Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
NCAA West Regionals
Skiers Claim RMISA Championship
February 24, 2006 | Skiing
DONNER SUMMIT, Calif. ? A record Nordic performance and a sixth win from its star sophomore skier carried the University of Colorado ski team to the title here Friday in the 2006 RMISA Championships/NCAA West Regional.
Colorado, ranked second in the nation, claimed its first NCAA west title since 2002, as the Buffaloes amassed 577 points to defeat runner-up New Mexico by nearly 30 points. The Lobos took second with 547?, edging top-ranked and defending NCAA champion Denver (533). Alaska-Anchorage (465?) and Utah (373) rounded out the top five in the 10-team meet.
Colorado's Nordic teams paved the way for the Buffaloes to win regional title, as they earned 322 points, their most since the current scoring format was adopted in 1998. In fact, CU's top four cross country point totals in a meet have occurred in the last four meets this winter, including the previous record of 321 in its own invitational?held at Steamboat last month, the same site of the NCAA Championships in two weeks.
“We've been waiting for this for a while, and it came to us in a big way,” CU head coach Richard Rokos said. “We can savor this for the rest of the weekend, but our goal always has been and is to win the national championship.”
The one piece of bad news came in the form that Colorado did not qualify a full 12-skier team for the NCAA's for the third straight year, each and every time coming up short on the men's alpine team. Denver, New Mexico and Utah, surprisingly, qualified full teams from the west. However, CU will race 11 at Steamboat, one more than it had last year when it finished sixth, but Rokos is not viewing it as a handicap at this point.
“I think this will give us the incentive to do well, it's basically one slalom run that we can't afford to finish,” he said. “And considering the strength of our other three disciplines, where we qualified all three of our athletes in the top four, that should definitely help overcome being one short. It's motivation for a stronger push, and I don't see any drawbacks at this point.”
In the women's 15-kilometer freestyle race, senior Jana Rehemaa continued her dominant run as she won her fourth consecutive event. In winning by almost a minute over Denver's Anna-Karin Maeki in a 42:47.9 time, she became just the third CU skier to sweep the RMISA/regional cross country titles, only the second women, joining Mari Storeng, who also did so in 2002. The only other Buff to accomplish a regional sweep was John Skajem, who won the slalom and the GS in 1986.
Rehemaa is peaking at the right time, as her four straight wins are also the first four of her collegiate career.
“I'm just skiing,” a modest Rehemaa said. “Training was good last summer and fall, and it's paying off with the results. It took me a while to get back into things (after attempting to qualify in January for the Estonia Olympic team). I didn't feel so good (in Steamboat at CU's meet in January), but I am feeling better now. It always feels good to win.
“We still have one more meet, we'll try to keep things up,” she added. “I think we are peaking at the right time, the girls have been consistent and the guys are getting better. It looks pretty good for us (at NCAA's) but we're not taking things for granted. It's a new day every day, and we have stay on top of our training.”
“Jana is in really good shape, she feels strong and when you feel that way, you want to go out there and just go,” CU Nordic coordinator Bruce Cranmer said. “She's peaking at the right time, but every seems o be. She's not out to prove anything in particular, she's just competing and having fun as she winds up a pretty good college career.”
CU sophomore Kristin Soenstegaard, who won't ski in the NCAA's, posted her second best finish of the season in finishing fourth in 43:50.7, with freshman Lenka Palanova ninth in 44:44.3 and soph Maria Grevsgaard 11th in 45:12.1. Palanova has two wins and five top five efforts while placing in the top 10 in all 10 races this winter, while Grevsgard has a win, three runner-up finishes and nine top six efforts, as Friday marked her lowest finish of the year after she took runner-up honors in Thursday's classical race.
“Maria was a little tired,” Cranmer said. “She's been skiing hard, but both she and Lenka will be ready for NCAA's. I feel good about where they are.”
