Wetmore Inducted Into USTFCCCA Hall Of Fame

Colorado cross country and track and field head coach Mark Wetmore will be inducted into the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Hall of Fame, the association announced Thursday.
 
“This is a humbling honor,” said Wetmore. “I’m a little embarrassed because I’ve had so much help. In the 51 years since I started, there have been dozens of people who encouraged me and helped me, most significantly in the last 20 years, Heather Burroughs. So I’ll be pleased to accept the award hoping that all of those people can feel that they share some part of it.”
 
Wetmore enters his 30^th season at Colorado after joining the Buffaloes in the fall of 1992. Since his arrival, CU has grown into a distance-program powerhouse. Wetmore’s eight NCAA Championships is tied for the most for any CU coach, and he remains the only coach in NCAA history to win both the men and women’s team and individual cross country NCAA Championships, and has done so at least twice with each.
 
“This is a tremendous and well-deserved honor for Mark,” CU athletic director Rick George said.  “Mark and his staff have had terrific results both as a team and individually in competition, national, regional and conference championships as well as having coached numerous Olympians.  And his teams have similar results in the classroom, constantly owning grade point averages among the highest in the department if not the nation, and his student-athletes graduate.  I am very happy for Mark that he will receive this honor.”
 
Starting as a volunteer assistant, Wetmore was promoted to assistant and then to his final position of head coach in the fall of 1995. Since coming to Boulder, Wetmore has guided CU runners to 27 individual NCAA titles, won 42 conference titles (including a Big-12 record 24), has coached 470 All-American honors and has 29 NCAA podium finishes.
 
In addition to his athletes’ success in a CU uniform, 17 of Wetmore’s runners have ran in the Olympics with 27 total appearances. Those athletes have also accounted for six World Championship medals, including two golds, and three Olympic medals.
 
He will be honored in December with the USTFCCCA convention comes to Denver. He will be joined by Josh Culbreath of Central State, Greg Kraft of Arizona State, Halston Taylor of MIT, Art Venegas of UCLA and Sue Williams of UC Davis.