Skiers Maintain Lead In CU Invitational

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS - Five top 10 finishes, three by the women including a runner-up finish, enabled the University of Colorado ski team to maintain a healthy lead in its own CU/Laura Sharpe Flood Memorial Ski Invitational after the first pair of alpine races here Friday.

The No. 2 ranked Buffaloes built a 56-point lead after the four Nordic events, the first portion of this meet last weekend, and enter the final day with a 54-point advantage, maintaining what could be the school's record for margin of victory. Colorado has 460 points with two events remaining, with New Mexico in second (406) and top-ranked and defending NCAA champion Denver third with 388.5. Alaska-Anchorage (349) and Utah (316) round out the top five in the 11-team meet.

The Buffs are flirting with their record for margin of victory in a meet, as CU's most decisive win under the current scoring format was 53 points in its last win, the 2003 CU Invitational at Eldora. The record margin of the annual five western meets is a 76 point win posted by Denver (over CU) in the 2004 Nevada Invitational.

Colorado remains in position to end a drought of 17 straight meets without a victory if it can maintain its lead in Saturday's final two events, the men's giant slalom and the women's slalom. That last victory came 36 months ago, back in January 2003.

In that 2003 meet, Colorado set the point record for NCAA western schools in a meet with 618, to date the only 600-plus performance with a 30-point individual scoring base (adopted in 1998). CU's Nordic teams scored a school-record 321 points last weekend, also in Steamboat, the site of next month's 53rd Annual NCAA Championships. The Buffs thus have a shot to break the record Saturday, or at the very least crack the 600 barrier for the second time.

The Buffaloes have 18 top 10 finishes in six races (Denver and New Mexico are a distant second, each with 11), including five more on Friday, as the women's placed three and the men two among the top 10 in their respective races.

In the women's giant slalom, sophomore Lucie Zikova finished second in a two-run time of 2:17.53, as Denver's Florence Roujas won in 2:16.39. Zikova, who had won three of the four western races coming in, appeared to be on her way to a fourth victory after blazing down the morning run in 1:08.22, well ahead of Roujas, who held second in 1:08.83, considered a sizeable lead in GS. However, Zikova, out of the gates 30th on her second run, succumbed to poor visibility and a fast-deteriorating course, while Roujas, just one spot ahead of Zikova, managed to navigate the conditions and post the afternoon's best run in a 1:07.56 clocking.

Junior Sabrina Mocellin, sixth after the morning run, rallied for a third place finish in 2:19.20, with junior Kristin Taylor finishing 10th in 2:21.80 and freshman Lisa Perricone 11th in 2:21.99. Sophomore Rachel Roosevelt continued to have some bad luck, as she did not finish her first run, the third time in five races this winter she's encountered some kind of trouble down the mountain.

"A tough day at the office, lots of snow and a difficult course," CU head coach Richard Rokos said. "The girls succeeded to conquer it very well. It's a pity that Lucie didn't manage to hold her lead after the first run, but second place is very respectable and under these conditions, it was an outstanding performance for her, and for all of them."

Eighteen skiers in the race, including several non-collegians, did not finish the first run, located on Mount Werner and called "Concentration." It had been an expert mogul run until this winter, when Steamboat recently started to host ski races on that run just last week with a junior competition. Friday marked the first giant slalom run, in any ski competition, on Mount Werner since the 1978 NCAA Championships.

"The hill is very challenging, as it is steeper than anything we usually race, and it caught many of the athletes a little unprepared," Rokos said. " "Ruts and lots of snow, you have to be right on line, and if you are a little bit off, you go right into the soft snow. "Bumps also develop and those create some unexpected challenges in terms of the surface. The flat light (diminished visibility) made it hard to see the terrain up ahead, so it was hard to judge the degree of steepness and see the ruts. Lucie experienced those problems and had the worst time of the top 30 in the afternoon, but she had a built a big lead in the morning and was able to hold on to second."

"We're all skiing well, it's not about individuals," Zikova said. "We all want to win, and celebrate each other's success. We're looking forward to the night slalom on Saturday."

In the men's slalom held in the evening at Howelsen Hill, the first night race ever in the NCAA west, CU freshman Josh Bryan was in first place after his first run (45.01), but finished eighth overall in a 1:27.94 time. With the top 30 skiers inverted for the start of the second run, he started well down the line with the course deteriorating with each and every skier.

"It was a lot of pressure, being in first place after the first run, knowing that you need to finish," Bryan said. "The team is counting on you to do that because collegiate ski racing is a team sport as opposed to racing as an individual. The conditions were a little bit rougher because of the start position being further back, but racing under the lights, you can sometimes see the holes and ruts better because of the shadows."

"We've still got a lot in front of us and we can improve a lot," he added. "We just had two guys cleared by the NCAA, so we're going to get better as a team and hopefully we will peak at NCAA's."

