Buff Skiers In Lead At New Mexico Invitational

Friday, February 11

Taos/Red River, N.M.

All Day

Colorado

New Mexico Invitational (GS/CL)

Photo by: CUBuffs.com

February 11, 2005 | Skiing

By: CUBuffs.com

RED RIVER/TAOS VALLEY, N.M. - The University of Colorado ski team is in the lead after the first day of the New Mexico Invitational, but bad weather Friday cancelled the men's giant slalom leaving only three events to count in the standings.

The Buffaloes lead with 223 points, just ahead of Denver's 219 total as the Pioneers are gunning for their third straight team win. Host New Mexico is in third with 190 and Utah fourth at 181.

Though the Buffs' weakest discipline to date has been on the men's alpine side, it enjoyed its best overall day this winter in posting five top five finishes in the other three events, the most by any school (Denver was next with four). And even despite one of its nordic stars sitting out due to sickness, the Buffs likely would have been at or near the top regardless of the cancelled men's giant slalom.

It was cancelled due to visibility factors, as fog enveloped the mountain at Taos Ski Valley and made things dangerous for the skiers. It will be made up at the NCAA West Regional in Bozeman, Mont., in two weeks, ahead of the regional GS (thus, the final standings for the UNM meet won't be calculated until that time).

The women were able to get their race in, and the Buffaloes shined with three finishing in the top nine. Freshman Lucie Zikova narrowly lost to Utah's Rowena Bright by the slimmest of margins, as Bright skied the two runs in a time of 2:06.43, with Zikova one-hundredths of a second back in 2:06.44. Zikova led Bright by the same margin after the first run.

Another Buff freshman, Rachel Roosevelt, finished fifth in 2:06.96, while sophomore Kristin Taylor was ninth in 2:08.53 and junior Erika Hogan 13th in 2:09.81.

"It's the first time this year we are leading, and it's something to build on," CU head coach Richard Rokos said. "The girls skied awesome in the GS, one of our best races. Lucie was leading by one-hundredths of a second after the first run, and the softer snow and the ruts, with a little snow and fog made just enough difference on the second run and Rowena (Bright) just edged her by two-one hundredths. But overall, just a very good race for us."

In the men's 10-kilometer classical nordic race, Buff juniors Erling Christiansen and Henrik Hoye finished third and fourth, respectively, the second straight race the pair have both finished in the top five. Denver's Haavard Selseng won in a 30:00.5 time to edge teammate Rene Reisshauer by less than three seconds; Christiansen completed the course in 30:15.0 and Hoye in 30:34.9. With senior Tor Erik Schjellerud out due to illness, junior Nick Sterling responded with a career best finish, as he placed 12th in 32:29.8.

Senior Muriele Huberli, who almost decided not to race due to the effects of a lingering illness, went out and skied to a third place finish in the women's 5-kilometer classic. New Mexico's Martina Stursova won her second straight race, posting a 20-plus second win in a 17:46.8 time. That topped her teammate, Tine Lundamo, who was second in 18:05.9, with Huberli third in 18:29.0. Junior Brooke Rygg had the surprise CU result of the day, as she grabbed sixth in 19:11.8; it was her first top 10 finish as a collegian, and topped her previous college best, an 11th place finish in the 5K freestyle at Denver's meet last month.

"At this stage of the game, we're trying to get either get qualified or improve our seedings for the NCAA's," CU Nordic coach Bruce Cranmer said. "Brooke was looking pretty good coming in here, but she wasn't locked in. The result she got today solidified her for NCAA's and also gave her the confidence that she can post a top 10 finish. It was really exciting for her. Everyone else here is sick and for Muriele to end up third and the two guys (Christiansen and Hoye) coming out of being sick to finish in the top four were really exception results.

"I didn't have great expectations, even though other teams are hurting and fighting illness too, so I was very pleased with the way everyone skied and the results we posted."

The weather shouldn't affect Saturday's cross country freestyle races, while the men and women are scheduled to proceed with the slalom races as planned.

New Mexico Invitational Team Scores-1. Colorado 223; 2. Denver 219; 3. New Mexico 190; 4. Utah 181; 5. Montana State 153; 6. Nevada 149; 7. Whitman 83; 8. Western State 80; 9. Boise State 55; 10. Alaska-Anchorage 28.

Men's 10K Classical-1. Haavard Selseng, DU, 30:00.5; 2. Rene Reisshauer, DU, 30:03.1; 3. Erling Christiansen, CU, 30:15.0; 4. Henrik Hoye, CU, 30:24.9; 5. Andre Haugsboe, DU, 30:51.5; 6. Geir Endre Rogn, UNM, 31:11.7; 7. Mark Iverson, MSU, 31:20.8; 8. Dirk Grimm, UNM, 31:25.8; 9. Jess Kiesel, Utah, 31:46.5; 10. Jesse Carlstrom, UNR, 31:48.2. Other CU Finishers: 12. Nick Sterling, 32:29.8; 21. Tim Damrow, 33:31.7.

Women's 5K Classical-1. Martina Stursova, UNM, 17:46.8; 2. Trine Lundamo, UNM, 18:05.9; 3. Muriele Huberli, CU, 18:29.0; 4. Sandra Gredig, Utah, 18:34.1; 5. Sally Johnson, UNR, 19:06.9; 6. Brooke Rygg, CU, 19:11.8; 7. Linda Pettersson, Utah, 19:15.4; 8. Tara Hamilton, DU, 19:16.2; 9. Julia Swieder, DU, 19:18.2; 10. Andrea Roberts, UNM, 19:22.1. Other CU Finishers: 13. Jessica Gray, 19:33.3; 22. Maria Malmin, 20:27.5.

Men's Giant Slalom-cancelled.

Women's Giant Slalom-1. Rowena Bright, Utah, 2:06.43; 2. Lucie Zikova, CU, 2:06.44; 3. Florence Roujas, DU, 2:06.61; 4. Tiina Salo, UNR, 2:06.89; 5. Rachel Roosevelt, CU, 2:06.96; 6. Lindsay McClure, DU, 2:07.38; 7. Linsa Johansson, Utah, 2:07.69; 8. April Mancuso, Utah, 2:07.75; 9. Kristin Taylor, CU, 2:08.53; 10. Karine Falck-Pedersen, DU, 2:08.88. Other CU Finishers: 13. Erika Hogan, 2:09.81; 40. Janicke Brusletto, 2:26.81.