Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
NCAA West Regionals (GS/FS)
Players Mentioned
Skiers In Fourth At NCAA West Regional
February 25, 2005 | Skiing
BOZEMAN, Mont. -Â The University of Colorado ski team had one of those days Friday, a couple of season best results offset by some bad luck while some skier still fought off illness, as the Buffaloes stood in fourth place at the midway point of the NCAA West Regional.
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Denver owns the lead with 293 points, with defending NCAA champion New Mexico in second with 259.5. Alaska-Anchorage, thanks to a solid day in cross country, is in a surprising third with 245.5, with Colorado (226.5) and Utah (212) rounding out the top five.
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Junior Henrik Hoye had CU's top result Friday, as he finished second in the men's 10-kilometer freestyle race, a season-best finish for him. His time of 29:05.4 was less than a second behind Denver's Rene Reisshauer, who won the staggered-start race in 29:04.5. Junior Erling Christiansen finished eighth in 29:59.2, with senior Tor Erik Schjellerud placing 17th in 31:14.9; both have been battling sickness and it was Schjellerud's first college race in more than a month. Both are qualified with good seeds for NCAA's and aren't skiing all out in this meet.
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In the women's 5K version, senior Muriele Huberli had Colorado's only top 20 finish, as she was fifth in a 17:17.4 clocking. New Mexico's Martina Stursova won her fourth straight race, covering the course in 16:21.4. Senior Jessica Gray had CU's next best showing, as she was 21st in 18:09.9.
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In the women's giant slalom, Colorado had two top 10 performances, as junior Erika Hogan was seventh in a two-run time of 1:42.30 and sophomore Kristin Taylor ninth in 1:42.65; Denver's Florence Roujas won in 1:39.46. Hogan was sixth in Thursday's slalom, a make-up race for the New Mexico meet, and has now had her two best races this winter back-to-back as she appears to be peaking at just the right time.
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CU's star freshmen, Rachel Roosevelt and Lucie Zikova, had rough days as both weren't able to finish on their first runs. Roosevelt came over the top of her ski early in the run and skied off the course, while Zikova, after being granted a re-run due to some technical issues, did the same on her second chance.
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            Colorado's precarious discipline at the moment is the men's alpine team, as heading into Friday, only Buffalo had qualified with certainty for the NCAA's. That changed on Friday, as sophomore Brad Hogan posted his best collegiate finish since the 2003 season by taking fourth in the GS in a 1:28.02 time. New Mexico's Petter Roering won in 1:27.71, with Western State's Greg Besse next at 1:27.87 and DU's Todd Ligare third in 1:28.00. All four posted their season best giant slalom finishes in the race.
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           Freshman Joel Adams, who did not finish his second run Friday, and Hogan are now qualified for nationals. Senior Fritz Ernemann tied for 12th in 1:28.67 to log CU's next best result, while freshman Miles Cooke was 17th in 1:29.65 and senior Tahir Bisic 21st in 1:30.77. If any one of the three can produce a top 10 finish Saturday, they would likely automatically qualify. It gets a little dicier if the finishes are down the line.
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            "Both the guys and girls had great results on Thursday, I wish we could have skied the same today but things didn't go as well," CU head coach Richard Rokos said. "We still had some good things happen. Brad Hogan put together a spectacular stretch at the end of his second run and had his best finish in two years, and Erika (his sister) skied very consistent and those were very important results for us."Â
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            Hogan's second run, timed at 43.53 seconds, was the fastest by any racer the second time down the mountain, and was the first alpine run won by a Buffalo since the 2003 season.
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            "We have to go through a qualifying meeting after Saturday's races, and we still have a couple of guys on the bubble," Rokos said. "We should have 11 (of 12 maximum skiers) qualified for NCAA's with no problem, but we need a third alpine man. Everything will depend on how we do in the slalom. But the slalom is a great qualifier, as it's all about consistency and finishing."
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             The Regional concludes Saturday with the slalom races in alpine, along with the freestyle Nordic races, which will be the longest of the winter, 15K for the women and 20K for the men. The NCAA Championships are in Stowe, Vt., March 9-12.
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NCAA West Regional Team Scores-1. Denver 293;Â 2. New Mexico 259.5;Â 3. Alaska-Anchorage 245.5;Â 4. Colorado 226.5;Â 5. Utah 212;Â 6. Montana State 185;Â 7. Nevada 144;Â 8. Western State 112.5;Â 9. Whitman 100;Â 10. Boise State 35.
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Women's 5K Classical-1. Martina Stursova, UNM, 16:21.4; 2. Mandy Kaempf, UAA, 16:51.1; 3. Laura Valaas, Whit., 17:12.0; 4. Trine Lundamo, UNM, 17:15.3; 5. Muriele Huberli, CU, 17:17.4; 6. Nicole DeYong, UAA, 17:17.8; 7. Tara Hamilton, DU, 17:22.2; 8. Sarah Hansen, UAA, 17:30.7; 9. Mandy Bowden, MSU, 17:37.0; 10. Barbro Hatlevik, Utah, 17:39.7. Other CU Finishers: 21. Jessica Gray, 18:09.9; 26. Brooke Rygg, 18:26.2; 35. Maria Malmin, 19:59.9.
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Men's 10K Classical-1. Rene Reisshauer, DU, 29:04.5; 2. Henrik Hoye, CU, 29:05.4; 3. Haarvard Selseng, DU, 29:32.2; 4. John Stene, DU, 29:36.6; 5. Andre Haugsboe, DU, 29:50.2; 6. Zach Violett, UAA, 29:53.2; 7. Magnus Carlsson, Utah, 29:56.7; 8. Erling Christiansen, CU, 29:59.2; 9. Dirk Grimm, UNM, 30:05.7; 10. Kjetil Dammen, UAA, 30:09.2. Other CU Finishers: 17. Tor Erik Schjellerud, 31:14.9; 18. Nick Sterling, 31:26.5; 31. Tim Damrow, 33:16.6.
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Men's Giant Slalom-  1. Petter Roering, UNM, 1:27.71; 2. Gregory Besse, WSC, 1:27.87; 3. Todd Ligare, DU, 1:28.00; 4. Brad Hogan, CU, 1:28.02; 5. Lars Loeseth Sunde, UNM, 1:28.08; 6. Dominik Schweiger, DU, 1:28.10; 7. Christian Ringvold, UAA, 1:28.26; 8. Mark Heinrich-Wallace, Utah, 1:28.36; 9. Alex Mach, UNM, 1:28.61; 10. David Lamb, DU, 1:28.64. Other CU Finishers: T12. Fritz Ernemann, 1:28.67; 17. Miles Cooke, 1:29.65; 21. Tahir Bisic, 1:30.77. DNF?Joel Adams (second run).
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Women's Giant Slalom-1. Florence Roujas, DU, 1:39.46; 2. Jaana-maari Vaelimaeki, UNR, 1:41.37; 3. Pia Rivelsrud, DU, 1:41.65; 4. Alexandra Munteanu, MSU, 1:41.94; 5. April Mancuso, Utah, 1:42.01; 6. Rowena Bright, Utah, 1:42.06; 7. Erika Hogan, CU, 1:42.30; 8. Spela Bertoncelj, BSU, 1:42.48; 9. Kristin Taylor, CU, 1:42.65; 10. Quincy Young, UNR, 1:42.87. Other CU Finishers: 27. Janicke Brusletto, 1:48.74. DNF?Rachel Roosevelt (first run), Lucie Zikova (first run).
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