The CU triathlon team took 21 athletes up to Jamestown to help with flood relief efforts over the weekend. Even though it’s been six weeks since the initial flooding, there is still damage that the mountain town has yet to repair.

“Unimaginable,” said triathlete Juliana White, a graduate speech, language and hearing student. “There were houses that were just off their foundations completely. There was a property that we walked by that literally wasn’t there anymore; it got washed away in the flood.”

A flood victim named Bill suffered damage to his summer cabin. The team’s main task focused on diverting water from the cabin. They spent much of their day placing sand bags and rock fortification around his property to prevent spring floods from furthering the damage.

Despite the amount of damage that the property received, Bill has stayed positive throughout the recovery process, said the triathletes. This uplifting mentality was shared by the majority of the Jamestown residents, and it astounded the volunteers.

“A lot of people we talked with up there were not even thinking about replacing their houses or getting their lives back together,” said triathlete Justin Whaley, a mechanical engineering student. “It was just, ‘Can we get a road up here so we can start the real clean-out work? Can we stabilize the trails so we don’t have any more damage in the spring?’ The mind frame they have up there – it’s hardly what we expected going into that, and it was pretty overwhelming.”

They spent most of the rest of the day clearing off Ward Street.

“It was completely gone,” said team president Jesse Frank, a senior mechanical engineering student. “It used to be a road, but now it’s just a river.”

After going up to Jamestown to band together in the flood relief effort, the members of the triathlon team said they felt closer than they were before.

“For the team to go up there, it was a great bonding experience,” Whaley said. “You focus so much on training here with the triathlon, especially when you have three sports you have to work on. To have something where you can come together and function as a team is great for the team and for the community of Jamestown. It’s a win-win, I think.”

Contact CU Independent staff writer Alissa Noe at alissa.noe@colorado.edu.

With just under three weeks left until the 2013-2014 season kicks off, Colorado basketball gave its fans a taste of the upcoming season Saturday morning during the team’s black and white scrimmage.

In 32 minutes of play, the black team dominated the court and ran away with a 77-51 victory. Black played well on both sides of the court with relentless pressure and good ball movement, whereas white’s pressure was not as consistent and they didn’t pass as well.

The black team consisted of Josh Scott, Tre’Shaun Fletcher, Jaron Hopkins, Dustin Thomas, Xavier Talton, Brett Brady, Beau Gamble and Ben Mills. Fletcher, Hopkins and Thomas make up three of the team’s four true freshman this year, and Brett Brady is a walk-on sophomore.

The white team was composed of Spencer Dinwiddie, Xavier Johnson, Wesley Gordon, Chris Jenkins, George King, Eli Stalzer and Kevin Nelson. Gordon and Jenkins will take the court this season after redshirting last year, and Nelson will return after sitting out his junior season with a broken ankle. King is the fourth true freshman on the team.

Junior guard Askia Booker sat out because he was sick, but head coach Tad Boyle is confident that he will return to practice in the coming weeks.

Junior forward Scott, freshman forward Fletcher and sophomore guard Talton dominated for the black team.

Scott played well offensively and defensively and appeared more versatile with the ball than he was last season, which gave the white team all it could handle. Fletcher shot the ball well and proved that he can score from anywhere on the court, whether it be in the paint or behind the arc. Talton showed more confidence with the ball shooting more consistently.

Junior guard Dinwiddie, sophomore forward Johnson and redshirt freshman forward Gordon carried most of the fire power for the white team. Dinwiddie and Johnson shot well but lacked the defensive power that their teammates on the black squad showed.

Gordon, on the other hand, took over on both offense and defense. After the scrimmage, Boyle said that he has seen incredible growth in Gordon over the past year, and he expects him to be a dominant force for the Buffaloes this season.

Guard Hopkins played extraordinarily well during the scrimmage by putting up a lot of shots and taking part in two alley oops, one of which he made himself. The Buffs will have no shortage of new talent this year as Fletcher, Hopkins, King, Thomas, Gordon and Jenkins take the floor.

