Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
Western State Invitational
Skiers Cruise To Win At Western State Invitational
February 11, 2006 | Skiing
CRESTED BUTTE ? Individual wins Saturday in the women's slalom and the men's and women's classical races paved the way for the University of Colorado ski team to win back-to-back meets for the first time in six years as the Buffaloes cruised to victory here in the Western State Invitational.
The No. 2 ranked Buffaloes scored the second-most points in a Western region meet since the current scoring format was adopted in 1998. Colorado won with 599? points, defeating top-ranked Denver in convincing fashion, as the defending NCAA champion Pioneers scored 556 with the 43?-point difference CU's third largest margin of victory in the same span. Colorado also owns the western record of 618, which it scored in the 2003 CU Invitational.
New Mexico finished third with 527 points, followed by Utah (450) and Nevada (412) to round out the top five; host Western State finished seventh (296?).
“It's good to be back at the top of the results,” head coach Richard Rokos said of his team's second straight win. “We've had some lean years when it came to victories, so I hope this signals the start of something good for us. This is a good confidence builder, having two second place finishes and then following with two victories. We can go into regionals with a little more momentum, and it definitely raises our own expectations high across the board.”
The Buffaloes had 22 top 10 finishes in the meet (Denver followed with 17 and New Mexico had 15), as that kind of balance has paved the way for CU the last two weekends. In winning its own invitational last weekend, Colorado had 21 top 10 efforts, thus have recorded 43 in the last 16 races, or 11 more than its nearest competitor. The Buffs, who snapped a 17-meet drought with the win last week, claimed back-to-back victories for the first time since winning four in a row in the middle of the 2000 season.
Rokos is ecstatic about his team's balance, which has already produced 71 top 10 individual finishes this season, nine more than all of last season with two meets remaining. “It really shows the strength and depth of the team, and I think that's what we've been shooting for for a long, long time,” he said. “Right now we feel we are able to attack with all four disciplines, men's and women's alpine and men's and women's cross country, yet there is still room for improvement and we will continue to work hard.
“Winning two meets in the middle of the season is nice, but our goal is to win the last one.” Colorado hosts the NCAA Championships in less than a month (March 8-11) at Steamboat Springs.
Lucie Zikova swept the alpine events in a meet for the second time this year, as the CU sophomore posted the fastest times in both runs Saturday for a 1:17.17 clocking in the women's slalom, easily winning over Nevada's Jaana Vaelimaeki (1:17.63). It was Zikova's fifth win in 2006, setting a school record for most wins in a single season by an alpine woman. Linda Wikstrom won four in 1999, matching the mark set the previous year by Caroline Gedde-Dahl. Zikova could have even more, as she finished second in the three races that she didn't claim the top honors.
Freshman Lisa Perricone continued her sensational season, posting her sixth top five effort of the winter in finishing third in 1:17.74. Junior Kristin Taylor (13th, 1:19.56), junior Sabrina Mocellin (15th, 1:19.93) and sophomore Rachel Roosevelt (17th, 1:20.12) rounded out the CU performances, as the Buffalo alpine women won their two events at a meet the fourth time in as many tries.
“Lucie and Lisa are very consistent and are racing neck-and-neck,” complimented Rokos of his top two alpine skiers. “Many others are doing well, so I don't like to single anyone out, but those two have been phenomenal as of late.”
In the men's giant slalom, New Mexico's Tor Fodnesbergene won easily in two-run time of 2:27.64, topping Nevada's Cameron Barnes by over four-tenths of a second. Colorado had two top finishes for just the third time in eight tries this winter (but in the last four races), as freshman Patrick Duran tied for seventh in 2:29.32 and sophomore Miles Cooke finished ninth in 2:29.38. CU's other scorer for the race was freshmen Jonas Kryzl, who placed 14th in 2:30.18
Senior Jana Rehemaa, who won first career collegiate race Friday, made it a double by claiming the 5-kilometer classical race in 17:53.8, good for over a 13-second victory over Denver's Ingvild Engesland. Rehemaa now has 20 top five finishes in 23 career races including her two wins here this weekend.
“Jana is peaking at the right time, and our (Nordic) coaches have done a great job with her, she's becoming a superior skier,” Rokos said. Rehemaa missed the first four races of the winter as she returned home to her native Estonia in hopes of qualifying for the Olympics. Since returning to the States, she finished second in the two races in Steamboat two weeks ago before breaking through for her first college gold.
Sophomore Maria Grevsgaard finished sixth in the race in 18:44.8, with freshman Lenka Palanova ninth 19:02.3 and sophomore Kristin Soenstegaard 13th in 19:23.6. Another CU sophomore, Mia Gaw, finished 15th (19:30.4) Saturday, after a career best 14th the previous day in the freestyle.