In the men's 20k freestyle, senior Erling Christiansen, as predicted by Cranmer the day before, had his best finish of the season in finishing second in a 50:00.3 time; New Mexico's Dirk Grimm won in sprint finish, edging Christiansen by a half-second. In a classic battle to the finish, the top four skiers in the race, were separated by just 1.7 second after 12.4 miles of skiing.
Christiansen, who battled illness for the first half of the season, has steadily improved as the three-time All-American scored his third top five effort of the year, and his best since earning runner-up honors in the freestyle race at last year's NCAA Championships.
“I felt slightly faster. Yesterday I was still a little sick, but today I felt like things were finally coming back to normal,” Christiansen said. “So hopefully I can stay healthy and get some good training in.
“I thought my technique was almost perfect,” he said of his race. “I didn't really have to think, I just went out and skied comfortably, what some say is being in the zone. I still get tired on the hills, so I'm still not in the shape I want to be in. That's something I need to work on for the NCAA's, training for the hills. I would love to end my career with a win at home in the NCAA's.”
“Erling had a great race, and it should be a confidence boost since he has been struggling a little bit,” Cranmer said. “He was close at the end and it was a full-on sprint, and he lost to a great sprinter in Dirk. But it was good for him to be at the front and still feel strong when the race was over. And the other guys were right there at the end as well. We did better than everyone else point-wise, so we're proud of that.”
Sophomore Kit Richmond was at the tail-end of the final quartet, finishing fourth in 50:01.5, as he was edged by New Mexico's Geir-Endre Rogn by less than a tenth of a second in a photo finish. CU senior Henrik Hoye following up his classical victory Thursday with a fifth place effort in 50:08.5.
Freshman Garrett Reid concluded his year with a season best 14th place (52:08.1), while senior Nick Sterling finished his career with a 15th place effort in 52:14.2.
Lucie Zikova returned to the winner's circle in the slalom, as the CU sophomore overcame the 36th starting position to post the fastest run the first time down the Sugar Bowl layout in winning for the sixth time this winter ? adding to her record count for a CU alpine woman and pulling to within one of the overall alpine mark of seven by Toni Standteiner in 1991.
Zikova, whose 17th place finish in Thursday's giant slalom is her only finish other than first or second in 2006, cruised to nearly a full-second victory in a two-run time of 1:19.74 on the strength of a 39.74 first run, which she followed up with the second best afternoon time of 40.00.
Freshman Lisa Perricone bolstered Zikova's effort with a third place finish in 1:20.71, as Denver's Florence Roujas (1:20.68) was wedged between the two CU underclassmen. It was Perricone's seventh top five finish in 10 races to date, matching Zikova's total as a frosh last year, two of the top freshman seasons in CU women's alpine history.
Juniors Kristin Taylor placed 14th (1:22.52) and 18th (1:23.35) respectively, while sophomore Rachel Roosevelt did not race Friday after suffering a sprained knee in the giant slalom the previous day.
“It was typical of her for this year and her season performance,” Rokos said. “She skied well, consistent, diligent and fast. For her, that has been her formula. Thanks to her, the rest of the girls adopted a similar philosophy, and Lisa Perricone demonstrated that she certainly belongs with the top skiers in college circles.”
In the men's slalom, New Mexico and Denver swept the top five spots, as the Lobos' Tor Fodnesbergene won in 1:14.24. Colorado's best finish was an eighth place showing by freshman Josh Bryan in 1:16.52, with its next best a 14th place by another frosh, Jean-Francois Ferreira in 1:18.39. The Buffs needed a good showing here by their men's alpine team to qualify a full 12-skier team for nationals, and it may not have been enough.
The triumphs by Rehemaa and Zikova gives Colorado 17 individual wins on the season, now the third most victories for CU since the sport went coed in 1983; only the 1998 (20) and 1991 (19) national champion teams boasted more.
It was Colorado's ninth regional victory in the same 24-season span, as the Buffs inched closer to Utah, the leader with 10. Denver (three), New Mexico (one) and Wyoming (one) also own regional coed titles. It is CU's seventh regional crown in the Rokos era.