The Buffs begin their 2013-14 season on Nov. 8 in Dallas against Baylor University and then will take on the University of Tennessee-Martin at home two days later.

Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Alissa Noe at Alissa.noe@colorado.edu.

Coming off of three consecutive losses to some of the top teams in the Pac-12 conference, Colorado football will host the Charleston Southern Buccaneers on Saturday, Oct. 19. This marks the fifth time in program history that the Buffs will play a Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) team.

This game will serve as the make-up for the Fresno State game that was cancelled after the flooding in September. Charleston Southern was the only school to agree to come to Boulder this Saturday, after Colorado officials contacted almost three dozen schools in both the FCS and FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision).

The Buffs head into Saturday’s game at home with a 2-3 overall record, with an average of 17.3 points per game. Charleston Southern remains undefeated (7-0) in what was formerly known as Division I: AA, and averages 26.4 points per game.

True freshman Sefo Liufau, who is expected to start in the quarterback position on Saturday, understands the talent he and the Buffs will be facing this weekend.

“They’re a very good team,” he said during a press conference earlier this week. “Very athletic, very fast and they run a bunch of different coverages and different blitzes. We have to be very prepared and very sound, especially very consistent, unlike last week.”

First year head coach Jamey Chadwell has led the Buccaneers with continuing success. The team is ranked 24th in the nation in the FCS. This success can be attributed to the Buccaneers’ strong defense and consistent offense, which was led by senior quarterback Malcolm Dixon before he tore his ACL three weeks ago. Danny Croghan will be starting in his place against the Buffs.

“It’s going to be a tough battle because they run an option offense, out of the pistol, different things and there’s a lot of detail and work trying to get ready for that,” Buffs head coach Mike MacIntyre said during the press conference. “It’s a very difficult offensive ball control situation. Defensively, they bring a lot of things at you, and have very good rushing.”

The Buccaneers focus their offensive game on rushing, which may be an advantage for Colorado. So far this year, the Buffs have defended well against rushing teams, whereas passing offenses have proven too much for them to handle.

The Buffs aren’t expecting an easy game just because they’ll be playing an FCS team.

“They’re a better football team than Central Arkansas was when we played them here, and they gave us a very good football game,” MacIntyre said. “I’m pretty sure Charleston Southern will definitely feel like they can come in and win the football game.”

Kickoff is scheduled for 12:07 p.m. at Folsom Field.

Contact CU Independent staff writer Alissa Noe at alissa.noe@colorado.edu.

After coming off of another successful season with a second straight NCAA Tournament appearance, season tickets for the men’s basketball games are sold out for the first time in school history.

To put things into perspective, the maximum capacity in the Coors Events Center is 11,064 seats and 7,160 of those seats are reserved for season ticket holders. In other words, at least 65 percent of the stadium has been sold out for every home game of the 2013-2014 season.

As a result, single game tickets for home games will be limited. The pre-sale for single game tickets starts on Oct. 14 and will only be available to fans who signed up for the free Colorado Athletics electronic newsletter, Buffs Blast. The remaining tickets will be available to the general public on Oct. 15 at 8 a.m.

The pre-sale for the high demand games like Kansas and Arizona will be based on donor priority points. It will be difficult for those without season tickets to get individual game tickets for these games.

In head coach Tad Boyle’s first three seasons with the Buffs, Boyle has a cumulative record of 69-38.

In that time, 86.3 percent of those victories have been at the Coors Events Center. Since Boyle took over as coach, the Buffs have an overall record of 44-7 in Boulder.

In his first season, Boyle led the Buffs to the National Invitation Tournament for the first time since 2006. One year later, he led the team made their first NCAA appearance since 2003, which he did again in the 2012-2013 season.

Colorado begins its 2013-2014 season on Nov. 8 against Baylor University in Dallas.

Contact CU Independent Staff Writer at Alissa.noe@colorado.edu.

Coming off a 41-point loss to Oregon at home last weekend, the Buffs have yet to play at the same level as a fast-tempo team. At this point, their biggest weakness lies in defensive coverage of long-distance passing.

