SKIERS FINISH SECOND IN OWN INVITE

Saturday, February 21

Eldora, Colo.

8:15 SL, 9:30 Freestyle

Colorado

Colorado Invitational (CL/SL)

Photo by: CUBuffs.com

February 21, 2004 | Skiing

By: David Plati, Assistant AD/Sports Information

ELDORA - The University of Colorado ski team briefly assumed the lead with one event remaining here Saturday, but a strong men's slalom effort by Denver enabled the Pioneers to defeat the host Buffaloes by 23 points in the 12th Annual CU/Laura Sharpe Flood Memorial Invitational at Eldora Mountain Resort.

DU took a 16-point lead over the Buffaloes into the final four events, with New Mexico just three back of CU. But as the day progressed, the Lobos, winners of the last two meets, faded and thanks to a strong nordic showing, Colorado wrestled the lead away from the Pioneers and held a 4-point edge while awaiting the second run of the men's slalom.

CU zoomed into the lead as Buff skiers registered three top five finishes in both the men's and women's classical races. But Denver countered with a strong alpine showing, placing three in the top eight in the slalom, and wound up winning with 583 points, followed by CU (560), New Mexico (539) and defending NCAA champion Utah (429).

"I think we did fared pretty good, and cross country definitely put in two in a row for us," CU head coach Richard Rokos said. "Not just this weekend, but all year. They been consistent, even through illness, and seem to keep improving race to race."

The Buffs scored 319 of their points via cross country, earning 163 of a maximum 174 points Saturday with the six top five combined finishes by the men and women. Junior Tor Erik Schjellerud was second in the men's 15-kilometer freestyle, skating three laps around the 5K course in 36:45.8, with sophomores Henrik Hoye nabbing fourth in 37:34.5 and Erling Christiansen fifth in 37:37.3. Utah's Henning Dybendal won the race in 36:19.9.

"The altitude is always difficult, but still feeling sick, I was not able to really push things," Christiansen said. "I was careful, tried not too push myself too hard, really just tried to be steady. So I'm pretty satisfied, and look forward to skiing faster next week and hopefully good enough for a top five finish at the NCAA's."

The women just missed matching the men in the 10K version?by one point?as CU had the third, fourth and fifth place finishers. Senior Claire Critchley snared third in 27:58.2, with junior Muriele Huberli right behind her in 27:58.8 and sophomore Jana Rehemaa in 28:02.9; it was a staggered start as the nordic area at Eldora isn't ideal for a mass start, so the three naturally skied that close together as opposed to going out and finishing in a pack. Alaska's Mandy Kaemph won in a 27:18.4 time, topping DU's Karen Camenish by 15 seconds.

Critchley matched her collegiate best finish, as she also placed third in last year's NCAA West Regional freestyle. "I tried to hold back a little bit on the first lap so I could have some energy left the second time around," she said. "I typically gain on the field on the uphill parts since I'm a good climber, so I relax more on the flat sections. That's my usual technique and it seemed to work pretty well today."

"We couldn't have hoped for much better," CU nordic coordinator Bruce Cranmer said. "It was a good, solid all around effort, and we seem to ski better on our home court, so-to-speak. Plus since some people have been a little bit sick, it was important to get the kind of effort and results we had here. Erling just skied once here recovering from a cold, and Jana's been sick; I think a second day in row caught up with her. But we're pretty happy."

"I think we're on schedule, and as far as the guys are concerned, we really feel we can be the strongest team at the NCAA Championships," Christiansen said, a sentiment echoed by Critchley. "I think this was a really good sign for us, but I don't think we've peaked; we can still get better. It was cool that the three of us (CU women) were just four second apart today, and if we can stay healthy, we'll be ready to peak at nationals."

"I think we're in a good place, people just need to get healthy now," Cranmer said of the cross country skiers, the ones most vulnerable to sickness. "We're on track to get to where we need to be."

The women's alpine team fared well in the slalom, won by DU's Pia Rivelsrud in a two-run time of 1:35.02. CU sophomore Erika Hogan finished second in 1:36.17 after starting in 11th place, with freshman Kristin Taylor taking eighth in 1:38.42 and senior Mia Cullman ninth in 1:38.75. Both CU and DU had three finishers in the top nine, with the Pioneers outscoring the Buffs, 82-74. Senior Erin McEachren was sixth after the morning run, but had a ski pop off late in her afternoon run and did not finish.

