Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
NCAA West Regionals (SL/CL)
Players Mentioned
Skiers Finish Third At NCAA West Regional
February 26, 2005 | Skiing
BOZEMAN, Mont. -Â It was a good news, bad news day for the University of Colorado ski team Saturday at the NCAA West Regional.Â
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The women's alpine team had a dominant day in the slalom, rallying Colorado to a third place finish in the meet, the final tune-up ahead of next month's NCAA Championships. That was the good news.Â
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The bad news is that with two days of unique season finishes in men's alpine, the Buffs did not qualify a full 3-skier men's team for nationals. And that wasn't the worst of it; it looked like CU had clinched at least two of the three spots after Friday's giant slalom, but five top 10 finishes in the slalom by skiers from other schools, skiers without a single top 10 finish prior to Saturday, forced the Buffs to lose one of the two spots it appeared they had earned.
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Denver won with 560 points, with defending NCAA champion New Mexico in second with 530. Colorado moved from fourth to third with 486.5, while Alaska-Anchorage took fourth (449.5) and Utah fifth (406.5).
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"That turned out to be the good news, moving up a spot, even though we had hoped for first or second," CU head coach Richard Rokos said. "The bad news came an hour later at the seed meeting." As of now, Colorado has qualified 10 skiers of the 12 maximum schools can enter into the NCAA's.
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"We'll have to go there and fight it," Rokos said. "We'll be a bit depleted and are giving up some spots, but if everything can work our way, we'd still be very much in it. You drop three results automatically (with a full 12-skier team), and so we're dropping four already before we get there. But this is a very competitive group of athletes, and while this is an obstacle, we'll do our best to take the challenge head on and try to overcome it."
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Sophomore Brad Hogan, who had CU's top finish in the slalom Saturday with a 1:39.35 two-run time for 11th place, is the odd man out at this point. When the smoke cleared after the final seeds were computed, he was the No. 19 ranked skier in the west; however, only 18 are allocated to men's alpine events from the western schools. Hogan is thus the first alternate; Rokos indicated that the first alternate has been utilized in the past several times, but someone ahead of him in the west will have to drop out due to injury or another reason.
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Nevada's Luke Patterson won the race in 1:37.60, with Denver's David Lamb second (1:38.09) and Alaska's David Duncan third (1:38.13); Duncan's result was likely the one that knocked Hogan out of the NCAA picture.
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Senior Fritz Ernemann was 12th in 1:39.54 in the race, which turned out to be the final one of his CU career, as he was seeded well down the line. Freshman Miles Cooke, 15th Saturday in 1:41.58, is the No. 21 seed and the third alternate. Another CU frosh, Joel Adams, placed 17th in 1:41.74, but three top 10 finishes in the giant slalom on the year earned him the No. 17 seed and as of now is the lone male Buff set to participate at nationals.Â
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Tahir Bisic, the only other senior alpine skier on the team, also concluded his Buff career Saturday with a 30th place finish in 2:06.19.
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In the women's slalom, Colorado had a 2-4-6-8 finish, the first time the Buffaloes had four skiers in the top 10 in any discipline this season (and one of just a handful this winter by any school).Â
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CU's star freshmen, Lucie Zikova and Rachel Roosevelt, bounced back from a disastrous Friday, when both failed to finish their first runs in the giant slalom, to place second and fourth respectively in the slalom. Denver's Pia Rivelsrud won with a 1:30.46 time, just nine one-hundredths of second ahead of Zikova. Roosevelt was fourth in 1:31.56, but for the second straight slalom, posted the fastest second run time of all skiers as he zipped past the 49 gates in 46.40 seconds. Zikova's second time down of 46.79 was the only other sub-47 clocking for that run.
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Junior Erika Hogan was sixth in 1:32.16 and sophomore Kristin Taylor eighth in 1:32.22.
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Zikova earned a No. 5 seed, with Roosevelt No. 7 and Hogan No. 12. Taylor's seed has her as the fourth alternate.
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"On the bright side, our alpine girls are skiing exceptionally well and is about as strong as you can have," Rokos concluded. "They've won by some pretty good margins this year. It's just unfortunate we're depleted on the men's side, but we're hoping somehow Brad can get in."
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Meanwhile in cross country, in the men's 20-kilometer freestyle, the first time the western skiers raced this long of a distance this winter, juniors Erling Christiansen and Henrik Hoye paved the way for the Buffaloes in an extremely tight race. Only 20 seconds separated the top eight finishers after 12-plus miles of skiing, with New Mexico's Dirk Grimm winning by four second over Alaska-Anchorage's Kjetil Dammen in a 53:36.4 time. Another UNM skier took third, Geir Rogn in 53:41.1, with Christiansen snaring fourth in 53:42.0. Hoye was seventh in 53:50.8. With senior Tor Erik Schjellerud dropping out after one lap around the 10K course, CU's third scorer was junior Nick Sterling, who was 19th in 56:56.1.
