Karina and Elissa Mann: Golden Buffalo squared

<h3 style="text-align: center;"> Celebrating Colorado&#39;s college-bound track and cross country athletes:</h3>

Elissa and Karina Mann have shared a few experiences the last four years at Monarch. It looks like that will continue four or five more years at the University of Colorado. Photos by Ashley Green.

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Karina Mann's personal best marks:

400 meters - 59.53

800 meters - 2:16.54

1600 meters - 5:08.51

5K cross country - 18:32

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Elissa Mann's personal best marks:

400 meters - 58.77

800 meters - 2:15.51

1600 meters - 5:20.53

5K cross country - 18:32

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Tell us a little about how your signing decisions ended up as the University of Colorado.
 
Karina: Well, I've always been a big Buffs fan. I have been watching them run ever since I can remember, so I guess you can say I've always dreamed of running with the Buffs. I have also been lucky enough to have a few connections with current and past CU runners, and being able hear what they have to say about the school and program really drew me in. When I first talked to the coaches, they were all super nice and supportive, and they were very confident too, which was a huge plus. There was also an awesome chemistry on the team which was something that I was looking for in my school. The University of Colorado has a beautiful campus, and I am really excited to be attending such an amazing school next year.
 
Elissa: Having the opportunity to live and run in such a beautiful place really drew me in. Not to mention the huge amounts of success their program has had, not only with their top-tier recruits, but with their walk-ons and non-scholarship athletes as well. When we visited, the girls were super friendly and it seemed like a really close knit team which is something that I am used to and was looking for in a team. Another aspect that really drew me in was the academics. CU had exactly what I was looking for in a major and have a lot of individual help and tutoring for their athletes. Overall I absolutely loved the school and I’m very happy with my decision.
 
Are you clear yet on what you plan to study at CU?
 
K: I am planning on going into their integrative physiology program, but I also have an interest in biomechanics. So somewhere around that area.
 
E: I will also be majoring in integrative physiology. I hope to become a physical therapist or athletic trainer and integrative physiology would lead me in that direction.  
 
Did you start the process with the idea in mind that you'd end up at the same school together?
 
K: Honestly we didn't really want to go to the same school. It was just kind of like, I thought CU was the best school for me, and she thought CU was the best school for her, it wasn't really a decision we made together. We both kind of wanted a break from each other, but I guess that won’t be happening!
 
E: Actually when I was starting the process I really didn’t want to end up at the same school as Karina. I thought that it would finally be time to become more of an individual since we are literally together 24/7. We were both being recruited by different schools and I would kind of stay away from the schools that she was being recruited by, and she would stay away from my schools. We only took two college visits together, one of them being to CU, and we both liked it too much to care that we would be going to the same school. 
 
Those of us who follow Colorado high school track and cross country have some idea of how you're similar, but what would be an example or two of how you're different?
 
K: We have different personalities for sure, but one way people can tell us apart when we are running is that I normally wear a headband if it doesn't fall off in the race. If we are standing next to each other, Elissa is about an inch and a half taller than me, and if we have our bibs on, her bib number normally comes before mine because he name starts with an E. A lot of people say that it is really hard to tell us apart, but when they finally get it they don’t see how we ever looked that much alike. 
 
What plans do you have for post-season cross country this year?
 
E: We will be traveling to Casa Grande in a couple of weeks to compete at NXR, and hopefully if everything goes well, we will be heading to Portland in December.
 
Take us through a favorite highlight of your high school careers to date--it could be the same for both of you or different.
 
K: Getting fifth at NXN was definitely a huge highlight of my career, but another one that really means a lot to me was when we won our second cross country state championship in 2012. It was such a close race between us, Fort Collins, and Pine Creek, that we had no idea who had won. While we were on our way back from our cool down, somebody stopped us and said congrats on winning the state championship, we all started freaking out and ran as fast as we could back to our bus to hug our coaches and families. I was one of the happiest moments of my life and I will never forget that.
 
E: There are so many track and cross country memories that I will cherish for the rest of my life, but the one that sticks out in my mind was last year at Nike Cross Nationals. We had all just finished the race and had no idea how we had placed as a team. Everybody was anxious and we didn't really think that we had a great race, but when we finally heard the news that we had gotten 5th, we all just freaked out. It was like all of our hard work that we had put in for the past six months was so worth it. We were all crying and hugging and I had never really felt that accomplished in my entire life. It was literally one of the best moments of my life and getting to share it with my best friends just made it so much sweeter.
 
What are your favorite track/cross country events?
 
E: I absolutely love cross country and the team aspect of it, but I’m not a huge fan of the whole long distance thing. The 4x400 is definitely my favorite event in track. It is the last event of the day and usually my nerves have faded from my other races and I’m just running on pure adrenaline. And it is just one lap, so what do you have to lose? 
 
K: I’m with Elissa on this one, I love cross country, but I’m definitely more of a track person. I’d have to say that my favorite events would be the 1600 and the 4x400. I love the 1600 because it is the perfect mixture of speed and endurance. The 4x400 is also one of my favorite events mostly because it is only one lap around the track, and I love running 400s. I also think the 4x4 is a crowd favorite, and I feed off of that atmosphere which I love.
 
What event or events do you anticipate will be your focus when track rolls around again in the spring?
 
E: My main focus will be in the 800 this spring. I’m ready to drop some quick times there, but I wouldn’t be surprised if my coach put me in a few more 1600s than normal either. I hope that we can rebuild our 4x800 this year as well. 
 
K: This track season, I will be focusing on the 1600. I’m hoping to run some big PRs in the mile this season. I also hope we can rebuild our 4x800 and I’m hoping we can make it back to state in the 4x400 as well.