In the men's 10-kilometer classical race, sophomore Kit Richmond earned his first career victory, as he pulled away at the end for a three-plus second win in a 29:25.9 time, defeating New Mexico's Geir-Endre Rogn (29:29.3). Richmond was the runner-up the previous day in the freestyle race, at the time matching his collegiate best finish.
Seniors Henrik Hoye (eighth, 30:56.9) and Erling Christiansen (ninth, 31:20.8) marked the fifth straight race that the Buffs had three finishers in the top 10. Another Buff senior, Nick Sterling, posted his career best effort with an 11th place finish in 31:45.5.
“Kit's win is very promising for us, he'll be here for three more years, and he'll be the cornerstone of the team next year since we lose Erling and Henrik, who are graduating,” Rokos said.
Attention now turns to qualifying a full 12-skier team for the NCAA Championships. “We've qualified far more than we've needed in women's alpine and men's and women's Nordic at this point,” Rokos said. “Our only issues will be in men's alpine, we're close on a few guys qualifying, but we won't know for sure until the new rankings come out Monday. At the very least, I know we have some guys on the bubble, so once we see where we stand on Monday, we'll know what we'll need to do at the regionals.”
The NCAA West Regionals will take place February 23-24 in the Lake Tahoe area (Sugar Bowl and Auburn Ski Resort).
WESTERN STATE INVITATIONAL TEAM SCORES?1. Colorado 599?; 2. Denver 556; 3. New Mexico 527; 4. Utah 450; 5. Nevada 412; 6. Montana State 344; 7. Western State 296?; 8. Alaska-Anchorage 205; 9. Whitman 173; 10. Boise State 62.
Women's Slalom?1. Lucie Zikova, CU, 1:17.17; 2. Jaana-Maari Vaelimaeki, UN, 1:17.63; 3. Lisa Perricone, CU, 1:17.74; 4. Stefanie Klocker, UAA, 1:18.55; 5. Claire Abbe, DU, 1:18.67; 6. Karin Ohlin, UNM, 1:18.81; 7. Mikaela Grassl, Utah, 1:18.82; 8. Erika Hogan, Utah, 1:18.97; 9. Karine Falck Pedersen, DU, 1:19.01; 10. Florence Roujas, DU, 1:19.29. Other CU Finishers: 13. Kristin Taylor, 1:19.56; 15. Sabrina Mocellin, 1:19.93; 17. Rachel Roosevelt, 1:20.12.
Men's Giant Slalom?1. Tor Fodnesbergene, UNM, 2:27.64; 2. Cameron Barnes, UN, 2:28.06; 3. Scott Hume, UN, 2:28.70; 4. Will McDonald, Utah, 2:28.80; 5. Timothee Theaux, UAA, 2:29.05; 6. Scott Veenis, Utah, 2:29.09; 7. Patrick Duran, CU and Andre Hokholt, WSC, 2:29.32; 9. Miles Cooke, CU, 2:29.38; 10. Francesco Ghedina, CU, 2:29.44. Other CU Results: 14. Jonas Kryzl, 2:30.18; 24. Joel Adams, 2:33.10; 27. Jean-Francois Ferreira, 2:33.96; 20., 1:15.18. Did Not Finish (second run)?Josh Bryan, Tony Cesolini.
Women's 5K Classical?1. Jana Rehemaa, CU, 17:53.8; 2. Ingvild Engesland, DU, 18:07.2; 3. Melanie Zemp, UNM, 18:08.0; 4. Crystin Jaques, UNM, 18:14.6; 5. Anna-Karin Maeki, DU, 15:50.2; 6. Maria Grevsgaard, CU, 18:44.8; 7. Marit Rognmo, UNM, 18:57.1; 8. Eva Bohmova, UN, 19:00.6; 9. Lenka Palanova, CU, 19:02.3; 10. Ashley Quiggle, WSC, 19:03.3. Other CU Results: 13. Kristin Soenstegaard, 19:23.6; 15. Mia Gaw, 19:30.4; 38. Megan Wilder, 23:52.5.
Men's 10K Classical?1. Kit Richmond, CU, 29:25.9; 2. Geir-Endre Rogn, UNM, 29:29.3; 3. Rene Reisshauer, DU, 29:33.3; 4. Dirk Grimm, UNM, 29:44.2; 5. John Stene, DU, 30:02.4; 6. Haavard Selseng, DU, 30:27.3; 7. Fabian Figi, Utah, 30:46.7; 8. Henrik Hoye, CU, 30:56.9; 9. Erling Christiansen, CU, 31:20.8; 10. Chris Coe, MSU, 31:39.3. Other CU Results: 11. Nick Sterling, 31:45.5; 25. Garrett Reid, 34:05.8; 29. Josh Smith, 34:56.6.
