Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
Utah Invitational (GS/FS)
SKIERS IN THIRD AT UTAH
January 05, 2005 | Skiing
PARK CITY AND MIDWAY, Utah-Â In a season where the ski team returns 13 letterwinners and seven All-Americans, it was the Buff newcomers, paced by Lucie Zikova's runner-up slalom finish, that stepped up to the challenge in their first NCAA races to give the Buffs a strong start to the 2005 campaign, trailing both Denver and the preseason top-ranked team in the nation, Utah, by 38 points after the first day of competition at the Utah Invitational at the Park City Mountain Resort and Soldier Hollow here Wednesday.
With a classical win by the men and second place men's slalom showing, Denver leads at the midway point of the carnival with 283 points, leading Utah (259), Colorado (245) and defending national champion New Mexico (236).
"Our off season recruiting efforts have resulted in immediate impacts," said head coach Richard Rokos who kicked off his 15th season Wednesday.
A recent storm played havoc with the men's GS and women's slalom courses, setting the stage for very soft, bumpy and uneven skiing, "The hill was not prepared for it. The conditions were almost unsafe. We're lucky that no one was injured," said Rokos.
Denver's Florence Roujas won the women's slalom, with a two run combined time of 1 minute, 42.27 seconds. Buff newcomer Lucie Zikova, who joined the team from the Czech Republic National Team at the semester break, had the morning's second fastest first run (47.99), which made up for her struggles on the afternoon's second, for a total time of 1:44.61. U.S. National Team transplant Rachel Roosevelt (1:45.19) was the Buffs' second scorer in fourth place and Kristin Taylor (1:46.67), finished 14th, slightly off her freshman year pace in this race where she finished 11th. Newcomers Janicke Brusletto (1:47.33) and Catherine Brown (1:59.93) finished 17th and 27th, respectively. Colorado's strongest slalom skier a year ago, Erika Hogan hooked her tip and straddled a gate in her first run forcing the All-American to settle for a DNF. The CU women tallied 75 points in the event to Utah's 69.
The men's giant slalom race had a similar look with freshmen Joel Adams and Miles Cooke turning in the top two Buff finishes. Utah veteran Benjamin Thornhill (2:06.11) edged Alaska-Anchorage's AndreasNeuhauser (2:06.35), while Adams, on the strength of a strong first run, had a two-run time of 2:07.41 to finish eighth and Cooke (2:10.25), 22nd, just two places ahead of senior Tahir Bisic (2:10.51) who also finished two places ahead of classmate Fritz Ernemann (2:12.10). 2003 All-American Brad Hogan suffered a fate similar to his sister's and did not finish his morning run.
"This is one of the most balanced men's teams that we've ever had," complimented Rokos.
The men's nordic team pulled together for the Buffs' second strongest finish of the day, second in the 10k classic. The national runner-up a year ago in the classic, Tor Erik Schjellerud finished fourth here Wednesday in 29:04.7, trailing race winner Jon Stene of Denver by 35 seconds. But the Buffs went 4-6-7 with Erling Christiansen finishing fourth in 30:00.7, and Henrik Hoye (30:09.6) seventh to rack up 76 points to Denver's 85. All five skiers had top-20 finishes, with Nick Sterling improving a pair of places from last year to finish 18th and Tim Damrow, 19th.
Without the All-American efforts of Jana Rehemaa (redshirting) and Muriele Huberli today, the CU women finished seventh in Soldier Hollow. Western State transfer Jess Gray was motivated to ski against her former teammates for the first time and finished a team-best 11th in 18:18, 1:53 off the winning pace of Alaksa-Anchorage's Mandy Kaempf (16:25). At 29th, Brooke Rygg had a career-best finish here today in 19:50.3, followed by newcomers Maria Malmin (20:14.6) and Mia Gow (21:37.0).
The second, and final, day of the Utah Invitational continues Thursday with the men's slalom, women's GS and both freestyle races.
TEAM STANDINGS: 1. Denver, 283-points; 2. Utah, 259; 3. COLORADO, 245; 4. New Mexico, 236; 5. Alaska-Anchorage, 223; 6. Montana State, 165; 7. Nevada, 157; 8. Western State, 108; 9. Whitman, 107; 10. Boise State, 29.0.
MEN'S GIANT SLALOM: 1. Benjamin Thornhill, UU, 2:06.11; 2. Andreas Neuhauser, UAA, 2:06.35; 3. Dominik Schweiger, DU, 2:06.48; 4. David Lamb, DU, 2:06.95; 5. Peter Roering, UNM, 2:07.15; 6. Lars Poeseth Sunde, UNM, 2:07.18; 7. Carl Rixon Jr., WSC, 2:07.18; 8. Joel Adams, CU, 2:07.41; 9. Tony Cesolini, WSC, 2:07.77; 10. Alex Mach, UNM, 2:08.09. Other CU Finishers: 22. Miles Cooke, 2:10.25; 24. Tahir Bisic, 2:10.51; 26. Fritz Ernemann, 2:12.10; Brad Hogan, DNF1
WOMEN'S SLALOM: 1. Florence Roujas, DU, 1:42.27; 2. Lucie Zikova, CU, 1:44.61; 3. Hailey Duke, WSC, 1:44.65; 4. Rachel Roosevelt, CU, 1:45.19; 5. Jaana-Maari Vaelimaeki, UN, 1:45.27; 6. April Mancuso, UU, 1:45.45; 7. TIina Salo, UN, 1:45.56; 8. Kimberly Stephens, UU, 1:45.66; 9. Lindsay McClure, DU, 1:46.05; 10. Spela Bertoncelj, BSU, 1:46.18. Other CU Finishers: 14. Kristin Taylor, 1:46.67; 17. Janicke Brusletto, 1:47.33; 27. Catherine Brown, 1:53.93; Erika Hogan, DNF1.
MEN'S 10k CLASSICAL: 1. John Stene, DU, 28:29.7; 2. Rene Reisshauer, DU, 28:47.2; 3. Zachary Violett, UAA, 29:00.9; 4. Tor Erik Schjellerud, CU, 29:04.7; 5. Havard Selseng, DU, 29:54.8; 6. Erling Christiansen, CU, 30:00.7; 7. Henrik Hoye, CU, 30:09.6; 8. Inge Kristoffersen, UNM, 30:09.8; 9. Daniel Sonntag, UU, 30:27.4; 10. Benjamin Sonntag, UAA, 30:28.4. Other CU Finishers: 18. Nick Sterling, 32:04.6; 19. Tim Damrow, 32:11.1.
WOMEN'S 5K CLASSICAL: 1. Mandy Kaempf, UAA, 16:25; 2. Trine Lundamo, UNM, 17:13.8; 3. Tara Hamilton, DU, 17:17.7; 4. Sarah Hansen, UAA, 17:55.8; 5. Laura Valaas, Whitman, 18:02.0; 6. Sandra Gredig, UU, 18:05.7; 7. Andrea Roberts, UNM, 18:08.5; 8. Barbro Hatlevik, UU, 18:11.6; 9. Julia Swieder, DU, 18:12.9; 10. Emily Robins, MSU, 18:14.2. CU Finishers: 11. Jessica Gray, 18:18.0; 29. Brooke Rygg, 19:50.3; 32. Maria Malmin, 20:14.6; 36. Mia Gow, 21:37.0;
Players Mentioned
