Higgins and Barringer Named CU Athletes of the Week

BOULDER- Corry Higgins (sophomore) and Jenny Barringer (senior), were named University of Colorado Athletes of the Week for the week of January 26-Febuary 1. This marks Higgins fourth career honor all of which have came from this season. For Barringer this is her first honor of the year, adding on to her school record which now stands at 15, she was previously tied for the school record with former distance standout Adam Goucher but now has sole possession.

Higgins, a Danville, Calif. (The Pendleton School (Bradenton, Fla./Monte Vista HS) native, averaged 17 points, four rebounds, and 3.5 steals in Colorado's 1-1 week. Higgins scored a game-high 19 points and added a team-high three steals and two assists in the Buffaloes' 55-49 home win over Iowa State, giving the team their first Big 12 conference win. At Kansas, Higgins added 15 points with a team-best five assists and four steals in their 66-61 loss to the Jayhawks. Higgins tallied team-highs in field goals made (12), went 8-of-10 from the free throw line and seven assists.

Barringer, an Oviedo, Fla. (Oviedo) native, recorded the top mark in the NCAA Division I 3,000-meter run on Saturday at the UW Invitational. She ran a time of 8 minutes, 53.88 seconds which is a school record and the Dempsey Indoor Stadium record as well as an automatic qualifying time in the 3k. Barringer blew out the rest of the field by running 17 seconds faster than runner-up Lauren Centrowitz (Stanford) who finished in 9:10.99. It was a solo effort for Barringer as she took off from the gun and never ran with the pack. The previous best time this year was 9:01.57. Barringer shattered the CU record and became the first Buff to finish the indoor 3k in fewer than nine minutes. Sara (Gorton) Slattery had held the 3k record for the past six years at 9:07.16. She set that mark at the NCAA Indoor Championship on March 15, 2003. This was Barringer's first race since Aug. 16 when she took ninth at the Olympics while resetting her American record in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. It was her first indoor track race since the NCAA Championships in 2006.

Others nominated for this week's award were Kenyon Neuman (men's track), Camila Belassi (tennis), and Brittany Spears (women's basketball).

Men's Track: Kenyon Neuman, Senior, Bend, Ore.

Neuman earned an NCAA provisional qualifying mark in the men's 3k at the UW Invite on Saturday. Neuman clocked a time of 8 minutes, 2.42 seconds and placed seventh overall. The time is the seventh fastest on the CU performer list.

Tennis: Camila Belassi, Junior, Paysandu, Uruguay.

Belassi rallied from a 5-2 deficit in the third set helping the Colorado tennis team also rally and defeat the UNLV Runnin' Rebels, 4-3 in a match played at Stanford University. Belassi was also down a set in her match at No. 2 to Nikol Dimitrova, rebounded in the second set to take for a 6-2 win, then subsequently rallied from a 5-2 deficit forcing a third set tie-breaker where she won 7-6 (7-4). Belassi's win also helped CU rally in the team score from a 3-0 deficit. Belassi won 5-7, 6-2, 7-6(4). The Buffaloes (3-2) went 1-1 during the week at Stanford, dropped a 6-1 decision to the No. 5 ranked Cardinal.

Women's Basketball: Brittany Spears, Sophomore, Pasadena, Calif.

Spears led the Buffs with 25 points and nine rebounds in their 75-73 victory over Nebraska. Spears hit the game-winning shot with five seconds left to take the secure the win. Spears recorded a team high 9 rebounds. She finished the night shooting 10-of-17 from the field. Earlier in the week Spears led the Buffs with 26 points in the teams' loss against Texas Tech.