CU steeplechasers to charge course like General Lee

By B.G. Brooks, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Photos By Brian Lehmann / Special To The Rocky

CU's Pete Janson, left, and Billy Nelson have won Big 12 Conference titles in the steeplechase, Janson in 2006 and Nelson last season.

Janson, a fifth-year senior, says, "I'm never confident enough to say I have a lock on anything, but . . . Billy and I are going to win."

By one means or another, whether foot power or horsepower, Billy Nelson and the steeplechase seem to have traveled convergent paths.

As it turns out, though, two legs sufficiently have transported him toward a career as a steepler.

A sixth-year senior at the University of Colorado, Nelson is the 2007 Big 12 Conference champion in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, an event with allure because of its variety and the athleticism required. Nelson's goal is defending his title this weekend on CU's course as the Big 12 track and field championship meet makes its first trip to Boulder.

Nelson grew up in Bakersfield, Calif., where his father raised horses. They loved to run, Nelson loved to ride - so much so he envisioned himself as one day earning a living as a jockey.

It is not hard to picture Nelson in that profession. CU lists him as 5-foot-6, but veteran track coach Mark Wetmore offers a disclaimer: "If he's 5-6, somebody that does the football measurements is (measuring) him."

And Nelson might hit 130 pounds if he's holding two bags of groceries and his 9-month-old daughter, Arabella.

Blessed with the size, or lack thereof, to pursue a riding dream, he didn't change courses until eighth grade, when best friend Nick Cramer cajoled Nelson, who said he "never really got the idea of running for fun," into entering a cross country race.

Cramer laughed when Nelson showed up wearing basketball shoes, but the newbie finished third, with Cramer a place behind. One week later, Nelson and Cramer were 1-2 - and Nelson was on his way to being weaned from that vision of becoming the next Pat Day.

"He was really into horses, but it didn't take much to convince him that running was for him. Once he got in the first race, I don't think there was any doubt about what he wanted to do. . . . He's one of the most competitive people I've ever known," said Cramer, who completed his collegiate running career at Wyoming last year and plans to attend the Big 12 meet to see a friend he still speaks to at least once a week.

Friendly rivals

Nelson's fiercest challenge to win consecutive conference steeplechase titles likely will come from teammate Pete Janson, the 2006 Big 12 champ. In plotting their futures, Nelson and Janson, a fifth-year senior from Dallas, targeted this meet, wanting to compete for a Big 12 title on their home turf.

After a variety of mostly stress- reaction injuries (foot, shin and femur) cost him all, or part, of two outdoor seasons, Nelson and CU petitioned the NCAA for a sixth year of eligibility - primarily because of this event.

Said Nelson: "It was definitely a reason to come back."

Ditto for Janson, who took his redshirt season last year, then watched his friend and teammate give CU back-to-back Big 12 steeplechase titles.

"I didn't necessarily know Billy would be here this year," Janson said. "But (the Big 12 meet) is definitely a big thing for us. We want to have our best performance.

"I'm never confident enough to say I have a lock on anything, but . . . Billy and I are going to win."

Opting for more restraint, Wetmore added, "I'd be willing to say we have two of the better ones - both can make it to the finals of the nationals."

In some regards, Nelson and Janson couldn't be more different. Nelson eventually hopes running pays his family's bills. Reaching the Olympics interests Janson, as it does Nelson, but Beijing would be Janson's final stop. He hopes to enter medical school.

Different training approaches and schedules - Nelson works part time at Blockbuster to help fiancee Alisa make ends meet - have prevented Nelson and Janson from working out together. But a friendship first forged on Janson's recruiting trip remains strong.

"Billy was the reason I wound up coming to Colorado," Janson said. "He was the host on my visit. He was great, one of the big reasons I came here.

"We're competitive in a very good way, and always have been. Mentally, we're definitely very, very similar. It's really good to have a teammate like Billy. . . . Either way, whoever gets first or second, it doesn't matter to us."

Added Nelson: "To be perfectly honest, if he wins and I get second, it's going to be just as good as if I win and he gets second. . . . I think we're going to be our competition. But there's always a few guys that come up and challenge us. There's always people rising up."

Athleticism needed

Wetmore sees more similarities than differences in his elite steeplers. Both, he said, immediately took to the event.

"Distance runners are not known for typical athletic talents. But (Nelson and Janson) have that athletic package. Athleticism is required for jumping hurdles, negotiating water - and doing so efficiently and fearlessly. Both of them were able to do that in learning the event."

Nelson's interest was piqued in high school, where he concedes he was "severely undertrained." That probably was a blessing in disguise because it sent him into college relatively fresh and injury-free.

Nelson ran a few steeplechases in high school, but long-term interest was shelved until he arrived at CU.

