Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
NCAA West Regional (CL/SL)
SKIERS FINISH FIFTH AT NCAA WEST REGIONAL
February 28, 2004 | Skiing
CRESTED BUTTE ? The University of Colorado ski team had a bittersweet day here Saturday, as the Buffaloes won the cross country title at the NCAA West Regional, but finished fifth overall after struggling for a second straight day in the alpine events.
Denver claimed the victory with 570 points, easily outdistancing runner-up New Mexico, which closed with 510 points. It was battle for third, with defending NCAA champion Utah emerging with 459 points to edge Alaska-Anchorage (457) and Colorado (449). It marked the first time that Colorado did not finish in the top four at the regional since the sport went coed in 1983, and ended an 11-year run by the Buffaloes as either the champion or runner-up in the NCAA West.
The Buffs did win the nordic title, as CU amassed 291 points in the four cross country events here while the Pioneers were second with 269.5 as five teams scored 238 or more points. However, DU scored 300.5 points on the alpine side of the ledger, with only New Mexico (252.5) and Utah (221) topping 200 and Colorado coming in sixth with 158.
Colorado won the women's 10K classical as a team, out-pointing New Mexico, 73-72, despite two Lobos in the top four. The Buffs countered with there in the top eight, led by junior Jana Rehemaa who finished fifth in 42:10.0. Senior Claire Critchley was seventh in 42:22.9 and junior Muriele Huberli eighth in 42:28.0. Alaska-Anchorage's Mandy Kaempf claimed her second straight regional title, as her 41:04.8 time was good for nearly a 10-second win over New Mexico's Martina Stursova and was a bookend to her Friday freestyle win.
“I like the mass starts, they're fun and you can see exactly where you stand,” Critchley said. “But you have to be quick and think on your feet.”
The Buff women didn't have the greatest draw for starting position, as CU had one of the two outside positions. “The first lap was really backed up, but as it came to an end, people were getting tired and that's where we made our move and starting gaining on the others. So this was really positive, especially after (Friday's) freestyle. We feel a whole lot better going into the NCAA's, and today was a good sign. We're ready, and I think we can get even faster the next 10 days.”
The Buffalo men matched the feat accomplished by their women, as CU placed three in the top nine in an exciting 15-kilometer race. Utah's Henning Dybendal won in a 53:43.6 time, edging CU junior Tor Erik Schjellerud by just 1.3 seconds as he led the race for all of maybe 10 or 12 seconds. Sophomores Henrik Hoye (fourth, 53:52.5) and Erling Christiansen (ninth, 54:09.4) bolstered Schjellerud's effort to give Colorado 78 team points, easily second place Denver (72) in the competition, as less than 30 second separated the top 10 finishers.
Schjellerud jumped into the lead from the start, and headed a pack that included Dybendal and CU teammates Hoye and Christiansen for the first 12 kilometers. Christiansen dropped a bit back at that point, Hoye couldn't keep up with the leaders, and DU's Hoff entered the mix at the final turn. Schjellerud held the lead into the final straightaway, roughly 40 meters, but Dybendal surged at the end to grab the win.
“Because of the snow and the tracks, the first one-and-a-half laps were pretty slow for everyone,” Hoye said. “Over the last 10 or 11 kilometers, we (the lead pack) all started pushing it. I had good skis, good wax, but felt really tired the last 500 meters. I would have liked third, but fourth is really close and that's how it is.”
“The women had a great race, even with the weaker starting position,” CU nordic coordinator Bruce Cranmer said. It was a great race for Claire; Jana had a couple of technical errors that might have cost her a spot or two. The guys were in it the whole race. Erling had a hard time the last lap because he had trouble breathing. The new, soft snow made it hard to get away, slowing everyone down a bit. But overall, we had a really good day. Getting three people in the top eight or nine is what you need to do in these races.”
“I feel good about going into NCAA's,” Cranmer continued. “I don't know if we're absolutely perfect, but the last two races have been pretty solid. The guys are psyched to go down to a lower elevation (the last two races in the west have been held at 8,000-feet or higher). Everyone is in good form and we don't have any health issues.
The winter storm that hit the high country wreaked havoc with the Saturday's alpine races. The first run of the men's slalom went off pretty close to schedule, but a combination of nasty weather?high winds, heavy and blowing snow?and a timing equipment malfunction added up to more than a three-hour delay in the event. As a result, the women's giant slalom was shortened to just one run, the first time a race was shortened in the NCAA West in at least 20 years.
Denver's Sophie Ormond won the shortened women's GS, as he run of 1:16.82 held up for the win over Whitman's Rachel Walker (1:16.96), who posted the school's best finish in the three years the school has been competing in NCAA skiing. Colorado's top finisher was senior Erin McEachren, who finished 12th in 1:18.05, tying her second best giant slalom placing in five races this winter. Sophomore Erika Hogan was the next best Buff, coming in 18th in 1:18.96, followed by senior Mia Cullman in 19th in 1:19.16.
“I don't think the wait affected us, but the visibility was tough and you had to ski with that in mind,” McEachren said. “It made it difficult to push yourself as much as you wanted, which we wanted to do (as a team). While the course was in good shape, the terrain was more difficult than usual to see. After not finishing yesterday or in the slalom last week, I'm happy with the way I skied. I had to put it on the line and I did.”