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Christiansen is the top individual seed in the west region for the NCAA Championships, with Schjellerud the No. 7 seed and Hoye the No. 9 skier. Two other Buffs cracked the top 25, with sophomore Tim Damrow No. 23 and Sterling No. 25.
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In the women's 15K race, also the season's longest test, in contrast to the men's cluster at the finish, Alaska's Mandy Kaempf won by almost a minute in posting a 43:43.7 time. It was her sixth win this winter; New Mexico's Martina Stursova, who finished second in 44:50.1, won the other four. CU senior Muriele Huberli matcher her season best finish by grabbing third in 45:40.1, but Colorado's next finisher was again a bit down the line. Senior Jessica Gray finished 17th in 47:52.8, with junior Brooke Rygg 21st in 49:08.3.
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All three qualified for the NCAA's, giving CU a full Nordic team. Huberli is the No. 5 seed, with Rygg the No. 19 seed and Gray in at No. 21.
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           "I think we're doing pretty well, considering the uphill battles a few of our skiers have had to endure," CU Nordic coordinator Bruce Cranmer said. "Henrik, Erling and Muriele are all in good shape. Erling led for a bunch of the race, and might have been right there at the end if it weren't for a couple of glitches and bumps here and there. But all feel they have a little extra left for the NCAA's. Brooke and Jess are maybe a bit behind from how they skied at New Mexico, but there were more healthy people here plus Alaska was in the meet, so the field was tougher. But in general, I think we're in good shape heading into the NCAA's.
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           "(Tor Erik) felt like he was struggling, and there was no point in continuing since he wasn't at his best," Cranmer added. "He needs to get healthy for nationals. He lost 8-10 pounds with the flu and was in bed for a week, so he's just now beginning to come around."
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           Teams now have two weeks to prepare for the NCAA Championships, which will be in Stowe, Vt., March 9-12.
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NCAA West Regional Team Scores-1. Denver 560;Â 2. New Mexico 530;Â 3. Colorado 486.5;Â 4. Alaska-Anchorage 449.5;Â 5. Utah 406.5;Â 6. Montana State 354;Â 7. Nevada 334;Â 8. Whitman 237;Â 9. Western State 221.5;Â 10. Boise State 72.
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Women's 15K Freestyle-1. Mandy Kaempf, UAA, 43:54.7; 2. Martina Stursova, UNM, 44:50.1; 3. Muriele Huberli, CU, 45:40.1; 4. Nicole DeYong, UAA, 45:42.9; 5. Laura Valaas, Whit., 45:56.3; 6. Bodil Ryste, DU, 46:08.3; 7. Pirkko Pulkkanen, UNM, 46:09.3; 8. Emily Robins, MSU, 46:09.9; 9. Nicole Naef, Utah, 46:10.3; 10. Trine Lundamo, UNM, 46:36.8. Other CU Finishers: 17. Jessica Gray, 47:52.8; 21. Brooke Rygg, 49:08.3; 32. Maria Malmin, 52:14.9.
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Men's 20K Freestyle-1. Dirk Grimm, UNM, 53:36.4; 2. Kjetil Dammen, UAA, 53:40.4; 3. Geir Rogn, UNM, 53:41.1; 4. Erling Christiansen, CU, 53:42.0; 5. Inge Kristoffersen, UNM, 53:43.4; 6. Haarvard Selseng, DU, 53:44.7; 7. Henrik Hoye, CU, 53:50.8; 8. Rene Reisshauer, DU, 53:56.9; 9. John Stene, DU, 54:34.1; 10. Zach Violett, UAA, 55:20.2. Other CU Finishers: 19. Nick Sterling, 56:56.1; 35. Tim Damrow, 1:03.32.9. DNF?Tor Erik Schjellerud.
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Men's Slalom-1. Luke Patterson, UNR, 1:37.60; 2. David Lamb, DU, 1:38.09; 3. David Duncan, UAA, 1:38.13; 4. Cameron Barnes, UNR, 1:38.21; 5. Hannes Zirknitzer, Whit., 1:38.33; 6. Cory Harris, MSU, 1:38.50; 7. Alex Mach, UNM, 1:38.82; 8. Gregory Besse, 1:38.92; 9. Lars Loeseth Sunde, UNM, and Benjamin Thornhill, DU, 1:39.17. CU Finishers: 11. Brad Hogan, 1:39.35; 12. Fritz Ernemann, 1:39.54; 15. Miles Cooke, 1:41.58; 17. Joel Adams, 1:41.74; 30. Tahir Bisic, 2:06.19.Â
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Women's Slalom-1. Pia Rivelsrud, DU, 1:30.46; 2. Lucie Zikova, CU, 1:30.55; 3. Florence Roujas, DU, 1:31.07; 4. Rachel Roosevelt, CU, 1:31.56; 5. Quincy Young, UNR, 1:32.08; 6. Erika Hogan, CU, 1:32.16; 7. Rowena Bright, Utah, 1:32.20; 8. Kristin Taylor, CU, 1:32.22; 9. April Macuso, Utah, 1:32.66; 10. Margit Walter, BSU, 1:33.64. Other CU Result: DNF?Janicke Brusletto (second run).