"I don't think I skied my best," Hogan said of her runner-up finish. "The second course didn't hold up as well as I thought; the first was better. But you have some on and some off days, so it depends on the day, I guess."

"I had a tough first run, I was thinking too much," Taylor said. "So I wanted to have a little more fun the second. It wasn't as fast as I wanted, but I came down with a good feeling."

"I think the team is doing fine; we're warming up finally, and getting up to speed which is exciting," Cullman said. "Next weekend should be pretty good. We've been skiing some hard hills lately, and this was a challenging series this weekend. It was kind of technical. We just need to be confidant and run with things and don't second-guess. We need to get after it. We're as good as anyone out here."

The men downhillers continued fighting, but the team is undermanned and with DU placing three in the top eight in the slalom, saw the Pioneers roll up 80 points to CU's 53 and secure the win in the meet.

Denver's Dominik Schweiger won a close one, skiing two runs in 149:31 to edge New Mexico's Petter Roering by one-hundredth of a second. Colorado's top finisher was junior Tahir Bisic, who was 12th in 1:54.87, with another Buff junior, Fritz Ernemann, right behind him in 13th (1:55.07), possibly earning enough points to qualify for nationals.

Bisic is feeling some frustration. "I ski so well in training, but can't put it together on race day," he said. "It was pretty tough today. Fritz and I had good places, so you take what you can get. I've lost some confidence, but I think I can regain it."

Ernemann also felt he could have done a bit better. I could have done better (on the weekend), especially on my second GS run. I made too many mistakes and overcompensated. Today's second run was incredible but I held on a little too much and skied tentatively, which is disappointing for sure. The second set was more rhythmical, no rutter and easier just based on the snow conditions.

He's looking forward to next week's regional. "It will be the keynote point of the season, the first race with no FIS skiers, just collegians, so it will be seeded based on our season. That will give Mike (Read), myself and Cody (Jenick) a chance to start higher, which opens the door for all of us to qualify (for NCAA's).

"I was hoping for better for Mike, he was skiing fast and well and it was unfortunate he didn't finish," Rokos said. "But all of the guys put in a great effort; to start in the 40s, finish 12th and 13th and blow through the race is unbelievable and quite an accomplishment. It was an unfortunate finish for Erin, as she was skiing very well. But Erika skied a perfect double and Kristin and Mia had solid results."

With the regional looming next weekend, CU needs to qualify at least one more male alpine skier for a full 12-member team for next month's NCAA championship meet, and possibly two if Ernemann didn't make it come Monday's update of the qualification list. "It's definitely our last hope and last resort" I think everything is in place to give the guys what they need to qualify," Rokos said. "Our goal will be to focus on the guys (alpine) and get them qualified."

The 10 teams turn right around and will compete in the NCAA West Regional, set for next Friday and Saturday, February 27-28 in Crested Butte. Two weeks later (March 10-13), the NCAA Championships will be held both at the Sugar Bowl Ski Resort and Auburn Ski Club in the Lake Tahoe area.

Here are the results of Saturday's alpine and nordic races in the 12th Annual Laura Sharpe Flood Memorial/University of Colorado Ski Invitational (KEY TO ABBREVIATIONS: UAA?Alaska-Anchorage; CU?Colorado; DU?Denver; MSU?Montana State; UNM?New Mexico; UN?Nevada; UU?Utah; WSC?Western State; WHT?Whitman; *?designates non-scorer for team points):

Team Standings

1 DENVER 583

2 COLORADO 560

3 NEW MEXICO 539

4 UTAH 429

5 NEVADA 391?

6 ALASKA-ANCHORAGE 371

7 MONTANA STATE 296?

8 WESTERN STATE 225

9 WHITMAN 198

10 BOISE STATE 47

ALPINE POINT LEADERS: Denver 315, New Mexico 272, Colorado 241, Nevada 204, Utah 190, Alaska 165.

NORDIC POINT LEADERS: Colorado 319, Denver 278, New Mexico 267, Utah 239, Alaska 206, Nevada 187?.

MEN'S POINT LEADERS: Denver 306, New Mexico 262, Colorado 260, Utah 233, Alaska 222, Nevada 214?.

