six-plus seasons in Boulder.

With a GPA of 3.269 for the term, it was the 12th consecutive semester with a 3.2 or higher GPA, and the 19th consecutive semester with a GPA of 3.0 or higher. Only two CU athletics teams (women’s skiing and women’s cross country) have longer streaks of semesters with at least a 3.0 GPA.

Sixteen soccer student-athletes had a GPA of 3.0 or higher during the spring, including four players with a 4.0. Additionally, 18 members of the team have a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better. Nine players were named Academic All-Pac-12 last fall and seven of those players return in 2018.

CU soccer players with a 3.0 GPA for the 2018 spring semester: Hannah Cardenas, 4.000 Libby Geraghty, 4.000 Jalen Tompkins, 4.000 Scout Watson, 4.000 Courtney Fedor, 3.753 Nancy Best, 3.643 Kelsey Aaknes, 3.600 Caitlin McPherson, 3.563 Cassie Phillips, 3.480 Sarah Kinzner, 3.464 Sofia Weiner, 3.462 Jorian Baucom, 3.460 Alex Vidger, 3.443 Courtney Kaplan, 3.408 Camilla Shymka, 3.100 Erin Greening, 3.060

CU soccer players with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher: Hannah Cardenas, 4.000 Libby Geraghty, 4.000 Courtney Fedor, 3.810 Jalen Tompkins, 3.760 Caitlin McPherson, 3.725 Alex Vidger, 3.627 Jorian Baucom, 3.552 Sarah Kinzner, 3.381 Cassie Phillips, 3.357 Scout Watson, 3.300 Sofia Weiner, 3.282 Courtney Kaplan, 3.214 Erin Greening, 3.209 Katie Joella, 3.140 Nancy Best, 3.082 Camilla Shymka, 3.056 Isobel Dalton, 3.030 Kelsey Aaknes, 3.024

[cubuffs-blog1]

Leonard Selected For NCAA Career In Sports Forum

By Andy Schlichting, Women’s Basketball SID

CU women’s basketball player Kennedy Leonard was selected last week to attend the 2018 NCAA Career in Sports Forum. The event will be held May 31 to June 3 at the NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis. Leonard was one of only 200 NCAA student-athletes between Divisions I, II and III out of over 800 applicants to be chosen.

The NCAA Career in Sports Forum is an educational forum hosted by the NCAA to bring student-athletes together to learn and explore potential careers in sports, with a primary focus on college athletics. The four-day event is designed to help student-athletes find their career paths and network and learn from current athletics professionals.

The NCAA website lists some of the topics covered as: how personal values intersect with career opportunities, how behavioral styles impact individual effectiveness, the key professional and career development information to assist with transition from a student-athlete to a professional, and the role of the college coach or athletics administrator.

Leonard’s selection followed a detailed application process that included essay questions about sports and diversity. She believes that the forum will help prepare for her life after basketball.

“It’s something that isn’t basketball and I love basketball. I like to spend time doing basketball so I’m sure it’ll be tough when I’m [in Indianapolis] not playing basketball,” Leonard said. “But it’s good for my future. I need to dabble my toes into something other than basketball now that I’m a senior.

“I probably won’t even take those days off,” Leonard joked. “I’ll find a gym somewhere. But I’m excited because it’s something that isn’t basketball and I don’t get to do that a lot.”

While she isn’t totally sure of what she wants to do beyond her playing career, she expects to have some time to figure that out. Leonard is planning on playing professionally following her CU career. She thinks coaching will be the route she takes after her wrapping up her professional playing career.

This is the third consecutive year CU has had least one student-athlete to participate in the NCAA Careers in Sports Forum.

[cubuffs-blog1]

Former Buff Named Head Coach At Northern Colorado

By Andy Schlichting, WBB SID

Former CU women’s basketball player Jenny (Roulier) Huth was hired as the head coach at Northern Colorado on Monday.

Huth goes to the Bears with 11 years of coaching experience at the collegiate level after her playing career in Boulder. She has spent the past seven seasons at UCLA and also had two-year stints at Florida State and Oakland (Mich.).

At CU, Huth was a four-year letterwinner for the Buffs from 1998-2002, scoring 1,399 points and dishing out 319 assists. She still ranks second in career 3-point percentage (.407), fifth in 3-point field goals made (203), sixth in attempts (499) and eighth in free throw percentage (.815). She led the Buffs to NCAA Tournament appearances in her final two seasons, including a trip to the Elite Eight as a senior.

