Buffs Aim To Repeat As NCAA Western Region Champs

BOULDER — The Colorado ski team, winners of the 2018 RMISA regular season title by a 156½-point margin, now looks for back-to-back RMISA/NCAA West Regional championships as the Buffs head off to Steamboat Springs to compete in the RMISA Championship meet that doubles as the NCAA Western Regional this weekend.

The championship schedule is as follows:
Friday, Feb. 23 – men's and women's slalom (Howelsen Hill)
Saturday, Feb. 24 – men's and women's 5/10K classic (Howelsen Hill)
Sunday, Feb. 25 – men's and women's giant slalom (Mt. Werner) & men's and women's 15/20K freestyle (Howelsen Hill)

Also on the weekend lineup is the RMISA alpine qualifier that will run Saturday at Mt. Werner. The second of two alpine qualifiers on the year, both being giant slalom races this winter, the qualifiers are used as an extra opportunity for skiers to earn qualification points for the NCAA Championships.

At last season's RMISA Championship/NCAA Western Regional, the Buffs took home their 28th all-time title (dating back to 1950). The win came by just a 7½-point margin of victory over Denver, the third smallest margin in the last 20 years.

This year, Colorado had a dominant regular season, winning three of the four meets. It marked the first time since 2013, a year CU swept all six meets including the RMISA and NCAA Championships, that a school had won three or more meets in the regular season.

CU leads the conference in individual race victories with 13, eight of those coming on the alpine side and five on the Nordic.

The Buffs have race winners in all four categories – alpine and Nordic for both women and men. This is the first season since 2012 where Colorado has had individual race victories in all four areas before the RMISA Championships and the 13 overall victories are the most in a regular season since 2009 when the Buffs posted that same figure.

Colorado also leads the RMISA in podium finishes (37; seven more than the next highest), individual top 5s (57; 11 more than any other school) and individual top 10s (89, six more).

Denver and Utah are the top challengers that the Buffs will be competing against for the title. In the last eight winters it has either been the Buffs or Utes that have won the title, and those two schools have combined to win 28 of the 35 since the sport went coed back in 1983.

The Pioneers won the Utah Invitational this winter, the only meet that CU did not win, and finished second in the RMISA regular season standings.

Utah was third in the standings, but the Utes feature the top Nordic squad that has a combined 11 individual race victories between their men and women. CU is second on that list with five.

Montana State, DU and New Mexico all have three individual race winners on the alpine side, trailing Colorado's eight for the most in the conference.

About the RMISA
The RMISA was founded in 1950, four years before becoming a sanctioned sport by the NCAA. From 1950-82, a men's champion was awarded. In 1977, women's skiing became an RMISA sport, six years before being recognized by the NCAA. Starting in 1983 when women's sports became part of the NCAA, the sport became coed and thus a coed champion was recognized from the RMISA, as well.

The RMISA has recognized a regular season champion since 2006. The regular season champion is determined by the accumulation of meet points for each regular season meet prior to the RMISA Championships/NCAA West Regional. Additional, recognized at the annual RMISA Championship banquet are regular season point leaders for Alpine, Nordic, Men, Women, Men's Alpine, Women's Alpine, Men's Nordic and Women's Nordic.

For detailed RMISA Championship information, please visit the RMISA website by clicking here.

RMISA/NCAA WESTERN REGIONAL CHAMPIONS
(Coed era, since 1983)

Year	Champion	Points	Runner-Up	Margin
1983	Wyoming		Utah
1984	Utah		Colorado
1985	Utah		Colorado
1986	Colorado		Utah
1987	Utah		Wyoming
1988	Utah		Colorado
1989	Utah		Wyoming
1990	Utah		Colorado
1991	Colorado		Utah
1992	New Mexico		Utah
1993	Colorado		Utah
1994	Colorado		Utah
1995	Colorado		Utah
1996	Utah		Colorado
1997	Utah		Colorado
1998	Utah	451	Colorado	-23
1999	Colorado	517	Denver	-4
2000	Colorado	562	Denver	-21
2001	Denver	510	Colorado	-35½
2002	Colorado	559	Utah	-20
2003	Utah	581	Colorado	-18
2004	Denver	570	New Mexico	-60
2005	Denver	560	New Mexico	-30
2006	Colorado	577	New Mexico	-29½
2007	Denver	426	Colorado	-17
2008	Colorado	555	Utah	-28
2009	New Mexico	565	Colorado	-26
2010	Colorado	902	Alaska Anchorage	-138
2011	Colorado	865½	Utah	-75½
2012	Utah	932	Colorado	-69½
2013	Colorado	905½	Utah	-46½
2014	Utah	639	Colorado	-4
2015	Colorado	651	New Mexico	-42
2016	Utah	662	Colorado	-28
2017	Colorado	672	Denver	-7½

Men's Championships (1950-82)
Denver 14, Colorado 11, Utah 3, Wyoming 3, Western State 2.

Women's Championships (1977-82)
Colorado 2, Utah 2, Wyoming 2.

Coed Championships (1983-Present)
Colorado 15, Utah 13, Denver 4, New Mexico 2, Wyoming 1.

Total Championships (championship meets)
Colorado 28, Denver 18, Utah 17, Wyoming 4, New Mexico 2, Western State 2.

Total Championships (with regular season, which started in 2006)
Colorado 34, Utah 21, Denver 20, Wyoming 4, New Mexico 3, Western State 2.

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