WOMEN'S POINT LEADERS: Colorado 300, Denver 277, New Mexico 277, Utah 196, Montana State 190, Nevada 177.

SEASON TOTALS (4 meets): Denver 2272, New Mexico 2214, Colorado 2082, Utah 1949, Nevada 1448?, Alaska 1420?, Montana State 1041, Western State 943?, Whitman 791, Boise State 337?.

Men's 15K Freestyle

Rk Bib Skier Team Time Pts

1 (52) Henning Dybendal UU 36:19.9 30

2 (49) Tor Erik Schjellerud CU 36:45.8 29

3 (50) Erlend Hoff DU 37:03.1 28

4 (34) Henrik Hoye CU 37:34.5 27

5 (43) Erling Christiansen CU 37:37.3 26

6 (44) Martin Bartnes DU 38:00.7 25

7 (31) Zach Violett UAA 38:17.7 24

8 (37) Benjamin Sonntag UU 38:18.1 23

9 (51) Geir Endre Rogn UNM 38:29.7 22

10 (35) Amund Hansen DU 38:36.2 21

11 (47) Brian Gregg WSC 38:41.2 20

12 (41) Dirk Grimm UNM 38:50.5 19

13 (29) Nick Sterling CU 39:07.9 --

14 (46) Jesse Carlstrom UN 39:19.0 18

15 (33) Jedd Young UNM 39:23.6 17

16 (48) Brent Knight UAA 39:43.8 16

17 (20) Tim Damrow CU 39:54.4 --

18 (53) Josh Smullin CU 39:59.5 --

19 (27) Zach Hill DU 40:13.7 --

20 (42) Jan Vykoukal UN 40:17.0 14?

20 (39) Christian Coe MSU 40:17.0 14?

