Annual Meeting Faculty Details

Richard H Rokos

University of Colorado
Lyons, CO UNITED STATES

Richard Rokos Bio Finished as one of the most successful coaches across all sports in school history, winning eight NCAA championships (1991-95-98-99-2006-11-13-15) with nine runner-up finishes and six third place efforts (or 23 top three performances in 31 tries) … The eight national titles are tied for the most by any coach in CU annals (Mark Wetmore has coached eight in cross country); they are the most in skiing, as he bested Bill Marolt’s seven in men’s skiing from 1972-78 … Marolt, who would become CU’s athletic director, named Rokos as head coach on July 3, 1991 … He and his staff coached 46 individual NCAA champions, included three in his final hurrah that brought CU’s all-time total to 100 … During his tenure, 247 skiers earned All-America honors, including first-team on 150 occasions (44 of whom earned two-time first-team honors in the same year) … Also piloted his teams to 14 Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association titles, with CU skiers claiming 65 RMISA/NCAA West Regional titles (the meet served as both) … Named the United States Collegiate Ski Coaches Association National Coach of the Year on five occasions, last in 2015 … The 2006 Buffs performed the greatest comeback within the NCAA’s in history; in sixth-place and down by 52 points after the first day, CU rallied to assume the lead after day three (six events) and won going away by 98 points … His 31 teams competed in 187 collegiate races over his career, winning 73 times and finishing second on another 66 occasions; that’s a top two finish 74 percent of the time (with 28 third place efforts, his teams finished out of the top three just 20 times and out of the top four just four times) … Prior to being named head coach, he was an assistant under Tim LaVallee for the Buffs, coaching the Alpine “B” team for two years before being promoted to alpine coordinator for the 1990 season … A dual citizen of the United States and the Czech Republic, he escaped with his family from communist Czechoslovakia in 1980, making it to the States (Detroit) via Austria, where he and his wife, the former Helena Konecny, and then-18-month-old daughter Linda, spent a year preparing their visas (they moved to Colorado in 1982 and have made it their permanent home) … An ordained minister, he has performed nearly 40 marriages, including at least 20 that involves CU coaches and athletes … He was born May 25, 1950 in Brno, Czechoslovakia.