Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
New Mexico Invitational
SKIERS IN SECOND AT MICHELOBO INVITE
February 06, 2004 | Skiing
TAOS and RED RIVER, N.M. ? Paced by six top-10 individual finishes by its cross country teams, the University of Colorado ski team is in position to win its first meet of the season as the Buffs (285-points) trail team-leading New Mexico (291) by a mere six points and sit 10 ahead of third place Denver (275) after the giant slalom and classical portions of the MicheLobo-UNM Invitational here Friday.
Despite the position his team is in after the first day of races, head coach Richard Rokos is looking ahead to a greater goal. “We're not shooting to win individual meets. With such small rosters, we're trying to qualify three athletes in every event for the NCAA Championships where we can hope for an even playing field. The cross country men and women are there, but we have some work to do in alpine.”
Colorado's nordic teams are pacing the Buffs as all six scorers on the men's and women's teams finished in the top-10 of their respective races for the first time this season and first since last year's NCAA West Regional. CU led all skiers in the discipline with a meet high 160 of CU's 285 points coming on the classical course.
January newcomer Tor Erik Schjellerud tied a season and career best second place finish, covering the 10k Enchanted Forest course in 30 minutes, 13.4 seconds, trailing Denver's Eriend Hoff (29:48.5). Henrik Hoye's (30:56.4) fourth place finish was a season best and Erling Christiansen (31:14.1) finished sixth. Josh Smullin's 32:24.5 was good enough for a season best tie for 12th, ahead of teammate Nick Sterling's career best 13th place finish.
In the women's 5k classical, New Mexico's Martina Stursova was the easy winner in 17:31.6 with CU's Jana Rehemaa pulling out a career best second place finish in 18:12.1, ahead of UNM's Lena Jensen (18:17.4). Also recording top-10 finishes were Claire Critchley (18:30.8) in fourth and Muriele Huberli (19:05.2) in eighth. Brooke Rygg's (20:58.4) 20th place finish is a career best for the sophomore.
“With three women in the top 8 and the guys placing three in the top 6, you couldn't ask for more from their efforts,” said Rokos.
The women's alpine team initially lost some ground in the giant slalom when Mia Cullman crashed on her second run, but quickly recovered when Erika Hogan finished third in 2:14.49, behind winner Mateja Gomac (2:14.14) of Boise State and Jennifer Delich (2:14.39) of New Mexico. Kristin Taylor (2:14.56) finished fifth and Julie Czesnowski (2:17.18) 18th.
“Kristin (Taylor), Erika (Hogan) did an excellent job and Mia could have been right there, but the snow was soft and her ski turned quicker than expected and she got thrown off the course.”
The lack of depth on the men's alpine team continued to show here today, but Tahir Bisic continues to have a career-best season. He was 18th after the morning run, but had the third fastest second run to move into a ninth place finish with a two-run time of 2:09.56. Nevada's Tommi Viirret won the race in 2:07.86. Also finishing in scoring position was Cody Jenick (2:10.67) and Fritz Ernemann (2:11.06).
The meet will conclude Saturday with the slalom and freestyle races.
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BUFFS TRAIL NEW MEXICO BY SIX POINTS AT MICHELOBO INVITE/2-2-2
MicheLobo-UNM Invitational Team Scores?1. New Mexico 291; 2. COLORADO 285; 3. Denver 275; 4. Utah 219; 5. Nevada 202; 6. Western State 124; 7. Montana State 117; 8. Whitman 109; 9. Alaska-Anchorage 99; 10. Boise State 75.
Men's 10k Classical (Red River, N.M.)?1. Eriend Hoff, DU, 29:48.5; 2. Tor Erik Schjellerud, CU, 30:13.4; 3. Henning Dybendal, Utah, 30:39.1; 4. Henrik Hoye, CU, 30:56.4; 5. Martin Bartnes, DU, 31:08.3; 6. Erling Christiansen, CU, 31:14.1; 7. Geir-Endre Rogn, UNM, 31:14.5; 8. Jesse Carlstrom, UN, 31:16.7; 9. Dirk Grimm, UNM, 31:26.2; 10. Amund Hansen, DU, 31:37.6. Other CU Finishers: 12. Josh Smullin, 32:24.5; 13. Nick Sterling, 33:03.4.
Women's 5k Classical (Red River, N.M.)?1. Martina Stursova, UNM, 17:31.6; 2. Jana Rehemaa, CU, 18:12.1; 3. Lena Jensen, UNM, 18:17.4; 4. Claire Critchley, CU, 18:30.8; 5. Karin Camenisch, DU18:43.4; 6. Jenny Hansson, Utah, 18:45.2; 7. Barbro Hatlevik, Utah, 19:01.1; 8. Muriele Huberli, CU, 19:05.2; 9. Sandra Gredig, Utah, 19:12.2; 10. Trine Lundamo, UNM, 19:14.3. Other CU Finishers: 20. Brooke Rygg, 20:58.4
Men's Giant Slalom (Taos, N.M.)?1. Tommi Viirret, UN, 2:07.86; 2. Lars Ola Kjos, DU, 2:08.16; 3. Dominik Schweiger, DU, 2:08.19; 4. Christian Ringvold, UAA, 2:08.21; 5. Lars Loeseth Sunde, UNM, 2:08.24; 6. David Lamb, DU, 2:08.32; 7. Petter Roering, UNM, 2:09.33; 9. Tahir Bisic, CU, 2:09.56; 10. Michal Rajcan, UN, 2:09.61. Other CU Finishers: Cody Jenick, 2:10.67; Fritz Ernemann, 2:11.06; Michael Read, 2:13.22
Women's Giant Slalom (Taos, N.M.)?1. Mateja Gombac, BSU, 2:14.14; 2. Jennifer Delich, UNM, 2:14.39; 3. Erika Hogan, CU, 2:14.49; 4. Kathrin Spendier, UNM, 2:14.54; 5. Kristin Taylor, CU, 2:14.56; 6. Smaranda Munteanu, MSU, 2:14.60; 7. Rowena Bright, Utah, 2:14.62; 8. Spela Bertoncelj, 2:14.85; 9. Margit Walter, BSU, 2:15.19; 10. Helena Woodrow, UNM, 2:15.35. Other CU Finishers: 18. Julie Czesnowski, 2:17.18; Erin McEachren, 2:18.87; Sarah Fischer, 2:20.36
Players Mentioned
