BUFF SKIERS READY FOR NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP RUN

BOULDER - The University of Colorado ski team has made a habit out of qualifying the maximum number of skiers for the NCAA Championships since the sport went coed in 1983. In fact, on only two occasions in 21 years has CU not competed with a full cupboard at the national meet; the problem is the 2004 team joins the 2001 unit in that department.

However, the Buffaloes remain confident they will be a factor, despite a disappointing fifth place finish in last month's NCAA West Regional at Crested Butte. Colorado qualified 11 skiers for the NCAA's, one under the maximum, which begin Wednesday in the Lake Tahoe area. The Buffs finished third in 2003, and last won the title in 1999 and has 16 in the sport.

"Well, regionals didn't go so well, so we're going in as an underdog, but that's all right," CU head coach Richard Rokos said. "We've had a fabulous cross country team, probably our strongest since I've been head coach. We had some issues on the alpine team back and forth all year. We didn't sacrifice values or give in, and as a result, we are less of a power than we are accustomed to being.

"We have some good, first group seeds, especially in cross country, so with a little luck, we're confident we can still compete for the title," he continued. "Vermont demonstrated last year that you can be in contention without a full team, and they finished in second despite being down two skiers. So sometimes it comes down to having some luck and having some other things go your way, along with being rewarded for when you ski smart and if you take advantage of calculated risks."

Colorado will have to rely on its nordic team for the foundation of whatever finish it achieves in California. Senior Claire Critchley, juniors Muriele Huberli, Jana Rehemaa and Tor Erik Schjellerud along with sophomores Erling Christiansen and Henrik Hoye comprise an experienced unit that has six previous NCAA Championship experiences among them. CU's cross country skiers have 32 top five and 48 top 10 finishes this winter.

The Buffs won the nordic title at the regional, and four of the five meets this winter on the nordic side of the ledger. While alpine struggled, the women for the most part were the second best team in the west behind Denver, but depth issues hampered the men. They qualified only two skiers for nationals, junior Tahir Bisic and Cody Jenick, with the freshman Jenick making it in at the last possible moment at the regional.

Senior Erin McEachren, sophomore Erika Hogan and freshman Kristin Taylor will make up the CU women's alpine team, as Rokos had to leave home three-time All-American and NCAA participant Mia Cullman. "The other three just had better years, but it was still hard to leave Mia behind because she's meant so much to us."

"We had a lot of ups and downs throughout the season, but generally were a top three team in the west," Rokos added. "The regional finish isn't a good indicator of our strength. Alpine was under pressure to qualify, and we had plans to take chances and risks to move up, and this was one of those seasons where they didn't pay off. We put everything on the line and because of some mistakes here and there, we ended up worse than we ever expected. But that happens, especially in an event like the slalom. Since cross country won their portion, it kind of hid the fact that we didn't have too good of a race on the alpine side."

Hogan and Schjellerud are CU's only individual winners so far this season (Hogan in the slalom at Utah, the first race of the year, and Schjellerud in the 10K classic in CU's invitational). Rehemaa finished second six times and enters the NCAA's looking for her first collegiate win, while Schjellerud took home runner-up honors four times. Rehemaa placed in the top five in nine of 10 races, and was seventh the other occasion; Schjellerud placed in the top five in all eight races he skied in.

"Denver is coming on strong, and New Mexico has a very good team; they were the most consistent teams in the west," Rokos said. "Then there's Utah, Alaska, us, UVM, Middlebury, Dartmouth" it looks like the traditional teams will contend again for the top spots. But I don't make predictions. Our goal never changes: we want to win the NCAA Championship."

The giant slalom races open the NCAA Championships on Wednesday, March 10, with the women first up at 10:30 a.m. mountain (first run; the second will immediately follow), with the men going at 1:45 p.m. The freestyle cross country races take center stage on Thursday, March 11, with the women's 5k at 10:30 a.m., followed by the men's 10k at 11:30 a.m. The slalom races are set for Friday, March 12, as the men's commences at 10:30 a.m. with the women's at 11:30 a.m. The competition wraps up Saturday, March 13, with the classical cross country races, with the men's 20K at 10 a.m. and the women's 15K at Noon.