Next up are the NCAA Championships, set for Steamboat Springs March 8-11. The University of Colorado is the host institution for the event, which returns to the state of Colorado for the first time since Steamboat played host in 1993.
Rokos and his assistants have most of the spots for the NCAA's decided: Bryan and Patrick Duran are the men's alpine skiers; Rehemaa, Grevsgaard, Palanova, Christiansen, Hoye and Richmond will be the Nordic skiers; and Zikova and Perricone are locks on the women's alpine squad. The last spot will be filled by one of two juniors, Mocellin or Taylor.
RMISA CHAMPIONSHIPS/NCAA WEST REGIONAL TEAM SCORES?1. Colorado 577; 2. New Mexico 547?; 3. Denver 533; 4. Alaska-Anchorage 465?; 5. Utah 373; 6. Montana State 345; 7. Nevada 336? ; 8. Western State 226?; 9. Whitman 216; 10. Boise State 66.
Women's 15K Freestyle?1. Jana Rehemaa, CU, 42:47.9; 2. Anna-Karin Maeki, DU, 43:44.8; 3. Nicole Naef, Utah, 43:49.1; 4. Kristin Soenstegaard, CU, 43:50.7; 5. Kasandra Rice, UAA, 43:53.4; 6. Marit Rognmo, UNM, 43:55.4; 7. Crystin Jaques, UNM, 43:56.5; 8. Laura Valaas, WC, 44:04.2; 9. Lenka Palanova, CU, 44.44.3; 10. Ashley McQueen, Utah, 44:54.7. Other CU Results: 11. Maria Grevsgaar d, 45:12.1; 24. Mia Gaw, 47:12.8.
Men's 20K Freestyle?1. Dirk Grimm, UNM, 49:59.8; 2. Erling Christiansen, CU, 50:00.3; 3. Geir-Endre Rogn, UNM, 50:01.4; 4. Kit Richmond, CU, 50:01.5; 5. Henrik Hoye, CU, 50:08.9; 6. John Stene, DU, 50:09.78; 7. Kjetil Dammen, UAA, 50:11.5; 8. Benjamin Sonntag, UAA, 50:12.7; 9. Lutz Preussler, UNR, 51:41.5; 10. Jedd Young, UNM, 51:42.6. Other CU Results: 14. Garrett Reid, 52:08.1; 15. Nick Sterling, 52:14.2; 29. Joaquin Goodpaster, 54:33.2.
Women's Slalom?1. Lucie Zikova, CU, 1:19.74; 2. Florence Roujas, DU, 1:20.68; 3. Lisa Perricone, CU, 1:20.71; 4. Erika Hogan, Utah, 1:21.05; 5. Karin Ohlin, UNM, 1:21.15; 6. Stefanie Klocker, UAA, 1:21.25; 7. Mikaela Grassl, Utah, 1:21.33; 8. Kristina Repcinova, UAA, 1:21.49; 9. Claire Abbe, DU, 1:21.68; 10. Zuzana Charvatova, BSU, 1:21.70. Other CU Results: 14. Kristin Taylor, 1:22.52; 18. Sabrina Mocellin, 1:23.35.
Men's Slalom?1. Tor Fodnesbergene, UNM, 1:14.24; 2. Lars Loeseth, UNM, 1:15.16; 3. Francesco Ghedina, DU, 1:15.20; 4. John Buchar, DU, 1:15.46; 5. Todd Ligare, DU, 1:15.73; 6. Luke Patterson, UNR, 1:15.78; 7. Hannes Zirknitzer, WC, 1:16.05; 8. Josh Bryan, CU, 1:16.52; 9. Timothee Theaux, UAA, 1:16.84; 10. Andre Hokholt, WSC, 1:16.87. Other CU Results: 14. Jean-Francois Ferreira, 1:18.39; 16. Jonas Kryzl, 1:19.19; 25. Tony Cesolini, 1:24.37; 35. Joel Adams, 1:37.93. Did Not Finish (second run)?Miles Cooke. Disqualified (second run)?Patrick Duran.
