(Story courtesy of the Colorado College Athletics Department)

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Colorado College cross country and track & field coach Ted Castaneda will be inducted into the University of Colorado Athletic Hall of Fame on Nov. 17.
 
Castaneda, who ran cross country and track for the Buffaloes from 1970-74, may very well have laid the groundwork for CU's current success in distance running. 
 
A five-time All-American in cross country and track, his best times included 1:52.4 in the 800 (meters or yards), a 3:58.5 in the mile, an 8:29 two-mile, a 13:32 in the 5,000-meters, a 28:30.6 in the 10k and a 2-hour, 15-minute marathon. 
 
He briefly held the American record in the 3-mile run with a time of 13:10.6 at the 1973 NCAA Outdoor Championships. That mark was broken in the next heat by the legendary Steve Prefontaine. 
 
"I am truly honored to be recognized by my alma mater with this milestone," Castaneda said. "Thanks to my coaches, Don Myers and Jerry Quiller (distance coach) and my former teammates who pushed me in workouts and races to reach the level I achieved."
 
Castaneda still holds some of the top 5k and 10k times in Colorado history. In 1973, he set the school-record in the 10K with a time of 28:30.6 in 1973, a mark that stood for 31 years.  He also set the CU "soil" record in the mile in 1976, running in 4:04.86; that mark stood for 37 years. Castaneda competed in two U.S. Olympic trials (5K, 10K in 1976, marathon in 1980). 
 
Castaneda was one of the seven original inductees into the Colorado Running Hall of Fame in 2007.
 
A graduate of Palmer High School in Colorado Springs, he returned to his hometown in 1980 to coach the men's cross country team at Colorado College. By 1994, Castaneda was head coach for all the men's and women's cross country and track teams. 
 
Castaneda has led the CC women's cross country team to back-to-back Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference championships and guided the men's team to its fifth conference title in 2014. He is the two-time reigning SCAC women's cross country Coach of the Year and has won the men's cross country Coach of the Year award five times.
 
He has coached athletes to a total of 34 outdoor track men's and women's school records during his tenure. In indoor track, his women athletes reset all 26 records and the men broke 15 before winter competition was discontinued in 2002.
 
In addition, 22 cross country and track athletes have earned All-America honors, including Heather O'Brien who won the NCAA national championship in the heptathlon in 1998. The list also includes five-time recipient Julian Boggs (three times in cross country and twice in track and field), and standout Jackson Brainerd, who led the Tigers to their third consecutive SCAC cross country team championship in 2011.