“I’m so thrilled for Jenny to return to her home state of Colorado to take on the challenge as  the new head coach of the Bears,” Ceal Barry said, Huth’s coach at CU and CU’s current SWA. “As head coach, Jenny will bring great energy and passion each day, along with a will to win with integrity.”

Huth takes over a UNC program that won a program-record 26 games and reached the NCAA Tournament in 2017-18.

She joins a long list of former Buffs that have gone on to collegiate coaching careers after their playing days.

Former CU student-athletes turned college coaches:

Gail Hook (1979-82) – former head coach at Monarch and Centaurus High Schools for 24 years (former assistant coach at Northern Colorado and Purdue, in the WNBA with Charlotte Sting, and with USA Basketball)

Susan Horner (1977-79) – former assistant coach at CU for 4 seasons

Jenny (Roulier) Huth (1998-02 at CU) – current head coach at Northern Colorado (11 seasons as assistant at UCLA, Oakland (Mich.) and Florida State)

Linda Lappe (1998-03 at CU) – former head coach at CU at Metro State (6 seasons at CU, 3 at Metro; 4 seasons as assistant at Drake and Colorado State)

Raegan (Scott) Pebley (1993-97 at CU) – current head coach at TCU (4 seasons at TCU, 2 at Fresno State, 9 at Utah State; 4 seasons as assistant at George Mason and Colorado State)

Jasmine Sborov (2011-15 at CU) – current assistant at Harvard (just finished her 2nd season)

Erin Scholz (1993-97) – former head coach at Fresno Pacific (3 seasons at Fresno Pacific; 6 seasons as assistant at Utah State and Grand Canyon)

Shelley Sheetz (1991-95 at CU) – current assistant coach at Loyola (Md.) (15 seasons at Loyola, Boston College, Denver, Pepperdine, San Diego and Washington State)

Bianca Smith (2006-10 at CU) – current assistant coach at Loyola Chicago (6 seasons at Loyola Chicago, Rice and Texas Southern as assistant and/or video coordinator)

Tracy Tripp (1985-89 at CU) – former assistant coach at Denver and San Diego State for 13 seasons; former director of basketball operations at CU for 4 seasons (currently CU’s director of human resources)

Jen (Tubergen) Warden (1988-90 at CU) – former head coach at Colorado State at Boise State (6 seasons at CSU, 3 seasons at BSU; 10 seasons as assistant at CU)

Annan Wilson (1986-90 at CU) – former assistant coach at CU for 2 seasons

Randie Wirt (2000-04 at CU) – former assistant coach at Colorado State for 3 seasons

Former assistant CU coaches who have become head coaches at the collegiate level:

Jenny Baranczyk (2 seasons at CU 2010-12) – current head coach at Drake (just finished 6th season)

Jeff Cammon (1 season at CU 2016-17) – current head coach at Long Beach State (just finished 1st season)

Matt Daniel (1 season at CU 2004-05) – former head coach at Marshall for 5 seasons and Central Arkansas for 4 seasons

Tanya Haave (4 seasons at CU 2001-05) – current head coach at Metro State (just finished 8th season at Metro; was head coach at San Francisco for 4 seasons prior to MSU Denver)

Patrick Harrington (3 seasons at CU 2007-10) – former head coach at Northwest Florida State College (JUCO) for 4 seasons before passing away in 2014

Jim Jabir (1 season at CU 2002-03) – current head coach at Florida Atlantic (just finished 1st season at FAU; was head coach at Dayton for 13 seasons prior to FAU after CU)

Tom McConnell (4 seasons at CU 2006-10) – current head coach at Indiana (Pa.) (just finished 5th season; was assistant at Old Dominion after leaving CU)

Mike Neighbors (1 season at CU 2005-06) – current head coach at Arkansas (just finished 1st season at Arkansas; was head coach at Washington for 4 seasons prior to Arkansas)

Bethann Shapiro Ord (2 seasons at CU 2005-07) – current head coach at Weber State (just finished 7th season at WSU; was assistant at Louisville for 4 seasons after CU)

Barb Smith (9 seasons at CU 1988-97) – current associate head coach at St. Louis (former head coach at San Diego State for 5 seasons)

LaTonya Watson (12 seasons at CU 1996-05, 2011-14) – former head coach at New Haven for 3 seasons (2015-18)

If you are aware of any names missing from these lists, please e-mail andrew.schlichting@colorado.edu 

[cubuffs-blog1]

Buffs Finish National 3x3 Championships

CU’s team of Quinessa Caylao-Do, Annika Jank, Kennedy Leonard and Alexis Robinson competed at the USA Basketball Women’s National 3x3 Open Championships in the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs over the weekend.