22 (40) Eric Strabel UAA 40:18.4 13

23 (23) Kevin Taylor WSC 40:32.7 12

24 (19) Hennie Kashiwa DU 40:33.0 --

25 (24) Jacob Zehnder UNM 40:58.9 --

26 (15) Paul Schauer UAA 40:59.9 --

27 (18) Tony Bozzio UU 41:39.9 11

28 (38) Ben Crawford UN 41:45.2 10

29 (26) Casey Fagerquist UAA 42:02.0 --

30 (36) Travis Hansen MSU 42:07.5 9

31 (22) Brennan Walsh UN 42:12.1 --

32 (28) Ryan Holtan MSU 42:27.3 8

33 (30) Andy Richmond WSC 42:28.3 7

34 (45) Ryan Ahern WSC 42:48.1 --

35 (17) James Letson WSC 43:30.3 --

36 (21) Donovan Walsh UN 45:12.5 --

37 (25) Alex Fesnard WHT 46:28.7 6

38 (16) Charlie Erdman WHT 47:14.2 5

Did Not Finish

(32) Jon Loffler WHT

Women's 10K Freestyle

Rk Bib Skier Team Time Pts

1 (44) Mandy Kaemph UAA 27:18.4 30

2 (50) Karin Camenisch DU 27:33.8 29

3 (37) Claire Critchley CU 27:58.2 28

4 (29) Muriele Huberli CU 27:58.8 27

5 (46) Jana Rehemaa CU 28:02.9 26

6 (42) Martina Stursova UNM 28:15.9 25

7 (48) Emily Robins MSU 28:35.2 24

8 (33) Trine Lundamo UNM 28:41.8 23

9 (45) Sandra Gredig UU 28:46.6 22

10 (38) Tara Hamilton DU 28:46.7 21

11 (36) Barbro Hatlevik UU 28:55.4 20

12 (32) Andrea Roberts UNM 28:57.7 19

13 (49) Sari Tuovinen UN 29:01.5 18

14 (31) Jenny Hansson UU 29:06.4 17

15 (21) Lena Jensen UNM 29:26.4 --

16 (22) Melody Scheefer WSC 29:36.5 16

17 (12) Linda Pettersson UU 29:41.0 --

18 (14) Jessica Ford UN 29:41.1 15

19 (16) Brooke Rygg CU 29:54.6 --

20 (28) Emma Garrard UN 30:09.1 14

21 (40) Paige Brady UN 30:17.0 --

22 (35) Mandy Bowden MSU 30:20.1 13

23 (15) Pirkko Pulkkanen UNM 30:24.5 --

24 (19) Sally Johnson UN 30:30.5 --

25 (43) Jessica Gray WSC 30:33.0 12

26 (18) Courtney Dauwalter DU 30:56.0 11

27 (23) Ashley McQueen UU 30:57.1 --

28 (25) Susanne Kumpufainen UAA 31:35.0 10

29 (47) Tara Gregg WHT 31:39.7 9

30 (27) Rachel Goldstein MSU 31:57.4 8

31 (26) Laura Vulaas WHT 32:17.8 7

32 (11) *Janelle Kinner UNM 32:23.9 --

33 (39) Kelly Ahern WSC 32:37.2 6

34 (24) Charis Gullickson MSU 32:53.0 --

35 (17) Davya Baker UAA 33:09.6 5

36 (13) Emma Lohr WHT 33:27.5 4

37 (20) Emma Catmur WHT 34:34.6 --

38 ( 2) *Sarah Hardee WHT 34:58.8 --

39 (10) *Sarah Schoen WHT 34:59.4 --

Did Not Finish

(41) Holly Brooks WHT

(34) Sarah Hansen UAA

(30) Niina Karvonen DU

Women's Slalom

Rk Bib Skier Team Time Pts

1 ( 5) Pia Rivelsrud DU 1:35.02 30

2 (11) Erika Hogan CU 1:36.17 29

3 (16) Barbara Knor DU 1:36.49 28

4 (23) Julie Pierre-LeClerc UAA 1:36.85 27

5 (18) Jennifer Delich UNM 1:37.35 26

6 ( 3) Kathrin Spendier UNM 1:37.88 25

7 ( 6) Sophie Ormond DU 1:37.91 24

8 (10) Kristin Taylor CU 1:38.42 23

9 ( 8) Mia Cullman CU 1:38.75 22

10 (26) Christina Metzger DU 1:38.99 --

11 (13) Rowena Bright UU 1:40.18 21

12 (32) Rachel Walker WHT 1:40.21 20

13 (35) Alexandra Munteanu MSU 1:40.28 19

14 (19) Helena Woodrow UNM 1:40.37 18

15 (15) Mateja Gombac BSU 1:41.07 17

16 (46) Kristina Revello UN 1:41.09 16

17 (43) Crystal Wright MSU 1:41.35 15

18 (21) Jennifer Shively UNM 1:41.38 --

19 (38) *Sarah Fischer CU 1:41.49 --

20 (45) *Rebekah Levine MSU 1:42.58 14

21 (44) Jessica Hamilton UAA 1:44.01 13

22 (40) Andrea Drew MSU 1:44.30 --

23 (29) Christie Higman UN 1:45.12 12

24 (56) *Brenna Kelleher MSU 1:45.34 --

25 (39) Jacqueline Marceau DU 1:45.48 --

26 (31) Julie Czesnowski CU 1:45.58 --

27 (67) *Hilary Turner MSU 1:46.65 --

28 (58) Julia Babilis WHT 1:46.84 11

29 (49) Renee Thibodeau WHT 1:47.97 10

30 (64) Victoria Amorello WHT 1:49.23 --

31 (59) *Polly Hopkins MSU 1:49.80 --

32 (37) Catherine Baskins MSU 1:50.79 --

33 (62) Maria Corcorran WHT 1:57.26 --

34 (64) Vivian Renfro WSC 1:58.23 9

35 (67) Langely McNeal WHT 2:02.49 --

36 (74) Hannah Stauts BSU 2:05.77 8

37 (12) Spela Bertoncelj BSU 2:10.35 7

38 ( 4) Quincy Young UN 2:22.73 6

39 (22) April Mancuso UU 2:23.17 5

40 (17) Gladys Weidt UNM 4:16.11 --

Did Not Start

(14) Lauren Lattimer UU

Did Not Finish (1st Run)

( 2) Margit Walter BSU

(25) Amber Gale UN

(57) Christine Novotny UN

Disqualified (1st Run)

(24) Brooke Gaisford WSC

(34) Jazz Centauro WSC

Did Not Finish (2nd Run)

