Colorado University Athletics
Skiers Finish Second In UNM Meet; Regional Up Next
February 24, 2005 | Skiing
BOZEMAN, Mont. - The University of Colorado ski team enjoyed one of its best days in alpine this winter, and it couldn't have come at a better time as the Buffaloes utilized five top 10 finishes here Thursday to finish second in the New Mexico Invitational.
The men's giant slalom and the women's slalom were cancelled due to poor visibility in Santa Fe two weeks ago, and were rescheduled here one day ahead of the start of the NCAA West Regional. The Buffs came to ski, so-to-speak, as freshman Rachel Roosevelt won the slalom as Colorado placed three skiers in the top six en route to scoring 561 team points.
Denver won with 583 points, however, the Buffaloes appear to be peaking as CU tallied its highest point total of the season (73 points above its previous best). More so, DU edged the Buffs by just 22 points, whereas CU was 238 points combined out of the lead the first three races this winter, coming no closer than 54 points prior to Thursday.
Host and defending NCAA champion New Mexico finished third (526) with Utah fourth (512.5). The order of the top six teams in the standings did not change, but things did get tighter heading into this weekend's regional.
Roosevelt captured her first collegiate race in fine fashion, as she won in a two-run time of 1:29.62. She was eighth after the first run, but literally smoked the field the second time down, zooming around the 54 gates in 42.51 seconds, almost a second faster than any other skier, and she was able to top first-run leader Jaana-maari Vaelimaeki of Nevada by four-hundredths of a second.
Another CU freshman, Lucie Zikova, snared third place in 1:30.06, while junior Erika Hogan claimed sixth in 1:30.77. The results should help to improve the seeding of all three, not only for the regional this weekend, but also for the NCAA's in March. Colorado won the women's alpine competition overall in the meet, matching its accomplishment in the first meet at Utah and rebounding from a pair of third place showings in-between in the Alaska and Denver meets.
Colorado came in with just two top 10 finishes all winter in men's alpine action, but matched that number Thursday along with getting its first top five effort of the year. Freshman Joel Adams finished fifth as he clocked a 1:39.63 time in the giant slalom, won by New Mexico's Lars Loeseth Sunde in 1:38.63. Yet another CU rookie, Miles Cooke, grabbed eighth in 1:39.92, with sophomore Brad Hogan finally catching a break in finishing 11th (1:40.19). It was only his second result of the winter, as he had five "DNF's" (did not finish) and one disqualification in seven previous races. Senior Fritz Ernemann placed 14th in 1:40.55, and senior Tahir Bisic was 16th in 1:40.89.
All the finishes were badly needed to help the CU men improve their seed positions. Colorado has qualified full men's and women's cross country teams and a full women's alpine team for the NCAA Championships (three skiers per unit), and are in much better shape to do the same with men's alpine but still is in need of some solid results on the weekend to secure a third skier.
The Regional commences Friday with the giant slalom races for the alpine skiers and the classical races for cross country (5K for women, 10K for the men). The slalom events are Saturday, along with Nordic freestyle competition (15K women, 20K men). The NCAA Championships are in Stowe, Vt., March 9-12.
New Mexico Invitational Team Scores-1. Denver 583; 2. Colorado 561; 3. New Mexico 526; 4. Utah 512.5; 5. Montana State 386; 6. Nevada 359.5; 7. Whitman 218; 8. Western State 205; 9. Alaska-Anchorage 153; 10. Boise State 107.
Men's Giant Slalom-1. Lars Loeseth Sunde, UNM, 1:38.63; 2. Alex Mach, UNM, 1:39.37; 3. David Lamb, DU, 1:39.54; 4. Todd Ligare, DU, 1:39; 5. Joel Adams, CU, 1:39.63; 6. Mark Heinrich-Wallace, Utah, 1:39.76; 7. Christian Ringvold, UAA, 1:39.83; 8. Miles Cooke, CU, 1:39.92; 9. Andreas Neuhauser, UAA, 1:39.94; 10. Ian Dunlop, DU, 1:39.96. Other CU Finishers: 11. Brad Hogan, 1:40.19; 14. Fritz Ernemann, 1:40.55; 16. Tahir Bisic, 1:40.89.
Women's Slalom-1. Rachel Roosevelt, CU, 1:29.62; 2. Jaana-maari Vaelimaeki, UNR, 1:29.66; 3. Lucie Zikova, CU, 1:30.06; 4. Florence Roujas, DU, 1:30.31; 5. Lina Johansson, Utah, 1:30.71; 6. Erika Hogan, CU, 1:30.77; 7. Karine Falck-Pedersen, DU, 1:30.85; 8. April Mancuso, Utah, 1:30.99; 9. Gladys Weidt, UNM, 1:31.23; 10. Pia Rivelsrud, DU, 1:31.34. Other CU Finishers: 33. Kristin Taylor, 1:50.14.
