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Year after year, two of 精品SM在线影片鈥檚 most successful sports teams also perform best in the classroom. How does that happen?

Petra Hyncicova had been in the United States two days when she dropped by the mighty CU ski team鈥檚 headquarters for the first time. It was August 2014, and the future Olympian had come to 精品SM在线影片 with two aims 鈥� studying science and racing听for an elite ski team.

At home in the Czech Republic, there was really no way to do both. Universities there generally don鈥檛 blend serious academics and serious sports. Hyncicova (IntPhys, MS鈥�18), a Nordic, or cross-country, skier, was about to give up racing for school when she learned of another possibility.

An acquaintance connected her with CU ski coach Richard Rokos, a fellow Czech, and she soon found herself on the path to a new future.

In Boulder, Hyncicova had barely set foot inside the ski team offices when she saw that the vaunted scholar-athlete was no mere catchphrase: Noted beneath photographs of CU鈥檚 many NCAA championship teams were their GPAs.

鈥淲hen they come, they see,鈥� said Rokos, who has a degree in engineering and calls knowledge 鈥渕y passion.鈥�

CU鈥檚 women skiers in particular have a two-part reputation to uphold, Hyncicova found: They鈥檙e perennially among America鈥檚 best collegiate racers and also among the top performing 精品SM在线影片 athletes in the classroom. For five years running, they鈥檝e earned the highest team GPA among spring athletes, 3.5 most recently.

Their fall-sport rival is CU鈥檚 women鈥檚 cross-country squad, which won the Pac-12 title last season. The runners also have earned highest team GPA honors five years in a row, 3.4 last semester.

How does this happen? How is it that two of 精品SM在线影片鈥檚 most successful intercollegiate athletics teams also听consistently do best in the classroom?

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The Theories

If there鈥檚 no definitive answer, the athletes and coaches all have theories.

Some emphasize 精品SM在线影片鈥檚 ability to offer both elite-level skiing and running and premier science and engineering programs 鈥� a draw for high school athletes with a scientific bent.

Others cite cultural and demographic factors, including women鈥檚 superior academic achievement on average, skiers鈥� and runners鈥� strong performance across the NCAA and their often-privileged backgrounds 鈥� white and middle class.

Still others stress team culture and healthy peer pressure.

Everyone interviewed for this story underscored the nature of the sports, which depend on a series of exacting solo performances for team success, and the driven, self-reliant personalities they attract.

鈥淭hese are not normal college students,鈥� said cross-country associate head coach Heather Burroughs (Bio鈥�99), a past CU All-American.

Hyncicova, who would become a two-time CU ski captain while pursuing a joint bachelor鈥檚-master鈥檚 degree, said she wasn鈥檛 about to blow her team鈥檚 brainy reputation.

鈥淵ou want to do the same and not disappoint the team,鈥� she said in June, while wrapping up her master鈥檚 thesis and preparing to join the Czech national ski team.

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But How?

The academic strength of CU鈥檚 women skiers and runners makes sense: Across the NCAA, both groups do well.

The athletic association measures classroom performance by a metric called academic progress rate (APR). While imperfect 鈥� it emphasizes eligibility to play and persistence in school, but does not factor in actual GPAs 鈥� APR offers a basis for comparisons.

For the four-year period through the 2016-17 school year, women鈥檚 ski teams ranked second nationally, tied with swimming and ice hockey and just behind gymnastics, the NCAA reported. Women鈥檚 cross-country teams ranked fifth, tied with rowing and tennis.

In more than 25 years at CU, cross-country head coach Mark Wetmore has mentored hundreds of runners, leading the women鈥檚 and men鈥檚 teams to a slew of national titles. He attributes their academic prowess overwhelmingly to the type of person drawn to a grueling, glamour-free sport.

Most cross-country runners also run distance events in spring track, which means they鈥檙e in season 10 months a year, running 10 or more miles daily.

鈥淚t鈥檚 rarely playful,鈥� Wetmore said. 鈥淣obody says, 鈥楲et鈥檚 go to the park and have a 10,000-meter race.鈥欌��

The students who pursue collegiate distance running usually arrive on campus imbued with determination, self-discipline, focus and tolerance for pain, he said.

Combined with intense competitiveness and, often, intellectual ambition, these traits serve them well in the classroom.