(20) Erin McEachren CU

(33) Smaranda Munteanu MSU

(36) Jamie Hansen UNR

(73) Jill Mendenhall BSU

Men's Slalom

Rk Bib Skier Team Time Pts

1 (13) Dominik Schweiger DU 1:49.31 30

2 ( 6) Petter Roering UNM 1:49.32 29

3 ( 2) Michal Rajcan UN 1:49.44 28

4 ( 8) Cain Mahan DU 1:50.22 27

5 ( 5) Will McDonald UU 1:50.41 26

6 ( 4) Lars Loeseth Sunde UNM 1:51.43 25

7 (10) Alex Mach UNM 1:51.49 24

8 (14) David Lamb DU 1:52.34 23

9 (23) Tommi Viirret UN 1:52.35 22

10 (35) Benjamin Thornhill UU 1:53.10 21

11 (39) *Ian Dunlop DU 1:54.10 --

12 (28) Tahir Bisic CU 1:54.87 20

13 (45) Fritz Ernemann CU 1:55.07 19

14 (18) Christian Jensen UNM 1:55.45 --

15 (55) Einar Marius-Elvrum UAA 1:56.28 18

16 (29) *Sean Higgins DU 1:57.11 --

17 (22) Andi Wieser UU 1:57.12 17

18 (52) Christian Ringvold UAA 1:59.28 16

19 (49) Tyler Smedsrud MSU 1:59.74 15

20 (33) Cody Jenick CU 2:02.06 14

21 (54) Jacob Down WSC 2:05.05 13

22 (58) Chris McCullough WHT 2:05.99 12

23 (19) Luke Patterson WSC 2:07.03 11

24 (60) Nathaniel Johnson WHT 2:07.37 10

25 (36) David Duncan UAA 2:08.31 9

26 (76) Reinhard Neuhauser UAA 2:10.08 --

27 (16) Ben Brown WSC 2:14:41 8

28 (43) Robbie Massie MSU 2:20.52 7

29 (21) Gaspar Perricone UU 2:29.37 --

30 (50) Wes Powell MSU 2:33.40 6

31 (65) Billy Moss WSC 2:36.86 --

Did Not Start

(68) Christopher Gibson MSU

Did Not Finish (1st Run)

(11) Lars Ola Kjos DU

(20) Alexander Freberg UNM

(46) Aaron Bolduc DU

(47) Graham Irving WSC

Disqualified (1st Run)

(17) Todd Ligare DU

Did Not Finish (2nd Run)

( 3) Hannes Zirknitzer WHT

(25) *Christopher Berg DU

(38) Michael Read CU

(75) Andrea Neuhauser UAA

(40) *Benjamin Kuruvila DU

Disqualified (2nd Run)

(32) Andre Karlsen UN

Buffs Finish Second At NCAA Ski Championships

Saturday, March 14

Buffs Back In Lead At NCAA Ski Championships

Friday, March 13

Ski Buffs In Second Place At NCAA Championships

Thursday, March 12

Buffs In Lead After Opening Day Of NCAA Championships

Wednesday, March 11

Next Event

NCAA West Regional (FS/GS)

Feb 27 (Fri)

All Day

Recap

Full Schedule

Buffs Finish Second At NCAA Ski Championships

Saturday, March 14

Buffs Back In Lead At NCAA Ski Championships

Friday, March 13

Ski Buffs In Second Place At NCAA Championships

Thursday, March 12

Buffs In Lead After Opening Day Of NCAA Championships

Wednesday, March 11

Colorado Ski: Why CU?

Friday, June 27

Colorado Ski: 2025 Facility Tour

Tuesday, June 10

Colorado Ski: 2024-25 Banquet

Tuesday, April 22

2024 Ski Team Season Recap

Tuesday, April 30

Colorado University Athletics

SKIERS FINISH SECOND IN OWN INVITE

Related News

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Tahir Bisic

Erling Christiansen

Claire Critchley

Mia Cullman

Julie Czesnowski

Tim Damrow

Fritz Ernemann

Sarah Fischer

Erika Hogan

Henrik Hoye

Muriele Huberli

Cody Jenick

Erin McEachren

Michael Read

Jana Rehemaa

Brooke Rygg

Tor Erik Schjellerud

Josh Smullin

Kristin Taylor

Related News

Related Videos