The race's barriers are "kind of a fun way to break up the normal two-mile races. . . . Just the fact that it's different breaks up the monotony of a 5K on the track - and that's kind of what I like about it," he said.

As for racing strategy, the barriers demand more focus and pace adjustment, "So, yeah, there's a little more (strategy) involved," Nelson said. "And as far as kicking, in a 5K race, people typically will kick from a 'K' out, but in a steeple, it's different. You probably wait a little longer. I do anyway because, if you exhaust too much energy early, it's really going to be bad in the last quarter."

Nelson sees the steeplechase as "up-and-coming . . . a lot of people are going towards it now because it is exciting. In the U.S., it's still a young event for us. . . . There's still so much room for growth, and I kind of look forward to that."

Barringer sets sights on Olympics

Beijing might be the right place at the right time for Jenny Barringer. For the first time in Olympic competition, the 2008 Games will include the women's steeplechase - an event Barringer has proved adept at running.

The University of Colorado junior is the 2007 USA Track and Field defending champion in the event, with her 9:33.64 last summer in Indianapolis the second-fastest clocked by an American woman at the time.

"The steeplechase is really a developing event and it's becoming an Olympic event," said Barringer, the 2006 NCAA outdoor champion. "I think a lot of these records are going to start coming down. But being a pioneer in this event is really something special."

Barringer's 2007 time set NCAA, meet and school records. The CU men's mark (8:26.45) is held by Steve Slattery, who in 2003 became the U.S. champion.

In 2007, Slattery also posted the two fastest times (best: 8:15.69) by an American. CU senior Billy Nelson's top time is 8:33.33, which earned him fourth in last season's NCAA meet. Pete Janson's best of 8:44.76 won at the 2006 Big 12 meet.

The CU record seems a point of contention between Nelson and Slattery with Nelson, who has argued, albeit lightheartedly, that an 8:23 Slattery ran as an unattached entrant shortly after his eligibility expired should be the school mark.

"We joke about that all the time because he says I need to be under 8:23," Nelson said. "I know I'm in better shape this year, so I'm shooting for the school record. I'd love to go under 8:23 just to tell him I beat him, regardless."

If you go

* What: Big 12 Conference track and field championships.

* When: Friday, Saturday, Sunday.

* Where: Potts Field, CU campus.

* Times: 10 a.m. each day; last event at 7:45 p.m. Friday; 7 p.m. Saturday; 6:45 p.m. Sunday.

* Admission: $10 for a three-day pass or $6 per day; special pricing for seniors and children.

High on competition

Once the bid was submitted, landing its first Big 12 Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships meet went relatively smoothly for the University of Colorado.

"It wasn't contentious at all," CU track coach Mark Wetmore said.

But in the aftermath, well, some contention arose, and Wetmore believes there was an underlying reason - the altitude factor.

"Opponents questioned whether we had the facilities and the experience," he said. "But I think some of the complaints . . . were covers for their apprehension about the elevation. We've resolved the facility complaints, and whether people overtly or covertly have questions about the elevation, the meet's on."

Wetmore, in his 13th season as CU's coach, likened the conference's athletes adjusting to competing at altitude to his athletes competing in heat and humidity.

Down to the wire

CU's facilities personnel and groundskeepers have been in overdrive in preparation for the Big 12 meet. And Wetmore expects the prepping to continue almost until the first starter's gun is raised.

He recalls taking the Buffaloes to a conference meet at Oklahoma and seeing "lines being painted on the track" the day before competition began.

"We'll probably have things going on like that until (Friday)," he said. "But, really, there's been so much done here over the last two years."

CU has spent about $425,000 to upgrade its facilities. Most noticeable will be a revamped entrance to Potts Field and a new scoreboard.

Temporary bleachers can accommodate nearly 4,000 fans, with another 1,000 able to watch from standing areas around the facility.

Playing the numbers

This isn't foolproof, but it's a starting point: Look no further than the weekly USTFCCA (U.S. Track & Field/Cross Country Coaches Association) rankings to determine the favorites in the Big 12 championships.

The conference has four teams in the men's top 25 - No. 1 Texas A&M, No. 10 Texas, No. 11 Baylor and No. 12 CU - and five in the women's rankings - No. 3 Texas A&M, No. 7 Texas Tech, No. 15 Baylor, No. 21 Oklahoma and No. 24 Texas.

Steeplechase skinny

* Distance: 3,000 meters (71/2 laps) in NCAA competition.

* Rules: Each runner encounters 28 barriers - 36 inches high for men, 30 inches for women - and seven water jumps.

* Did you know? In 1850, students from Exeter College in Oxford, England, discussed running a course with natural barriers and water elements, similar to the steeplechase for horses. One of the students, Halifax Wyat, claimed he would be quicker on the course than a horse. He proved to be right, winning the two-mile race on a course with 24 natural barriers. The event was placed on the program for the 1900 Olympics.