Colorado University Athletics
SKIING KICKS OFF 2004 SEASON AT UTAH INVITATIONAL
January 09, 2004 | Skiing
When the ski team opens the 2004 season Sunday and Monday with the alpine portion of the Utah Invitational, Jan. 11-12 in Park City, Utah, Â head coach Richard Rokos and the Buff will do so fighting a reverse reputation of sorts"expecting to the be in the title hunt year after year, it will do so in '04 with a much different canvas than they had a year ago to work from.
Â
           They will also be trying to prove the preseason pollsters that voted Utah 1 and Colorado 2, wrong.
 Â
ALPINE
Minus the graduation of Tove Pashkowski and attrition of Amy Beresford, the CU women's downhill roster remains mostly in tact from the 2003 season, while the Buff men will be spending the '04 campaign rebuilding as they lose Jed Schuetze and Tyler Shepherd from last year's NCAA roster.
Â
"We're sweating over it already. We return Brad Hogan, Mike Read, Fritz (Erneman) and Tahir (Bisic), so we'll need to be recruiting more guys. Our work will be cut out for us," explained Rokos.
Â
Hogan was the first CU men's alpine racer since Toni Standteiner in 1991 to go through the season with all top-10 finishes, until he hit a 21st place slalom roadblock at the NCAA Championships. A renewed focus will have the former national team member as a podium favorite in both events in '04. Read endured his most incomplete schedule in '03, but will look to rebound and close out his career with an upswing this season. Ernemann's maturation in the sport was never more evident as when he won the second run in the GS in the CU Invitational to go from 21st after the first run to finish a career best ninth. That motivation should pay dividends in '04. Bisic turned in a career best three to-10 finishes a year ago and will look to use that success as a springboard into his first NCAA Championship. The lone newcomer to the men's alpine list is January roster addition Cody Jenick (Avon, Colo.).
Â
One of the strongest downhill skiers in the west, if not the country, three year letterwinner and four-time All-American Mia Cullman will pace the women's team as she strives for her first national title in the slalom, an event she finished as the national runner up in 2002 and third in '03. The top newcomer a year ago having scored in eight races, sophomore Erika Hogan should rebound from a disappointing NCAA Championship to join Cullmans as a podium contender in '04. Neither Erin McEachren, who had all top-20 finishes in '03, nor Sarah Fischer (one of Rokos' most dedicated athletes) have had their seasons extend past the regional race, but this year could be the season, though they will be challenged by newcomers Julie Czesnowski (Killington, Vt.) and Kristin Taylor (Montreal, Canada).
Â
"We're recycling a lot of experience and dedication"and there's no substitute for that. Experience breeds success and though we don't have as many as we used to, we have enough to get the job done," says Rokos.
Â
NORDIC
           With eight of nine letterwinners returning from last year's team, and all but one NCAA participant, Colorado's cross country team returns as the more experienced and dominating discipline of this year's program.
Â
           "It's going to be an exciting season if early season results against local competition is any indication," says Rokos. "We seem to be stronger and more competent. It will be an exciting phenomenon to build on."
Â
           Graduated is two-time NCAA performer Norbert Pelc, but returning on the men's team are NCAA participants Erling Christiansen, who skied to eight top-10 finishes and was CU's top finisher in five of the last six races. He put an exclamation point on his first season with two All-American finishes at the national championships, and Henrik Hoye, CU's low score in five races including a sixth-place All-American classical finish at NCAAs. Josh Smullin is CU's lone three-year veteran in the sport and is 30-of-30 in career race finishes. Smullin would like to return to the national championships a second time before closing out his career. Nick Sterling was denied a spot on the NCAA roster a year ago, so his season goal in '04 will be to make this year's list as the NCAA Championships are being decided in his hometown of Truckee, Calif.. Newcomers to the squad include freshman Tim Damrow (Roseville, Minn.) and Tor Erik Schjelleurd (Jloevik, Norway) who arrived on campus in January.
Â
           Without any newcomers, the women be counting on the return of all four letterwinners from last year's team, including 2003 NCAA participants Jana Rehemaa, who joined the team mid-season and turned in seven top-10 finishes and an All-American fourth-place finish in the freestyle at NCAAs. Muriele Huberli, the only two-year NCAA veteran on the team with a pair of All-American finishes her freshman season and Claire Critchley, who graduated in December and has elected to ski her final season at Colorado which will do nothing less than benefit the Buffs in March. According to Rokos, Brooke Rygg's improvement from her redshirt 2002 season to her freshman year in '03 was measurable and she will look to capitalize on an injury free sophomore campaign.
Â
THE SCHEDULE
           The Buffs will have an extremely friendly, accommodating schedule in '04. There are no trips to Anchorage. There are no cross continental trips to the northeast, nor do they cross the Montana state line.
Â
           "We're back in the west for the NCAA championships where the surroundings are more familiar. Obviously we'll be prepared for everything, but with a regular season meet in Reno, the teams from the west will have an advantage over those in the east," explained Rokos.
Â
           The alpiners return to campus following the holiday break a little earlier than their counterparts on the nordic team as they christen the season Jan. 11-12 at the Utah Invitational. Less than a week later both squads will test the NCAA Championship courses at the Nevada Invitational at Donner Summit in Truckee (Lake Tahoe), Calif.
Â
           The Utah Invitational will conclude at the end of January (23-24) with the nordic portion of the meet being decided at Soldier Hollow. The University of New Mexico is back in the schedule rotation after two seasons and will host the MicheLobo-UNM Invitational Feb. 6-7 before the Buffs return home to host the Laura Sharpe Flood/CU Invitational on their home mountain in Eldora, Colo.
Â
           A year ago the Buffs set and NCAA west record when they turned in 15 top-five finishes in both disciplines and amassed 618 points for a 53-point win over Utah, New Mexico and Denver in Eldora. It was the Buffs' lone win on the season, and unfortunately a momentum they couldn't maintain as they finished second, third and fourth in their final three races.
Â
           The Laura Sharpe Flood Invitational is the last regular season meet of the year, as the NCAA West Regional will be skied in Crested Butte, Colo. for a second straight season Feb. 27-28 before the NCAA Championships March 10-13 in Donner Summit. The last time the NCAA Championships were hosted by the University of Nevada was in 1954, the first ever NCAA Championships, Colorado finished third behind Denver and Seattle.
          Â
THE COMPETITON
           Pick a team in the west, any team in the west, sprinkle in Vermont, and there are the team podium contenders for the 2004 season.
          Â
           Defending national champion and solid threat to repeat the team title, Utah is the preseason favorite in the coaches' poll (edging the Buffs by nine points), but will have some making up to do with the loss of a half dozen letterwinners, including Jana Rehemaa's cousin Katrin Smigun, who swept both women's nordic races last year.
Â
           While Utah snapped Denver's string of three straight national championships, the Pioneers had an off-championship in New Hampshire last season with a fifth place finish, and return eight letterwinners from those championships with something to prove and are the preseason third-ranked team in the nation.
Â
           Last year's championship surprise, Vermont was the national runner up without fielding a complete team and is the highest preseason ranked team from the east, and is followed by New Mexico (fourth at NCAAs last year) and Nevada, host of the '04 championships.
Â
Â
           "We're hoping that we can establish some consistency early in the season and as a result the team will compliment each other. We're the most prepared that we've been in many years, we're injury free and we've maximized our training efforts and we're excited to show how much we've benefited from it all."
Â
Both the alpine and Nordic teams will be at the Nevada Invitational (Jan. 15-16) before the nordic skiers complete the Utah Invitational Jan. 23-24 at Soldier Hollow.
