Ben Saarel 2Saarel, of Park City, Utah, arrived in Boulder already in the passing lane.

An engineering physics major with an interest (bet on it not being mild) in chemistry, he earned a 4.0 GPA in his first semester. And that, said Wetmore, was because “you can’t get a 5.0 . . . he finishes practices, takes his shoes off and goes to the library.”

When the Buffs leave the state for meets, as some will do this weekend for competitions in Austin, Texas and Stanford, Calif., Wetmore says Saarel “studies on the bus to the airport, studies at the airport and studies on the airplane. He’s a willing worker when he gets to practice and will do anything we ask of him. If he’s ever tired he doesn’t show it. He’s intense in practice, intense about his school work. I’d like to find a way for him to get a 3.999 (GPA) and relax a little, gear it down a little more.”

Saarel didn’t start running until he was a high school freshman, and that came at the urging of his sister, Emma, now a runner at Swarthmore (Pa.) College. After starting in cross country, he branched out to track, and in a short time reached a comfort level in both.

After winning the Utah State Class 3A cross country championship in the second-fastest time (14:56.7) ever run on the course, he was named the 2012 Gatorade Utah Cross Country Runner of the Year. Other accomplishments that year included first place at the Foot Locker West Regional and a second-place finish at the Nike Cross Nationals Southwest Regional championship. In track as a senior, he also won Utah state titles, with record times in the 800 (1:51.13) and the 1,600 meters (4:07.95).

Like all else he attempts, Saarel is into it in a big, big way at CU. Last fall, in his first cross country season for the Buffs, his finishes earned All-Pac-12 First Team, All-Mountain Region and All-America honors. In his first race for the Buffs – the NCAA Pre-Nationals – he was CU’s No. 2 scorer with a ninth-place finish. In the NCAA Championships, he finished eighth as the Buffs won their fourth NCAA team title since 2001. He became CU’s first true freshman since Billy Nelson to earn All-America recognition. Nelson, who finished 42nd that year (2002), now is one of Wetmore’s assistants.

Saarel is among 14 CU student-athletes who will compete on Sunday in the Payton Jordan Invitational at Stanford, while a pair of CU sprinters will run at the Longhorn Invitational on Saturday in Austin. Saarel is scheduled to run in the 5,000 meters on Sunday night.

 

Source: CU Buffs