鈥淚鈥檝e always felt this need 鈥� 鈥業 have to be the best at it,鈥欌�� said Sage Hurta (ChemBioEngr鈥�20), an emerging women鈥檚 cross-country star and chemical engineering major from upstate New York who recently earned a 4.0 GPA, along with at least four other runners.

Hurta recalls feeling this way all her life, even about middle-school badminton.

鈥淚t would really bother me that I wasn鈥檛 good at it,鈥� she said.

All NCAA Division 1 athletes are competitive, and it鈥檚 especially true of endurance athletes. The structure of cross-country competition further intensifies it: Only seven of the team鈥檚 20 runners compete in most meets, so they鈥檙e perpetually competing against teammates as well as opponents.

At the meets, the team鈥檚 fate depends on each runner鈥檚 solo performance: There are no time outs and no substitutions.

鈥淵ou are on your own when the gun goes off,鈥� Burroughs said.

This reinforces the athletes鈥� innate determination, self-reliance and sense of personal responsibility.

鈥淚 either do things as hard as I can, or I don鈥檛 do them at all,鈥� said Ben Saarel (EngrPhys鈥�18) of men鈥檚 cross-country, which last spring had the highest GPA among CU men鈥檚 teams.

Saarel, an engineering physics major whose roommates nicknamed him 鈥淏engineering,鈥� is a two-time Pac-12 scholar-athlete of the year. He graduated with a cumulative 3.97 GPA and the CU record for 1,500 meters.

To the extent Wetmore and Burroughs help runners in the classroom, they said, it鈥檚 through flexible scheduling and by sending a convincing message that they value intellectual ambition. They routinely schedule make-up practices for runners with conflicting academic obligations, and they design efficient training programs.

鈥淲e keep our practices businesslike, so they鈥檙e out the door,鈥� Wetmore said.

Similar traits are at play among the skiers, especially Nordic racers like Hyncicova. And like the cross-country coaches, Rokos attributes the skiers鈥� academic success mainly to the natures of the sport and the athletes, plus a team culture steeped in learning.

鈥淎s long as you provide opportunity for this climate,鈥� he said, 鈥渋t鈥檚 self-fulfilling.鈥�

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Technique

Like all student athletes, the runners and skiers ration their time.

Hurta and Saarel live by the same maxim, which Saarel put this way: 鈥淚f you鈥檙e not ahead, you鈥檙e behind.鈥澨�

Both said they keep a close eye on due dates for assignments, exams and projects, and avoid procrastination. This allows them psychological space to focus on running come race day. They also communicate early and often with professors about their travel schedules.

Hurta prioritizes running and school work nearly to the exclusion of all else, including social life outside the team, she said. Saarel said he generally tried to get ample rest, but pulled all-nighters 鈥� once between 12- and 14-mile runs 鈥� when necessary.听

(Runners are generally fastidious about diet and sleep. 鈥淭he requirements of [race day] preclude a lot of howling at the moon,鈥� Wetmore said.)

Competitiveness drove Hyncicova, the skier said; team culture inspired her.

Her experience at the 2018 Winter Olympics underscored culture鈥檚 role.

On CU road trips, she found Rokos a versatile conversationalist with an infectious sense of curiosity. The skiers stayed together in small quarters. After skiing, eating and napping, she said, it would get quiet and they鈥檇 hit the books.

But at the Olympics, where Hyncicova was one of the only athletes with obligations other than skiing, keeping up with school was a challenge.

鈥淚t鈥檚 really tempting to focus on skiing,鈥� she said.

CU's skiers are further motivated by the awareness that there鈥檚 almost no chance they鈥檒l become professional racers, given how few there are worldwide.

鈥淓verybody knows they will have to go and make a living,鈥� said Rokos.

Hyncicova, now back in Europe, will devote the next two years to skiing full-time and proving what she鈥檚 capable of when focused solely on racing. Sooner or later, she鈥檒l move on, likely to a career in physical therapy, she said.

She鈥檒l have a head start, thanks to the four years she devoted to twin dreams: Earning two 精品SM在线影片 degrees while skiing her way into the Olympics.

鈥淚 would do it again,鈥� she said.

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Comment? Email editor@colorado.edu.

Illustration by Sean McCabe; Photo courtesy CU Athletics听