The Buffs head into Saturday’s game against Arizona State in Tempe, Ariz., with a 2-2 record overall, with an average of 28 points per game. The Sun Devils, on the other hand, stand at 3-2 and 42.2 points per game.

Colorado Head Coach Mike MacIntyre said he has showed the Buffs the talents of Todd Graham, Arizona State head coach, and Taylor Kelly, starting quarterback, to prepare his team this week at practice.

“Arizona State is a very good football team,” MacIntyre said.

The Sun Devils pose a major threat to Colorado’s hit-or-miss game performances so far this year. The Devils run an attacking-style defense and aim to cause turnovers, MacIntyre said. Their offense runs much like that of Oregon and Oregon State. The Sun Devils are primarily a passing team and they’ve been very successful with junior quarterback Kelly, who has thrown over 300 yards per game this season.

“They play fast, and they also have some fast players,” MacIntyre said. “A lot of the high-tempo offenses have a lot of similarities, and a lot of things do carry over.”

MacIntyre said the Buffs have gotten used to running alongside fast-paced teams, and he hopes their experience so far this season will show on Saturday.

Buffs’ junior quarterback Connor Wood has thrown 1,092 yards so far this season. Kelly, with one more game under his belt, has thrown for 1,732 in five games. Kelly has thrown 22 touchdowns with six interceptions in his last eight games, going into last season.

Senior defensive lineman Chidera Uzo-Diribe said Arizona State will be another tough team to beat.

“They have a really great quarterback and good running back. They can throw the ball,” Uzo-Diribe said. “It’s going to be another fast-paced team that likes to throw the ball around.”

On the other side of offensive play, the Devils are a poor rushing team, which opens up a window for the Buffs. By improving their defensive pressure on Kelly and his receivers, the team can keep Arizona State’s scoring to a minimum.

“They’re a great opponent. They beat Wisconsin and they beat USC,” junior wide receiver Paul Richardson said. ”For us to go in and beat that caliber of an opponent would be great for our team as far as self esteem, and as far as energy and hype.”

The game is set to start at 8 p.m. Saturday.

Contact CU Independent Staff Writer at Alissa.noe@colorado.edu.

The University of Colorado triathlon team competed well in the Desert’s Edge race on Sunday, with six top ten finishers in the men’s and women’s events. The race took place in Fruita, CO.

Senior Team President Jesse Frank says the athletes were forced to battle some cold weather on Sunday.

“We had some interesting conditions,” Frank said. “We woke up and it was about 32 or 34 degrees, so it was pretty chilly in the morning. When we started, it was still cold, and the water was some of the coldest I’ve ever swam in. I think it was 42 or 44 degrees out, so it was not too pleasant.”

In spite of the weather, the Buffs managed to finish well. They gained much-needed points that count toward Nationals, which will be held in March.

Junior Brittany Warly came in second place for the women with a time of 2:28:09, followed by Rachael Lenz in fourth and Skyler Werner in sixth. Sophomore Dane Ballou placed fourth for the men in 2:09:03, followed by Julian Wheating in sixth and Eric Ebeling in seventh.

Wheating was among six athletes from Colorado to compete in their first—and rather unpleasant—triathlon with the Buffs.

“With the cold and windy day on the bikes, it was not an easy first triathlon,” Frank said. “People really had to adapt, and I’m proud of how we did.”

Head Coach Mike Ricci agreed that Desert’s Edge was a success for the Buffs.

“Overall, the team had impressive results,” Ricci said. “I don’t like to single anyone out when there were so many great performances.”

The team’s next race is scheduled for Oct. 19 in Henderson, Nevada at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area. If the government shutdown is not resolved by then, the race may have to be postponed, as it would take place in a national park.

Regardless, the team will prepare for it like any other.

“I think we won’t have as many people go because it’s so far away,” sophomore Oliver Dansereau said. “It is a conference race, so we’re going to try to get as many people out there as possible to get points for Nationals.”

Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Alissa Noe at Alissa.noe@colorado.edu. 

University of Colorado football fell to No. 2 Oregon on Saturday, with a final score of 57-16. The Buffs picked up their second loss of the season, bringing their record to 2-2 overall and 0-2 in the Pac-12.

During halftime, the Buffs honored former head coach Bill McCartney (1982-1994), a recent inductee to the College Football Hall of Fame. It was the first time a CU coach joined the elite group.

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Wide receiver Paul Richardson caught his 100th career reception in the first minute of play off a 55-yard pass from quarterback Connor Wood, marking the 12th time in school history that a receiver has completed the feat. By the end of the day, that number rose to 104, with 5 receptions against the Ducks for a total of 134 yards.

Wood had 205 yards passing and threw two interceptions.

The Buffs scored first, with a 33-yard field goal by Will Oliver in the first three minutes of play. Colorado gained its first lead of the game, 3-0. The Ducks responded with a two-yard touchdown by quarterback Marcus Mariota and a 2-point conversion by Pharaoh Brown, bringing the score to 8-3.

The Buffs responded with a 75-yard reverse pass from Paul Richardson to D.D. Goodson , giving Colorado its second and last lead of the game. The Buffs are the first team to have two different leads on the Ducks in one game this season.

By the end of the first quarter, the Ducks led 29-10. The Buffs failed to score after the beginning of the second quarter and trailed Oregon 43-16 at the half.

“Coach Mac emphasized us to play aggressive and never give up and keep fighting,” cornerback Greg Henderson said. “He wanted us to dive in and play hard from the start, and that’s what we tried to do. Especially against a team like Oregon, because they’re an aggressive team. We did what we were supposed to do, but we didn’t capitalize on some things.”

During the second half, the Buffs couldn’t contain the Ducks and in the end, Oregon handed Colorado its second-worst defensive game in school history as they powered past the Buffs with 757 offensive yards.

“I was pleased with how hard we played,” head coach Mike MacIntyre said. “I was pleased with our fight and I was pleased with our aggressiveness. I thought we did some good things. I thought we could have scored on a few more points, but we just missed out on some things here and there. Of course, we got beat 57-16, and we’re not happy about that one bit, but I am happy about them going out there and fighting from the very beginning.”

As a team, the Buffs are ready to put this loss behind them and prepare for their next match up.

“Obviously, everyone is upset and disappointed, but you can’t dwell on that too much and let that bring you down,” sophomore tailback Christian Powell said. “We’re upset but we’re ready to move forward for our opponent next week.”

The Buffs return to the field next Saturday, October 12, at Arizona State. The Buffs will take on the Sun Devils at 8:00 p.m.

Contact CUIndependent staff writer Allisa Noe at Alissa.Noe@colorado.edu.

After winning their fourth consecutive national championship in 2013, the University of Colorado triathlon team has looked good through the first two races of their young season.

“For all of our races, it’s going to be an Olympic distance, which is a 1500 meter swim, just under a mile, 40K bike, about 24 miles of biking, and a 10K run, 6.2 miles,” team president Jesse Frank said. “It’s kind of like cross country scoring back in high school. At least for nationals, the top four score and the rest pushes everyone down. For our conference races, first place gets 500 points, second place 499, and it works down like that. The team with the most points combined wins.”

As a part of the Mountain Collegiate Triathlon Conference, the Buffs face 10 teams from four states including Arizona, Wyoming, New Mexico State, Colorado State and Air Force.

The Buffs only sent a small number of athletes to the first two races of the season, as those races were much smaller in scale.

During their first race of the season, which took place in Boulder on August 31, the Buffs fared exceptionally well as sophomore Rudy von Berg took home first place for the men with a time of 2:00:29. Junior Kaye Sitterley finished first for the women in 2:32:26.

By the end of the Boulder Sunset race, the Buffs had six more athletes finish in the top 10 between the men and women.

Three weeks later, the Buffs stole the show again at the Nathan Tempe Triathlon in Arizona as senior Kasia Rasker finished second overall in the women’s race in 2:31:19. The Buffs also had two more top 10 finishes between the men and women.