McEachren said CU is looking forward to the NCAA's. “We have a lot of talent on the women's team, we have some time to regroup and do some training, but we're in good shape and I believe in our team.”
The men's slalom was won by Denver's Dominik Schweiger in a two-run time of 1:11.05, while Nevada's Michal Rajcan was second in 1:11.34. Junior Tahir Bisic had CU's best effort, coming in 25th in 1:14.93, while Cody Jenick was 27th in 1:15.38; Fritz Ernemann missed a gate in his morning run and had to hike back a bit, costing him about 14 seconds as he finished 37th in 1:27.71. Jenick and Ernemann were trying to qualify for next month's NCAA's.
“It was another tough day for the Buffaloes,” CU head coach Richard Rokos said. “The time delays were the same for everyone, so that was not a factor. The bigger issue for everyone in the slalom was the first run, because of the fresh snow and lack of visibility before it cleared later on.”
“The problem was with one giant slalom for the ladies, but under the circumstances we had no choice,” Rokos continued, “because there's always room for improvement in the second run. Everyone put so many things on the line, it came down to the last race of the season to make it or break it, and the risks didn't pay off. You either ski slowly to finish, or ski fast to finish higher but risk making mistakes.”
It was unclear Saturday how many men's alpine skiers the Buffs qualified for the NCAA's. Colorado has a full compliment?three?in men's and women's cross country and women's alpine, but only Bisic had secured a spot in nationals entering the regional.
“It's a perfect situation with cross country,” Rokos added. “In recent years, we haven't had a stand like this. It's one of those seasons where cross country has compensated for alpine, and that's going to carry through the remainder of the season at the NCAA's. We need balance, and I'm already thinking about next year. Almost all of cross country is back, but a lot of ?alpiners' are retiring, which will be a big deal for us in recruiting.”
Colorado will know Monday if it has qualified a full team for the NCAA Championships, which are set in two weeks (March 10-13) at the Sugar Bowl Ski Resort and Auburn Ski Club in the Lake Tahoe area.
NCAA West Regional Team Scores?1. Denver 570; 2. New Mexico 510; 3. Utah 459; 4. Alaska-Anchorage 457; 5. Colorado 449; 6. Nevada 315; 7. Western State 296; 8. Montana State 279; 9. Whitman 211; 10. Boise State 110.
Men's Slalom?1. Dominik Schweiger, DU, 1:11.05; 2. Michal Rajcan, UN, 1:11.34; 3. Tommi Viirret, UN, 1:11.83; 4. David Duncan UAA, 1:11.86; 5. Benjamin Thornhill, Utah, 1:12.10; 6. Christian Ringvold, UAA, 1:12.11; 7. Lars Loeseth Sunde, UNM, 1:12.32; 8. Alex Mach, UNM, 1:12.34; 9. Sean Higgins, DU, 1:12.43; 10. Lars Ola Kjos, DU, 1:12.60. CU Results: 25. Tahir Bisic, 1:14.93; 27. Cody Jenick, 1:15.38; 37. Fritz Ernemann, 1:27.71.
Women's Giant Slalom?1. Sophie Ormond, DU, 1:16.82; 2. Rachel Walker, WHT, 1:16.96; 3. Barbara Knor, DU, 1:17.06; 4. Rowena Bright, Utah, 1:17.14; 5. April Mancuso, Utah, 1:17.39; 6. Spela Bertoncelj, BSU, 1:17.42; 7. Crystal Wright, MSU, 1:17.51; 8. Jennifer Delich, UNM, 1:17.58; 9. Mateja Gombac, BSU, 1:17.82; 10. Smaranda Munteanu, MSU, 1:17.89. CU Results: 12. Erin McEachren, 1:18.05; 18 Erika Hogan, 1:18.96; 19. Mia Cullman, 1:19.16; 28. Julie Czesnowski, 1:21.46; 29. Sarah Fischer, 1:21.65; 34. Kristin Taylor, 1:23.42.
Women's 10K Classical?1. Mandy Kaempf, UAA, 41:04.8; 2. Martina Stursova, UNM, 41:14.2; 3. Karen Camenisch, DU, 41:46.5; 4. Lena Jensen, UNM, 41:57.9; 5. Jana Rehemaa, CU, 41:10.0; 6. Jenny Hannson, Utah, 42:18.7; 7. Claire Critchley, CU, 42:22.9; 8. Muriele Huberli, CU, 42:28.0; 9. Sarah Hansen, UAA, 42:32.5; 10. Sandra Gredig, Utah, 42:40.9. Other CU Finisher: 27. Brooke Rygg, 45:52.6.
Men's 15K Classical?1. Henning Dybendal, Utah, 53:43.6; 2. Tor Erik Schjellerud, CU, 53:44.9; 3. Erlend Hoff, DU, 53:51.1; 4. Henrik Hoye, CU, 53:52.5; 5. Martin Bartnes, DU, 53:54.7; 6. Geir-Endre Rogn, UNM, 53:57.6; 7. Eric Strabel, UAA, 54:00.0; 8, Dirk Grimm, UNM, 54:04.4; 9. Erling Christiansen, CU, 54:09.4; 10. Jesse Carlstrom, UN, 54:12.7. Other CU Finishers: 14. Nick Sterling, 55:16.6; 19. Josh Smullin, 57:05.1; 28. Tim Damrow, 1:00:51.0.
Players Mentioned