After reaching the semifinals last year, the Buffs had a tougher go at it this year, finishing 0-6 in the tournament. The team went 0-5 in Saturday’s pool play, facing Washington (21-15 loss), Triple C’s & A K (14-12 loss), Bye Felicia (21-12), UNM (20-16 loss) and Ariel (21-16 loss). CU was eliminated from bracket play on Sunday with a 21-7 defeat by Devs (a group of players from Arizona State).

A group of players from the University of Oregon won the tournament.

(Photo courtesy of USA Basketball)

[cubuffs-blog1]

Volleyball Cancels Springs Scrimmage on Saturday

BOULDER — Due to unforeseeable circumstances, the decision has been made to cancel the Colorado volleyball scrimmage this Saturday, April 21, at the CU Events Center.

The Buffs, who advanced to the Sweet 16 in the 2017 NCAA Tournament, are looking forward to opening up the 33rd season of the team this coming fall. CU finished the season with a 24-10 overall record and were fifth in the Pac-12 with a 12-8 mark.

[cubuffs-blog1]

Kate Fagan To Be Keynote Speaker At Shaka Franklin Foundation Luncheon

by Andy Schlichting, WBB SID

DENVER - Former Colorado women’s basketball player Kate Fagan will be the keynote speaker at the 28th Annual Love Our Children luncheon for the Shaka Franklin Foundation for Youth on Friday, April 20.

Fagan is an acclaimed columnist and feature writer for ESPN and makes frequent appearances on ESPN’s television programming on Around The Horn and Outside The Lines.

Her recent book, What Made Maddy Run, is a New York Times Bestseller. The publication chronicles the heartbreaking story of Madison Halleran, a collegiate athlete at Penn who committed suicide during her freshman year. Fagan’s book reveals the haunting details and uncommon understanding of the struggle young people suffering from mental illness face today.

The 28th Annual Love Our Children luncheon will be on Friday, April 20, at the Hyatt Regency Denver Tech Center. A silent auction will begin at 10 a.m., followed by the luncheon and program at 11:30.

The Shaka Franklin Foundation for Youth was established as a non-profit in 1990 to address the serious problem of youth suicide in Colorado and the United States. For more information, visit their website at http://www.shaka.org/.

Fagan was a four-year letterwinner and two-year starter for the Buffs in the early 2000s. She scored 970 career points in 121 games, spanning five seasons after earning a medical hardship for a season-ending injury suffered early in her freshman season. A sharpshooter on four NCAA Tournament teams, she still ranks third in CU history in 3-point field goal percentage (.405) and is sixth in 3-point field goals (197). She led the Buffs to the Elite Eight and Sweet Sixteen during her junior and senior seasons in 2003 and 2004 as a starter.

[cubuffs-blog1]

Kornieck Named To U-20 USWNT Roster For Upcoming Matches

BOULDER - Colorado soccer player Taylor Kornieck has been named to the U-20 U.S. Women’s National Team roster for three upcoming matches in La Manga, Spain. The U-20 team will travel to La Manga March 29-April 10 to face the U-23 teams from Sweden (April 5), England (April 7) and Italy (April 9) in a friendly tournament.

Kornieck, a midfielder from Henderson, Nev., is one of 24 players named to the roster and among the eight players born in 1998 (the age cut-off year for the 2018 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup). She brings plenty of international experience, serving as a team captain for the U-18 team in 2016 and competing in six matches last summer with the U-19 and U-20 teams. She scored her first international goal vs. England last July and added two more assists over the summer.

At CU, Kornieck has 18 goals, starting all 44 matches over her first two seasons in Boulder. She enters her junior season ranked seventh in school history in both goals and points (44).

The Buffs are coming off back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances, reaching the second round in both 2016 and 2017. They ended the 2017 season 12-6-4 overall and 5-4-2 in the Pac-12 and return 10 starters from that squad.

Cardenas On U-18 Team

Hannah Cardenas, a defender from Placentia, Calif., who finished her freshman season at CU in 2017, played in her first international match with the U-18 USWNT on March 4. She appeared as a substitute in the 69th minute of a friendly vs. the Netherlands at the Women’s U-19 La Manga 12 Nations Tournament.