Head Coach Mike Ricci explained that in the end, each race counted a little towards their main goal, which is winning Regionals this spring.

“The first race did really well to set the tone for the rest of the season,” Ricci said. “The Tempe race was still a good race, even though not many people went to it. Really, we’re just trying to go down there and get some points for Regionals, which is in March, so that helps us a little bit.”

The Buffs next race is a conference race in Fruita, Colorado. Although the first two races were geared toward a lower level of competition, with only a handful of Buffs competing in each, the Desert’s Edge race in Fruita is expected to provide much stiffer competition.

According to Coach Ricci, the team will send 15 to 20 of the team’s 90 athletes to the race this weekend. He described the new concept of distributing athletes to certain events as a delicate balancing act.

“This is all new–the conference races and getting points for Regionals,” he explained. “We’ve been trying to figure out the balance of who needs to do two races, who needs to do one. We’re trying to make it balanced so we’re not burning kids out. At the same time, the team needs to get points.”

Despite being able to send only a fraction of the team to Fruita, Coach Ricci believes that the participating athletes will perform well.

Junior Brian Monahan will be among the athletes making the trek to the state’s western border for Sunday’s competition.

“I’m looking forward to the trip because it’s great team bonding experience,” he said. “You get to know your teammates, and it’s a great trip overall. Competition is great, and the best part, of course, is learning more about your teammates.”

“We pride ourselves on being the best,” he said. “We try to continue that tradition of excellence that was set before us. That’s always the goal. Championships are always the goal, and this year looks to be no different.”

The team is set to race in the Desert’s Edge Triathlon in Fruita, Colorado at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 6.

Contact CU Independent staff writer Alissa Noe at alissa.noe@colorado.edu

Paul Richardson did not expect that he would perform so well after returning from injury, and neither did his doctors.

After pushing through an extensive rehabilitation process following an ACL tear in April 2012, Richardson began practicing with teammate Connor Wood that winter — earlier than his doctors recommended. He had already been sneaking out after practice to run around without the inhibition of his brace and couldn’t stay off the field any longer, he said.

“I was hungry,” he explained. “I wanted to play so bad after I watched my team suffer every week.”

Richardson and Wood, who became the Buffs’ starting quarterback this year, began throwing after practice to build the rhythm that they rely on this season.

“Outside of practice hours, Connor and I would get together and throw on Folsom,” the junior wide receiver told CU Independent. “It was fun, too, so it’s no surprise that we have good chemistry now.”

That chemistry has proven to be crucial in the Buffs’ 2-0 record this season.

After sitting out the entire 2012 football season due to the knee injury, Richardson returned to Colorado football with a bang during the first two games of 2013.

Against Colorado State, he boasted 208 receiving yards off of ten passes. It was the first 200-yard receiving game in the country this season. He was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week.

Six days later, Richardson bested himself by receiving eleven passes for 209 yards, and was again the only receiver in the country to achieve the feat. He became the first Pac-12 player in history to achieve two consecutive 200-yard games, thus earning him another Player of the Week award.

“I don’t think anyone could have envisioned this,” Richardson said at a Sept. 10 news conference. “I’m very grateful and very blessed to have that start. I wanted us to start off fast and I wanted us to start off doing really well, but I never expected it to be this well.”

Wood believes that Richardson has returned to the field new and improved after his year on the sidelines.

“Those two back-to-back games with 200 yards, that’s very impressive,” Wood said at the Sept. 10 news conference. “He’s come back stronger.”

Richardson’s success started long before he became a Buffalo and can be traced all the way back to his father, Paul Richardson Sr., who played at the collegiate level with UCLA. According to Richardson and the CU Athletic Department, his father played in the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles, the New York Jets, the Green Bay Packers, and the Oakland Raiders.

As the son of a professional football player, Paul Richardson Jr. started playing the game at an early age.

“I started playing football when I was two in a six-year-old league,” Richardson told CU Independent. “I played flag, and then I started playing tackle when I was eight.”

