Buffs Leading Sharpe Memorial/CU Invite

ELDORA - The University of Colorado ski team posted one of its more balanced performances in recent memory, as the Buffaloes own a 22-point lead at the midway point of the 11th Annual Laura Sharpe Flood/CU Invitational.

The Buffs have 308 total points after four events, scoring at least 72 in each, with Utah second at 286. New Mexico holds down third with 248, following by defending NCAA champion Denver with 237. Nevada (188), Alaska-Anchorage (178), Western State (172), Whitman (129) and Montana State (53) round out the nine-team field.

CU's 308 points marked the most in a single day this season, and was the school's most and the second most in the NCAA west for a four-event day since the scoring format was standardized two years ago.

Colorado won Friday's nordic competition, scoring a combined 150 points in the men's and women's freestyle races. Utah was next with 144 points, with New Mexico third (138). The Lobos won the men's race, edging CU 74-72, while the Buffs captured the women's event over Utah, 78-76, the first team win in a race by the CU women this winter.

The Buffs were bolstered by the addition of Jana Rehemaa, who joined the team two weeks ago from her native Estonia and pulled off a third place finish in her first competitive race in well over a month.

Rehemaa had skied for the Tartu Ski Club in Estonia, with a teammate from that club, Utah's Katrin Smigun, winning for the fifth time in as many races this winter as her 15:19.1 time claimed Friday's 5K freestyle event. Rehemaa posted a 15:33.9 time in the race which featured a staggered start, while Western State's Jess Gray squeezed in a 15:24.5 time to grab second. It marked the first time Smigun won a race by less than 30 seconds in 2003.

But Rehemaa and Smigun are much more than former teammates; they're first cousins. Rehemaa's aunt and Smigun's mother is Rutt Rehemaa, one of the top female sports personalities and nordic racers ever in Estonia; and Jana's uncle is her long-time coach. And her younger brother is a world junior champion.

What made Rehemaa's effort really stand out is that it was her first time racing at this kind of altitude (Eldora's course reaches points of 9,300 feet above sea level), combined with the fact that wind gusts of 25-30 miles per hour were the norm rather than the exception Friday, the first bad winds to hamper CU's invite in over a decade.

"I didn't know what to expect, but I'm happy," Rehemaa said. "I'm adjusting to a lot of things right now, and Bruce (Cranmer, CU's nordic coach) told me to just go out and have fun. It was a good experience, a lot of fun." Rehemaa, officially a sophomore, will have at least three years of eligibility with the Buffaloes.

"We learned about her in the fall," Cranmer said. "She was interested in coming to school in the U.S., so we started the process. It took a little while to get her eligible and complete all the paperwork, but she was cleared two weeks ago and is still really getting acclimated to her new surroundings.

"We felt we needed another girl who could consistently post a top 10 finish to strengthen the team, and based on what we saw today, it looks like we found her," he added. "I'm super happy with the way she skied today, especially since it was her first time skiing competitively at altitude. It was also encouraging to see the girls finish 3-4-8 overall. We had some good results all around."

Senior Claire Critchley finished fourth in 15:37.3, with sophomore Muriele Huberli grabbing eighth in 16:02.5 to give CU its most finishers in the top 10 in a women's race since last year's NCAA Championships.

In the men's 10k, another Buff newcomer, freshman Henrik Hoye, narrowly missed a win as New Mexico's Jimmy Vika won in a 28:03.8 time. That was just one-tenth of a second ahead of Hoye, who tried not to pay attention to the wind or his first race at this kind of altitude.

"I just enjoy skiing and try not to think about those things," he said. "Everyone had to fight through the wind, and I felt I did well. But it's really different. You ski much faster at sea level, and (at this altitude), you feel really slow. The times aren't good compared to Norway, but it's all relative. I might have started too fast, but that's what I usually do, and at the end I'm a sometimes a little tired. It would have been nice to win, but I'm pleased with my effort."

Hoye, who hails from Oslo, joined the team over semester break. He has skied in every meet this year, but Friday's second place finish was his best to date.