As a freshman with the Buffs, Cardenas started all 22 matches and was second on the team in minutes played in 2017.

[cubuffs-blog1]

Mahoney Announces Spring Contests

BOULDER — Colorado volleyball coach Jesse Mahoney has announced the team's 2018 spring contents, which will include two matches.

The Buffs, who are in the middle of their spring training block, will have their first competition on Saturday, April 14, in Fort Collins, Colo., against in-state rival Colorado State. The two teams will face off at 10 a.m. in Moby Arena.

CU will then host an alumni scrimmage on Saturday, April 21, at the Events Center at 1 p.m.

Colorado finished the 2017 season with an impressive 24-10 record and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16. The Buffs finished ranked 19th in the AVCA Coaches Poll and tied for fifth in the Pac-12 Conference standings with a 12-8 mark, their best record since joining the Pac-12 in 2011.

[cubuffs-blog1]

Ceal Barry Hall of Fame Info, Recruits Update

The Women's Basketball Hall of Fame has released information on induction weekend June 8-9 in Knoxville, Tenn. Former CU women's basketball coach and current Senior Associate Athletic Director Ceal Barry was selected among seven inductees to this year's class.

Information on the weekend is available here and ticket info is here.

Barry had a 427-242 (.638) in 22 seasons at CU and was 510-284 (.642) in 26 seasons overall as a Division I head coach, including four years at Cincinnati. She was a four-time Big Eight Coach of the Year and was named national coach of the year in 1994. Since retiring, she has been CU's Senior Associate Athletic Director for Internal Operations and currently serves as the Senior Women's Administrator in her 35th year at the university.

CU Recruits Wrapping Up High School Careers Cameron Swartz, a senior at Fellowship Christian Academy in Roswell, Ga., finished her senior season as the state's leading scorer at 32.1 points per game. The 5-11 guard also averaged 8.5 rebounds, 4.1 steals, 2.9 assists and 1.1 blocks in 23 games, while shooting 47.4 percent from the floor. For her career, she finished with 1,867 points and 612 rebounds.

Sirena Tuitele, a 6-1 senior post player at Pleasant Valley H.S. in Chico, Calif., is currently playing in the California Division II state tournament. Through 25 games, she is averaging 15.1 points, 8.9 rebounds, 2.9 steals, 2.2 assists and 1.9 blocks and has led the team to a 23-4 record. Pleasant Valley, the No. 1 seed in the Northern Region, faces No. 4 seed San Ramon in the region semifinals on Tuesday for a chance to reach the state semifinals/regional finals on Saturday.

Swartz and Tuitele both signed with CU in November.

[cubuffs-blog1]

Ceal Barry On CBS 4 Tonight

by Andy Schlichting, WBB SID

BOULDER - Former CU women’s basketball coach and current senior associate athletic director Ceal Barry will be on CBS 4 in Denver tonight. She will be on the live show airing from the Viewhouse Centennial. Xfinity Monday Live will be hosted by CBS 4 sports anchor Michael Spencer at 6:30 p.m.

Barry was recently selected to the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2018 and has been at CU for 35 years, including 22 as the women’s basketball head coach, where she was a four-time Big Eight Coach of the Year and compiled a 427-242 (.638) record.

NOTEWORTHY: Lost in the shuffle of the Pac-12 Tournament last week and the coaches all-conference awards, Kennedy Leonard was also selected All-Pac-12 by the media. She finished the season averaging 14.7 points and had a school-record 200 assists on the season.

[cubuffs-blog1]

Off The Court With Rachel Whipple

Written by Audrey Rodriguez

BOULDER- Whip? Whip. This is the nickname given to defensive specialist Rachel Whipple by her teammates. But to this day, the four-letter name still seems to give her a sense of confusion.

“I really don’t know what it means; it is just something people naturally like to call me,” said Whipple. “I am not a huge fan of it, but it sticks.”

Be sure to let Whipple know if you come up with a more suitable nickname than Whip, I’m sure she would appreciate the suggestions.

42.3. This is the distance Whipple traveled from her hometown of Centennial, Colo. to Boulder, Colo. Having been recruited by Denver, Virginia Commonwealth and Gonzaga, Whipple decided to attend CU, which bears a significant amount of meaning to this Colorado native.  

“Getting the opportunity to play for your state school is something I could not pass up,” said Whipple.

Colorado pride has a big meaning for this 5’7” junior, “Representing my home state on the back of my jersey every weekend is an opportunity that not a lot of people get.”