When high school rolled around, Richardson Sr. coached Richardson Jr. to adjust to several positions. For the first several years of his high school career, Richardson said he switched back and forth between cornerback and receiver.

“I played corner most of my life, so my dad was really aggressive with me, and he coached me how to weigh different attitudes of most receivers,” Richardson said at the news conference. “When I crossed over to playing receiver, I already had that work ethic embedded in me.”

His success paid off in high school, as nearly every school in the Pac-12 offered him scholarships to play cornerback and receiver.

“I got scholarships at corner and scholarships at receiver, but I ended up going to receiver,” he said. “It’s easier to score touchdowns on offense than it is to score touchdowns on defense.”

In the end, he decided that Colorado would be the best fit for him because the team had just lost a receiver.

He left a big impression during his freshman year by earning a number of awards, including the team’s Lee Willard Award for most outstanding freshman. He was also named the University of Colorado’s Co-Male Freshman Athlete of the Year among all sports, along with basketball’s Andre Roberson.

His success continued well into his sophomore year, when he broke the school record in receiving yards after catching for 284 during the game against California.

Contact CU Independent Staff Writer at Alissa.noe@colorado.edu.

It’s no secret that junior guard Spencer Dinwiddie played a pivotal role in the University of Colorado men’s basketball team’s success the last two years, and that is exactly why he believes the upcoming season will be even bigger.

How he performs in the 2013-14 season, Dinwiddie said, will determine whether or not he declares his candidacy for the 2014 NBA draft.

“As long as I’m improving, then I’ll leave,” he said. “If not, I’ll probably come back.”

One of the most experienced starters on the team, Dinwiddie was put in a position of power in June when forward Andre Roberson was drafted into the NBA.

Spencer Dinwiddie shoots a free throw during the game against CSU on Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2012 at the Coors Events Center. (Kai Casey/CU Independent)

Roberson’s absence also means the team will lean on young talent this season, including four true freshmen, two redshirt freshmen and four sophomores.

“We’re depending on some young guys, some inexperienced and somewhat immature guys,” Dinwiddie said. “If they come together and they help form a really cohesive nucleus, then the sky is the limit for this team.”

Dinwiddie said he’s looking to freshmen Tre’Shaun Fletcher, Dustin Thomas, Jaron Hopkins and George King to form this “cohesive nucleus.” Dinwiddie said he believes the team has the potential to be the best that Head Coach Tad Boyle has led at CU.

“We have a lot of offensive fire power to outscore people, which is something we haven’t had since Alec Burks and Cory Higgins played here,” Dinwiddie said, adding that the team is potent on both ends of the court.

“With the importance of defense, we’re going to try to pick up the pace, and we’re going to be probably the second-most, if not the most explosive offensive team that Boyle’s ever had,” Dinwiddie said. It’s Boyle’s fourth year with the Buffs and eighth year as a head coach.

Boyle’s trademark, Dinwiddie said, is encouraging steady, year-round improvement.

The team has been practicing together for much of the offseason, but Dinwiddie gained a little more experience this summer when he played in the July World University Games in Kazan, Russia.

Dinwiddie picked up new tricks when he worked with coaches Bob McKillop of Davidson College and John Beilein of University of Michigan at the Olympics of college sports.

“I learned a little bit of the intricacies of spacing and the way to teach the pick-and-roll,” Dinwiddie said. “Things like that I think really improved my game and the way I see the game.”

In addition to the coaching exposure, Dinwiddie got a taste of what it would be like to win a national championship from stories told by world games teammate and University of Louisville senior forward Luke Hancock.

The international experience will carry him into the 2013-14 season, he said, in a pivotal year for team and personal growth.

He plans to impart the knowledge and spirit from the Buffs’ 2012 Pac-12 tournament victory in each of the younger players “because a lot of our guys don’t know that and how great of a feeling that was,” Dinwiddie said. “I want to bring those two mindsets to the table.”

Contact CU Independent Staff Writer at Alissa.noe@colorado.edu.