Covering University of Colorado sports, mostly basketball, since 2010

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Quick Post: Good news in Buff Nation

Buff Nation got a double dose of good news over the evening hours.  Here's my recap:

Jenny Barringer Simpson wins 1,500 meter gold at Track World Championships - Jenny Barringer Simpson, she of the impressive steeple chase skills, is not only one of the best CU runners ever, but she's also a newly minted world champion.  Last night at the Track World Championships in South Korea she shockingly took home the gold in the 1,500-meter race, becoming the first American woman to accomplish the feat since 1983.

I say shockingly because the 1,500-meter isn't her best event, and she wasn't considered a top-10 competitor in the event.  Yet she found a way to outpace the field and take home the title.
From: the Post
Way to go Jenny!

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Buffs receive transfer of highly touted Longhorn QB - The good news train even makes a stop in football as the Buffs will now have the services of former 4-star QB Connor Wood.  He comes to the Buffs from the University of Texas where he was mired deep in the Longhorn depth chart.  He will have to sit out this year before being able to compete for playing time when the 2012 season rolls around next fall.  At that point he'll have 3 seasons left to shine in Black & Gold.

Out of high school Wood was considered the 3rd best pro-style QB prospect in the nation by Rivals.com, and he chose Texas over a litany of big name programs like Alabama, Oklahoma, and Notre Dame.  He's athletic, intelligent, and strong-armed, as anyone would be to garner that level of attention.

But it was not to be in Austin.  He never found favor with Mack Brown and the UT staff, and began to see other QB's surge past him on the depth chart.  After a quiet redshirt season last year, he began to look elsewhere.  He reportedly looked at LSU, but ended up at the foot of the Flatirons.  Welcome aboard, Connor!

His competition for the #1 QB job next season will include Nick Hirshman, walk-on sensation John Schrock, and, potentially, Shane Dillon, himself a highly-regarded high school QB who has given CU his verbal commitment to sign with them in February.  Of those 3, I have to imagine at least one will not be with the program next fall.

Go Buffs!

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