Another perk of living less than an hour from home is that Whipple enjoys having the ability to look up and wave to the stands and see her supportive family smiling and waving back.

“Being able to have my family at every game is something I cannot take for granted,” said Whipple as she notes how thankful she is for the experience to play at CU.

CU is lucky to have Whipple for not one, but many reasons. A big reason being the intelligence she brings to the table on and off the court. Whipple is studying integrative psychology during her time at CU, with aspirations of becoming a physician’s assistant. Yet balancing volleyball and a hefty load of science and math classes often poses a challenge.

“It is difficult, but I have learned a lot of strategies along the way,” said Whipple. “Learning how to work hard and do extra homework, and when to not and give yourself a break.”

Whipple notes that the resources CU Athletics has available for academics is very helpful, but she notes that a strong work ethic is what has made her successful.

When Whipple is not on the court or in the classroom, you will likely find her in Colorado’s beautiful outdoors. “I desperately want to climb a 14er this summer,” said Whipple.

Personally, the very thought of that steep climb in altitude makes me want to grab my inhaler.

“Downtown Denver, the mountains, there is always an opportunity to do an activity you have never done before,” said Whipple.

Towards the end of this interview, Whipple boldly noted that she is an avid ping-pong player. I was surprised to hear this, as I also pride myself on my pong master skills.

Something tells me that the next time you see Whipple; she will be standing across from me in the middle of the court at the Coors Event Center with only a ping pong table standing between us ad paddles in our hands. 

[cubuffs-blog1]

Buffs Ranked 22nd In Latest IWLCA Poll

BOULDER — Despite earning a win in their only game last week, the Colorado Buffaloes dropped from 20th to 22nd in the latest Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association Poll.

The Buffs recorded a 17-12 win over San Diego State on Sunday to improve to 2-2 overall this season. Senior Darby Kiernan tied a career-high with five goals, while junior Samantha Nemirov tallied a career-best four goals in the win.

The Pac-12 Conference has three schools ranked in the poll. In addition to Colorado, Southern California is ranked 12th and Stanford is 25th.

The Buffs are in the midst of a four-game home stand and will host Virginia Tech on Sunday, March 4, at 12 p.m. at Kittredge Field.

[cubuffs-blog1]

Choi and Hodgkins Finish Top-20 at Amateur Asia Pacific

Two Buffs finished in the top-20 of the inaugural Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific championship here Saturday in Singapore. 

Sophomores Robyn Choi and Kirsty Hodgkins finished in the top-20 out of 83 total athletes. Choi finished tied for 11th, while Hodgkins tied for 20th place.

Choi finished with a final scorecard of 72-75-69-70–286. Hodgkins carded a  71-75-70-73— 289 total. Hodgkins is No. 40 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Rankings, while Choi is No. 89. 

Other rankings: 

Kirsty Hodgkins: 48 GolfStat; 42 GolfWeek

Robyn Choi: 28 GolfStat; 26 GolfWeek

“Robyn had a very good finish of 11th place. Kirsty also did well in 20th,” head coach Anne Kelly said. “They both fly From Singapore to LAX today and will meet us in San Luis Obispo later in the afternoon. It will be a week of marathon golf for them as they played 36 holes in the UCLA Pepperdine Bruin wave tournament along with the rest of the team on Monday.” 

Atthaya Thitikul of Thailand, who was one of four players to finish the four-round event at 8-under-par 276. Thikul won a playoff to earn medalist honors and invitations to some prestigious events. (ANA Inspiration, the Women’s British Open, and the HSBC Women’s World Championship.)

[cubuffs-blog1]

Lacrosse Ranked No. 20 In Pair of National Polls

BOULDER — The Colorado lacrosse program is ranked No. 20 in this week’s Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association Poll, as well as the NIKE/U.S. Lacrosse Magazine Poll, which were both released on Monday.

The Buffs are 1-2 to start the 2018 campaign. They opened the season with a 20-10 victory over Michigan on Feb. 9 before suffering back-to-back losses to a pair of top-15 ranked teams in then-No. 5 Florida (16-9) and then-No. 11 Northwestern (15-8).

Maryland is the top-rated team in both polls. The reigning NCAA Champion has opened the season 2-0.

CU is looking to get back in the win column this week as it opens its home schedule at Kittredge Field. The Buffs will host former Mountain Pacific Sports Federation rival San Diego State on Sunday, Feb. 25, at 12 p.m.