Sports Briefs – Fall 2016
Digits
1972
Year CU last hosted a conference championship in men’s golf. CU hosts the Pac-12 Championships April 28-30 at Boulder Country Club.
$25,000
Pac-12 fine for first-time offenders of a new rule forbidding storming the court or field.
2
Former Buffs on the U.S. Olympic track team in Rio.
3,161
Total workers involved in the now finished Champions Center construction project.
TWO
Months CU lacrosse goalie Paige Soenksen (Chin, IntAf’17) spent in China last summer without speaking any English.
3.44
Emma Coburn’s (Mktg’13) historic margin of victory in the U.S. Olympic Trials’ 3,000-meter steeplechase, in seconds.
Reunited
The Paul twins of CU men’s golf have reunited for a final season together as Buffs. After taking a year off from CU to evaluate pro possibilities at home in Germany, Yannik Paul (Bus’17) planned to return to campus and rejoin twin brother Jeremy (Mgmt’17) as mainstays of the Buffs golf team.
Believed to be the first twins to play golf for CU, the brothers — the top-ranked amateurs in Germany — started as freshmen in 2013. After his year off, Yannik has two years of eligibility; this will be Jeremy’s final collegiate season.
Before starting their last hurrah in Boulder, the brothers got a taste of pro life over the summer and made a footnote in sports history: In June they became the first twins ever to play in the same European Tour event, the BMW International Open in Germany.
The twins were the only amateurs in the field, which included pros Sergio Garcia of Spain and Sweden’s Henrik Stenson, who won the tournament and went on to win the British Open.
Jeremy made the cut and finished at 2 over par and tied for 56th place. Yannik, who played in the same tournament in 2015, missed the cut this year.
“It’s a testament to Yannik and Jeremy’s ability,” CU golf coach Roy Edwards said of the twins’ role in the event.
The rest of the Buffs golf team also enjoyed an overseas jaunt last summer. Edwards and the team spent part of June practicing in Ireland while the twins were competing in Germany.
Buffs Bits
Senior quarterback Sefo Liufau (Econ’17) was one of five captains named for the 2016 football season. He is just the second Buff to serve as a football team captain for three seasons and the first in more than a century. The other, Pat Carney (Law1896), was a team leader in 1891-93. …Madison Krauser (Art’17) signed a contract to play professional soccer for ASJ Soyaux-Charente in France’s top division. … Former CU golfer Alexis Keating (Comm’17) has been nominated for the 2016 NCAA Woman of the Year Award. The winner will be announced Oct. 16 in Indianapolis. Buffs big man Josh Scott (Soc’16) was not picked during the recent NBA draft but is still chasing the pro dream. The 6-foot-10 forward/center from Colorado Springs was on the Denver Nuggets summer league roster. Former teammate Askia Booker (Comm’15) played for the Phoenix Suns squad in the Las Vegas summer league.
Photo courtesy Casey A. Cass