Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
Alpine
Players Mentioned
Skiers Fall To 8th At NCAA Championships
March 11, 2005 | Skiing
STOWE, Vt. -Â The University of Colorado ski team's struggles continued here Friday, as the Buffaloes suffered a pair of bad breaks, falling to eighth in the standings in being eliminated from the title hunt here in the 52nd NCAA Championships.
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CU needed a lot of things to happen, some out of its control, to be in position to contend for the crown, but the misfortune the Buffs had the first two days carried over into the women's slalom Friday, one of Colorado's strongest events.
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Denver remained in the lead with 551.5 team points, with Vermont still in second with 526, as the Pioneers extended their lead by four-and-a-half points from the midway point on Thursday. Dartmouth is in third, well back with 465 points, as it appears it will be a DU-UVM battle for the trophy Saturday.
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That's because in the net point standings, it's still appears to be a Denver-Vermont confrontation. Denver has 498.5 net points, followed by Vermont (479) and then Dartmouth (431).Â
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Colorado is eighth in both the gross and net standings, and appears at this point to be shooting for no better than a sixth place finish.  CU has never finished below fifth in the NCAA's since the sport went coed in 1983, and achieved that finish just twice, in 1985 and 1992. Otherwise, you have to go back to 1981 to find a lower finish for the women (eighth) and 1956 for the men (sixth).
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"We are going into the last day not anywhere close to where we had hoped to be," CU head coach Richard Rokos said. "Today was our day to recover, really our last chance to position ourselves to make a run at things, and Lucie (Zikova) did great. But it was consistent with the bad luck we've seemed to have had here. Sometimes you catch all or most of the breaks, and years like this one, you don't get any. We're still fighting hard and hopefully we can recover a little bit and finish in the top five, but at this point, we're also thinking about the future."
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In the women's slalom, Zikova, a freshman, finished fourth to earn first-team All-America honors. Her two-run time of 1:26.94 missed a medal by less than half a second, as Denver's Florence Roujas was third, claiming the bronze in 1:26.46. Middlebury's Megan Hughes won in 1:25.39, edging Nevada's Tiina Salo by four one-hundredths of a second. Zikova was fifth after her first run.
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"I was sorry to miss the podium, but I skied appropriately to my ability and am very satisfied," Zikova said. "It was a hard race and pretty icy the whole way down, but I'm used to that. Skiing here (in the east) reminds me of skiing in Europe, but I've struggled a
little bit here because I had gotten used to the soft powder out west so quickly.
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"I'm excited to ski Steamboat," she added in referring to the 2006 championships CU will host in Steamboat Springs. "My first (U.S.) skiing was in Eldora, but my first races here were in Steamboat and I won both of them (a FIS event prior to the collegiate season). I like Steamboat and can't wait to go back."
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That was the good news for CU's women's alpine team, it's strongest and most consistent unit this winter. There was a double dose of bad news, as freshman Rachel Roosevelt was disqualified for apparently straddling a gate near the end of her second run, and junior Erika Hogan had a mishap at the top of her first run, costing her anywhere from five to seven seconds.
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Roosevelt had posted a 1:27.59 time to originally place seventh, which would have been good for 36 team points. However, the judges felt she straddled one of the last gates near the end of her second run, and with tapes not providing any visual to the contrary, she was disqualified.
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"In her mind, she thought something unusual may have happened (at that gate) but she felt she did not straddle it," Rokos said.  "We didn't have any evidence on tape to fight it. Everything else was inconclusive, so the jury had to back up the judges with the ruling. It was just a bad break."
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Hogan, who also reinjured a thumb in training on Wednesday, was 32nd after skiing her first run in 49.08 as she had some trouble at the top of the hill. Her pole broke through the ice right out of the gate and her basket got caught; she managed to hang on, never losing the pole, and eventually had to hike a bit at the fifth gate. She bounced back with a 43.63 time the second time down, the sixth fastest clocking in the afternoon, to finish 24th in 1:32.71.