"We were waiting for the second semester when we knew we'd have two more people coming in, and I feel like we have a full team now," Cranmer added. "The first two races, we were a bit shorthanded on the women's side, and we weren't 100 percent healthy across the board. Things are coming together, but we can't peak too soon. We want to be fast in March, build on what we're doing now."

New Mexico had three finishers in the top 10, while Buff senior Norbert Pelc joined Hoye in the top five. Pelc completed the course in a 29:13.5 clocking.

Not to be outdone, the CU alpine teams actually outscored their nordic counterparts, as the Buffs won the women's giant slalom, scoring 80 points (new Mexico was second with 71, DU third with 70), while Utah edged Colorado 80-78 in the men's GS. But overall, the Buffs racked up 158 alpine points, with UNM next at 142.

Mia Cullman posted the fastest times in both the morning and afternoon runs, as the CU junior won her second race of the season in a total time of 2:12.61. She had a full second lead on the field after a 1:06.39 time the first time out, and countered with a 1:06.22 run after lunch to secure the win. The 1.25 second win marked her fifth collegiate victory, but her first in a giant slalom.

"The first run was awesome, I couldn't have hoped for better course conditions," Cullman said. "The second was a little chewed up; it was a good, not a great time, but a good day."

Cullman was one of seven Buffs who competed last week in the World University Games in Tarvisio, Italy. She last skied last Saturday, but did not practice in advance of Friday, as the contingent did not return until late Monday.

"We're all really exhausted; we haven't had a break in a month and a half. We're all a little tired but rallying as a team," she added. "But I'm going to crash after this weekend."

Senior Tove Pashkowski finished fifth in 2:15.14, her first top 10 finish of the year. She, too, competed in Italy. "I was really tired until yesterday. I've been waking up at 3 a.m., going to bed by 7:30, and I finally just got back into the swing of things yesterday," Pashkowski said. "Sometimes it's just easier to keep your momentum going if you're skiing well. It keeps your confidence level up as opposed to taking a break."

The Buffs placed four women in the top nine, as junior Erin McEachren was seventh (2:15.95) and freshman Erika Hogan ninth (2:16.51). Hogan won a bronze medal in the slalom last week at the WUG, and is one of the favorites in the same event here Saturday.

In the men's GS, Utah's Pierre Olson easily won in a 2:08.35 time, with CU sophomore Tyler Shepherd second in 2:09.23. Olson was sixth after the morning run but came back with a solid 1:04.28 second run to win by almost nine-tenths of a second. Shepherd put up a 2:09.23 time, with freshman Brad Hogan nabbing fifth (2:09.78) and sophomore Fritz Ernemann eighth in 2:10.53. It was his first top 10 career finish, topping his previous best of 13th in the slalom in last year's NCAA regional.

Ernemann used the fastest second GS run, 1:04.0, to jump from 26th to eighth in the standings. "There was a benefit to starting fifth on the second run (he started 44th on the first run), it was much smoother the second time around. I've been skiing well while Richard and the others were in Italy, but I was surprised to finish so well. I knew it was a good run, but I didn't think it was anything extraordinary."

Shepherd is pleased he's starting to improve in the giant slalom. "My GS is finally coming around, and I'm happy to finally have a good race," he said. "I figured stuff out in Italy; I had so many problems before that in Utah. But I've been honing n on it. I hope this carries over to the slalom."

CU head coach Richard Rokos didn't get overly excited about his team's alpine success. "It's our home hill, and you can't always judge based on the home hill," he noted. "It's always easier at home. No question we did well, and I'm pleased with the kids, especially after coming back from Europe."

Rokos was a little surprised his team did so well on a short week with little rest. "I expected a little bit of slack in today's performance. But Everybody recovered well. I was especially surprised with Mia, since she hasn't been feeling well. Her win was an outstanding achievement."

The meet wraps up Saturday with the slalom races for the alpine skiers and the classical competition for the nordics. "We've been better slalom skiers lately, but it's hard to expect more than what we accomplished today," Rokos said. "As far as cross country is concerned, and looking back to the first race of the year, it looks like Jana's really going to be an asset. Now we have three strong girls, and if they stay healthy, and the guys ski to their potential, I think we can finish as well as we did today. And that will make the future very bright."