I happened to be killing time near the team camp area on Saturday - taking in the action between the conclusion of the women’s event and the start of the men’s - and I noticed Coach Wetmore hanging out in front of the Colorado tent with Jenny Simpson.
As luck would have it, Ryan Forsyth’s dad just happened to be standing next to me at that time and we talked for a bit about his son’s season. Mr. Forsyth then called out to Coach Wetmore, who in response, came over to the fence. They exchanged a few words, and when they were done, I congratulated Coach Wetmore on winning the women’s team title, and we briefly chatted until Coach Harter from Arkansas walked by, and then he and Wetmore walked away discussing the women’s race.
A few moments later, Ryan Forsyth came out of the CU tent and talked to his dad, who basically encouraged him to put some of the positive energy from the women’s win toward his own race. After that, it was nearing go time, so I headed for the start line.
The reason why I mention all this is because, in response to a lot of the negativity Coach Wetmore has been getting, I thought it was both cool and very humbling that, given the timing of things, he would take a few moments to acknowledge some random fan just hanging out at the meet. It was only a brief interaction - probably a minute at most - but I thought that Coach Wetmore was incredibly professional; he was polite, very sincere, and appeared to be genuinely happy with his team’s performance.
I also mention it because, watching the races in person, it was pretty clear that the Colorado teams came to run and competed with a lot of intensity at Nationals. All throughout the women’s race, it was obvious that the Buffs were winning, and in the men’s race, CU’s top three were VERY impressive - battling away in the lead pack for all 10k - while their fourth looked solid and flirted with AA status the entire race. If only they had a bit more depth, maybe they could have challenged BYU for second place team honors. GOAT or not, Coach Wetmore definitely had his teams ready - mentally and physically - to compete this past Saturday and I enjoyed watching this interview and getting to hear him talk about it in his own words.
Well done!