New Mexico's Alex Mach captured his second straight slalom win in a two-run time of 1:27.05, thanks to a 41.71 clocking the second time down, the fastest time of the top eight in the morning. Bryan had good support from his teammates, with freshman Jean-Francois Ferreira claiming 10th in 1:28.25 and freshman Tony Cesolini in 15th in 1:28.86. The NCAA Clearinghouse certified Bryan and Cesolini within the last 10 days and both now can represent the Buffs in meets. Freshman Patrick Duran rounded out the CU effort in 1:29.54, as a trio of Buffaloes did not finish their first runs: Jonas Kryzl, Miles Cooke and Joel Adams.

"Racing at night, for the bystander it looks a lot faster than it is, I assume the same for the racers," Rokos said of the men's slalom. It definitely requires some adjustment on the racer's sight, especially when estimating the distances and the turns. But it's definitely the most exciting form of racing, and we are glad that we have decided to pursue it in the NCAA championship format. We will be racing in the same fashion in six weeks on the same hill, so this was a great opportunity for us to get familiar with all aspects of it.

"They maintained the lead (in the meet), which was important for this race, too many things happen in slalom," Rokos said, noting that the Buffs had three of their seven skiers not finish their first runs. "Three guys not finishing is the nature of slalom; it's the riskiest race. We are better in GS, but are still working on the men's slalom, and things are very promising.

"Josh was a little cautious to protect his position and not to hurt the team standing, and it cost him a personal victory."

The meet concludes Saturday, with the men's giant slalom in the morning at Mount Werner (9:45 a.m. first run, second run at 12:30), followed by the women's slalom in the early evening at Howelsen Hill (6 p.m, first run, 8 p.m. second run). The slaloms are being staged in the evening here to prepare for next month's NCAA meet, which will also feature the first night time ski races in NCAA Championship history.

COLORADO INVITATIONAL TEAM SCORES-1. Colorado 460; 2. New Mexico 406; 3. Denver 388?; 4. Alaska-Anchorage 349; 5. Utah 316; 6. Montana State 250?; 7. Nevada 250; 8. Western State 172; 9. Whitman 105; 10. Wyoming 58; 11. Boise State 9.

Women's Giant Slalom-1. Florence Roujas, DU, 2:16.39; 2. Lucie Zikova, CU, 2:17.53; 3. Sabrina Mocellin, CU, 2:19.20; 4. Kimberly Stephens, Utah, 2:19.99; 5. Allison Empey, UAA, 2:20.31; 6. Stefanie Klocker, UAA, 2:20.50; 7. Gladys Weidt, UNM, 2:21.23; 8. Chelsea Laswell, Utah, 2:21.45; 9. Chinon Williams, MSU, 2:21.65; 10. Kristin Taylor, CU, 2:21.66. Other Area Results: 11. Lisa Perricone, CU, 2:21.80; 14. Jennifer Tank, DU, 2:23.01; 19. Jacqueline Marceau, DU, 2:26.82; 21. Elysse Kompaniez, WSC, 2:28.28; 22. Lindsay McClure, DU, 2:30.20; 23. Emily Hamill, WSC, 2:31.25; 30. Angela Kettinger, WSC, 2:43.67; 31. Jazz Centauro, WSC, 2:54.87. Did Not Finish (first run)?Claire Abbe, DU; Rachel Roosevelt, CU; Karine Pedersen, DU; Vivian Renfo, WSC.

Men's Slalom-1. Alex Mach, UNM, 1:27.05; 2. Timothee Theaux, UAA, 1:27.46; 3. Tor Fodnesbergene, UNM, 1:27.47; 4. Gaspar Perricone, UU,1:27.55; 5. Lars Sunde Loeseth, UNM, 1:27.60; 6. Todd Ligare, DU, 1:27.62; 7. Scott Hume, UN, 1:27.64; 8. Josh Bryan, CU, 1:27.94; 9. John Buchar, DU, 1:27.99; 10. Jean-Francois Ferreira, CU, 1:28.25. Other Area Results: 11. Ian Dunlop, DU, 1:28.52; 13. Sean Higgins, DU, 1:28.57; 15. Tony Cesolini, CU, 1:28.86; 18. Pat Duran, CU, 1:29.54; 22. Andre Hokholt, WSC, 1:30.26; 24. Ian Lochhead, DU, 1:32.10; 25. Brad Erickson, WSC, 1:33.15; 26. Ben Babbitt, CU, 1:33.86; 30. Erik Jorgensen, WSC, 1:36.91; 34. Ben Reeder, WSC, 1:39.46; 36. Bo Maciejko, WSC, 1:40.12; 39. Thomson Riley, CU, 1:50.41; 40. Daniel Medved, WSC, 1:54.37. Did Not Finish (first run)?Jonas Kryzl, CU; Miles Cooke, CU; Joel Adams, CU; Disqualified (first run)?Casey Riva, WSC. Did Not Finish (second run)?Francesco Ghedina, DU.