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Earlier in the men's slalom, Dartmouth's David Chodounsky claimed the national title in a two-run time of 1:18.12, easily defeating Middlebury's John Rusten, who was second in 1:19.43. There was plenty of hiking due to falls on the icy terrain, including three skiers who had placed in the top 10 after the morning run.
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CU freshman Joel Adams, the only male Buff alpine skier to qualify for the NCAA's, finished 19th in 1:25.21. He was 24th after the first run after starting in 28th position; he might have finished higher had he not experienced losing his balance after he hit some ice near the top of the first run and had to regain his momentum. Â
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"Today didn't go as I had hoped," Adams said. "It was just bumpy on both runs. It was a rough week for me, but I need to put it behind me and look forward to next year. I'm really looking forward to skiing at home next year (Steamboat)."
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               The competition concludes up Saturday morning with the freestyle cross country races at the Trapp Family Lodge. The women's 15-kilometer race is set for 8 a.m. MST, with the men's 20K version the final event of the week at 10 a.m.
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NCAA Championship Team Scores-1. Denver 551.5; 2. Vermont 526; 3. Dartmouth 465; 4. Utah 450; 5. New Mexico 407; 6. Middlebury 319; 7. Colby 316; 8. Colorado 313; 9. Alaska-Anchorage 303; 10. Nevada 287; 11. New Hampshire 238.5; 12. Williams 215; 13. Montana State 189; 14. Northern Michigan 186; 15. Boise State 104; 16. Alaska-Fairbanks 84; 17. Whitman 44; 18. Michigan Tech 36; 19. Western State 29; 20. Wisconsin-Green Bay 28; 21. Bates 24; 22. St. Lawrence 22.   Â
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Team Leaders (Net Points)-1. Denver 498.5;Â 2. Vermont 479;Â 3. Dartmouth 431;Â 4. Utah 431;Â 5. New Mexico 395;Â 6. Middlebury 319;Â 7. Colby 316;Â 8. Colorado 313;Â 9. Alaska-Anchorage 303;Â 10. Nevada 287.
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Men's Slalom-1. David Chodounsky, Dart., 1:18.12; 2. John Rusten, Midd., 1:19.43; 3. Greg Hardy, UVM, 1:19.69; 4. Dominik Schweiger, DU, 1:19.85; 5. Mark Heinrich-Wallace, UU, 1:21.26; 6. Erik Kankainen, Dart., 1:21.53; 7. Lars Loeseth Sunde, UNM, 1:21.68; 8. Christian Ringvold, UAA, 1:21.84; 9. John Martz, UNH, 1:22.68; 10. Paul Epstein, UVM, 1:22.71. CU Finisher: 19. Joel Adams, 1:25.21.
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Women's Slalom-1. Megan Hughes, Midd., 1:25.39; 2. Tiina Salo, UNR, 1:25.43; 3. Florence Roujas, DU, 1:26.46; 4. Lucie Zikova, CU, 1:26.49; 5. Quincy Young, UNR, 1:27.12; 6. Amy Cochran, UVM, 1:27.26; 7. Sydney Mikkelson, UNH, 1:27.77; 8. Pia Rivelsrud, DU, 1:27.77; 9. Gladys Weidt, UNM, 1:28.25; 10. Christin Lathrop, Dart., 1:28.43. Other CU Finisher: 24. Erika Hogan, 1:32.71. DQ?Rachel Roosevelt (2nd run).
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BUFFALO BITS
?      CU sophomore Tim Damrow finished eighth in the 10K classic Friday in the 2005 Junior Olympic Nordic Ski Championships in Truckee, Calif. Damrow posted a 31:12.2 time, as Luke Pletcher won in 29:57.9. The final event is the 3x5 relay on Saturday. Damrow won the gold medal in the sprint competition Monday, as he covered the 1-kilometer course in 1 minute and 57.03 seconds, and was 12th in the 15-kliometer freestyle Wednesday.
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(Associate SID Colleen Reilly Krueger contributed to this report.)
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