BREAKING: Natalie Cook to Transfer to Colorado

Earlier today, freshman phenom Natalie Cook announced on Instagram that she is transferring to the University of Colorado. The former high school megastar and rookie All-American from the 2022 cross country season is expected to join the Buffaloes later this fall.

Cook will have three years of eligibility in both cross country and indoor track as well as four full years of outdoor track eligibility.

Cook made headlines earlier this year when it was discovered that she would miss the outdoor track season with a navicular stress reaction in her foot. However, the bigger news would come less than two weeks later when it was reported by The Stride Report that the Oklahoma State freshman had entered the transfer portal.

Here is how TSR detailed Cook's accomplishments in our last article...

"Despite a rather underwhelming indoor track season, Cook was still able to show elite value on the grass and on the indoor oval at the beginning of Decemember.

During the 2022 cross country season, Cook secured a pleasantly surprising win at the Cowboy Jamboree over a top-tier field. The first-year collegiate talent later finished 7th at the NCAA XC Championships before running an American U20 5k record of 15:24 at Boston University a few weeks later.

Prior to this news, and strictly based on TFRRS, the Oklahoma State women were set to bring back all seven of their varsity runners from last fall's NCAA XC Championships. That lineup earned the final spot on the podium (4th place) back in November.

Cook, the 2021 Eastbay XC National Championship and 2021 Garmin RunningLane XC National Championship winner, will enter the transfer portal with four full seasons of outdoor track eligibility and three seasons of both cross country and indoor track eligibility."

Cook's commitment to the University of Colorado is a massive one. The Buffaloes are a historic distance running powerhouse in the NCAA, but have seemingly been patching together their latest cross country lineups with returners and short-term graduate transfers.

The Lady Buffs have missed the podium in two of their last three appearances at the NCAA XC Championships, but have remained as a competitive force around the nation.

But now, with Cook soon coming to Boulder, the Buffaloes will have a long-term superstar who they can lean on and build around. And as we look to the 2023 cross country season, TFRRS suggests that both Bailey Hertenstein and Ella Baran will be returning.

If that is the case, then Cook could be placed next to her soon-to-be veteran teammates to create a lethal trio of low-stick stars. And if the Colorado women are able to bring back/either of Emily Covert and Hannah Miniutti back into this lineup healthy, then the podium possibilities for this group will be impossible to ignore.

In fact, there could be a scenario where Colorado has FOUR true low-sticks!

It should also be noted that the Colorado women will be adding Class of 2023 high school stars Karrie Baloga and Abbey Nechanicky to their roster later this fall. Both of those women are listed in the top-five of The Stride Report's top-50 senior distance recruits rankings (which were last updated in March).