Colorado University Athletics
Skiers Have Solid Nordic Day
January 17, 2003 | Skiing
BOZEMAN, Mont. - The University of Colorado ski team had its best nordic day of the young season Friday as the Buffs stood in a second place tie overall in the Montana State Invitational.
Utah leads with 421.5 points, with Colorado and Denver on the Utes' heels with 410 points each. New Mexico, which won last week's Alaska-Utah Invitational, is in fourth with 382.
The alpine events took place two weeks ago, with CU edging Utah by a point-and-a-half at technically the midway point of the meet. Many alpine skiers are taking part in the World University Games in Italy this weekend, including seven Buffs and their head coach, Richard Rokos.
Four Buffs posted their best collegiate finishes Friday, helping Colorado to score 128 points in the two classical races. Utah scored the most, but only had 13 more than CU, with Alaska-Anchorage and DU wedged in-between.
In the men's 10-kilometer race, UAA's Tobias Schwoerer easily won in a 26:00.4 time, better than a half minute better than New Mexico's Johan Rydquist. CU had two top five finishes, season and career bests by freshmen Henrik Hoye (third in 26:44.1) and Erling Christiansen (fifth in 26:48.6). Senior Norbert Pelc, overcoming a bad cold, grabbed 12th in 27:21.3 after not posting a finish last week in Utah. Freshman Nick Sterling finished 14th in 27:27.2, his early career best.
In the women's 5k, sophomore Muriele Huberli finished seventh in 15:06.8, as Utah's Katrin Smigun won for the third time in as many races this winter with a 14:15.1 clocking. She won by 25 seconds, but only 27 seconds separated the next seven skiers. A career-best 10th place effort by junior Claire Critchley (15:29.7) bolstered the CU effort.
"We're starting to come around, we're still fighting a little sickness, but the guys skied well and the girls were better as a group than we've been," said CU's nordic coordinator, Bruce Cramner. All in all, it was a pretty good day for us. We feel a little closer to the other teams, and when we add one more girl for the rest of the year at our next meet, we'll be very competitive and won't be at a disadvantage."
CU has been skiing with just three women on the nordic side this winter, but the addition of Jana Rehmaa from Estonia for the remainder of the year will bolster the team. She's officially been admitted to CU and will join the team in training for the first time next week.
The meet concludes Saturday with the women's 10k and men's 15k freestyle races.
Montana Invitational Team Scores--1. Utah 421.5; 2. COLORADO, Denver 410; 4. New Mexico 382; 5. Nevada 304.5; 6. Western State 224; 7. Alaska-Anchorage 223; 8. Whitman 199; 9. Montana State 104.
Men's 10K Classical--1. Tobias Schwoerer, UAA, 26:00.4; 2. Johan Rydquist, UNM, 26:33.8; 3. Henrik Hoye, CU, 26:44.1; 4. Martin Bartnes, DU, 26:45.7; 5. Erling Christiansen, CU, 26:48.6; 6. Eric Strabel, UAA, 26:50.0; 7. Zach Violett, UAA, 26:51.2; 8. Amund Hansen, Denver, 26:53.5; 9. Ryan Quinn, Utah, 27:11.5; 10. Jesse Carlstrom, UNR, 27:11.9. Other CU Finishers: 12. Norbert Pelc, 27:21.3; 14. Nick Sterling, 27:27.2.
Women's 5K Classical--1. Katrin Smigun, Utah, 14:15.1; 2. Sara Svendsen, Utah, 14:40.5; 3. Kristina Strandberg, UNM, 14:43.9; 4. Jenny Wissting, UNM, 14:51.4; 5. Karen Camenisch, DU, 15:03.1; 6. Maija Saarinen, UNR, 15:06.6; 7. Muriele Huberli, CU, 15:06.8; 8. Mandy Kaempf, UAA, 15:07.9; 9. Barbro Hatlevik, Utah, 15:19.6; 10. Claire Critchley, CU, 15:29.7. Other CU Finisher: 25. Brooke Rygg, 16:58.8.
WORLD UNIVERSITY GAMES UPDATE: Six U.S. women will be on the slope when alpine skiing gets underway January 18 in Tarvisio. Amy Beresford (Dillon, Colo./University of Colorado), Mia Cullman (Vail, Colo./Colorado), Erika Hogan (Holmes, N.Y./Colorado), Gladys Weidt (Carlton, Minn./University of New Mexico), Helena Woodrow (Albuquerque, N.M./New Mexico) and Quincy Young (Truckee, Calif./University of Nevada) will participate in the downhill competition. Team USA is entering the maximum number of athletes, which means the seventh member of the women's squad - Tove Pashkowski (Skagway, Alaska/Colorado) will sit out this event.
