Colorado University Athletics
Skiers Vault Into Second place
March 09, 2006 | Skiing
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS ? The University of Colorado zoomed right back into contention here Thursday, as its dominant women's Nordic team produced three All-Americans and the individual champion as the Buffaloes moved from a sixth place tie into second at the midway point of the 53rd annual NCAA Skiing Championships.
Through four of the eight events, it appears the top two teams in the west all winter, defending NCAA champion Denver and the No. 2 ranked Buffs, will duke it out for the title. Denver leads the gross point standings with 337? points, ahead of Colorado (307), with New Mexico (254) and Utah and Vermont (tied at 253) rounding out the top five.
But when applying the formula that calls for a maximum 21 team scores to count (DU must drop three and CU one due to the number of skiers they qualified), the Buffaloes have 298 net points, with Denver at 296?; in those standings, Dartmouth is a distant third at present with 237?.
The gross points leader has gone on to win five of the nine previous championships under the current scoring format, with the second place team winning three times and the third place team once. The 30-point margin owned by the Pioneers is the third largest at the midway point in the 10 meets, but the last two second place teams that rallied for wins (Denver in 2000 and New Mexico in 2004) were down by similar margins of 27 and 26 before posting convincing wins.
Nothing is set in stone at this point, with the slalom, what has often been the make-or-break event, up Friday evening. But Thursday belonged to the cross country performers, and they set the stage for an intriguing return to the slopes for their alpine brethren.
CU senior Jana Rehemaa captured the women's 5-kilometer classical event in a 16:29.6 time, leading dominant CU team victory as the Buffaloes finished 1-2-7 in the event. She became Colorado's first individual NCAA champion since 2002, when her one-time coach, Mari Storeng, won the same event in Anchorage.
It was Colorado's 71st all-time individual title, as the Buffs added to their NCAA best total. Denver trails the Buffaloes with 66, adding one on Thursday as well, with Utah third with 62.
“Everything happened the right way for me today,” said Rehemaa, who won her fifth consecutive race on the winter. “I think the course was a little tougher than the others this year that we have raced, but I felt really good the whole time, and felt like I was getting stronger as the race went on. We weren't thinking about where we were (in the team standings), we came out focused on what we needed to do and we're all very happy.”
Storeng was as assistant coach for CU in 2003 when Rehemaa arrived on campus as a sophomore. “Mari was wonderful as a coach, I enjoyed her so much,” Rehemaa added about being the first Buff to win either an alpine or Nordic NCAA title since her one-time mentor. “I learned a lot of ski training, different things that the Norwegians do that we (Estonians) don't do. Things like what kind of intervals to do, when to do them, including in the fall, and certain things with technique as well. I'm honored to be the first since Mari to win.”
Buff sophomore Maria Grevsgaard finished second in 16:36.0, with U.S. Olympic team member Lindsay Weier of Northern Michigan third in 16:54.3; she skied in Turin last month. CU freshman Lenka Palanova was seventh in 17:17.5, which gave Colorado a whopping 110 team points for the event, vaulting the Buffaloes up four positions in the gross team standings before the men had their version.
“I am really happy, it was a good day,” Grevsgaard said. “We were focused on our race, we didn't think about yesterday. It was not too bad yesterday... we had a fourth and a fifth and they will ski fast tomorrow in the slalom. Like the coaches told us, we just focused on what we had to do and we did it.
“It was really cool to ski with so many people out here cheering.”
Palanova garnered second-team All-America honors for her finish. She was CU's first freshman to post a top 10 finish in a women's Nordic event since 2002, when Muriele Huberli earned second-team honors in both the classic and freestyle disciplines.
“I was a bit tired after the last two meets, I wasn't feeling good. But today I felt great,” Palanova said. “But this week I started to feel better. The cheering was awesome. I started too fast because you can't go slow when everybody is cheering for you. So I was dying for two k because of too fast of a start, but then I started doing better. Classic is not really my good discipline.
“I like this weather more than the frozen snow I guess,” she added. “It's easy for everybody to go fast when it's frozen snow so I was happy that it was snowing... it made it better for us. But it's hard to ski on it; you have to put everything together, and I was able to do that.”
In the men's 10-kilometer, Denver's John Stene blitzed the field in skiing the two laps amounting to 6.2 miles in just under 28 minutes, winning in a 27:57.7 clocking. That bested Alaska-Fairbanks' Marius Korthauer, who was the runner-up in 28:10,with Bryan Cook of Northern Michigan third in 28:10.6.
“It was a really fast one for me,” Stene said. “I had awesome skis and I was starting number 37, so I had pretty good control over most of the kids. When I heard in the beginning I was leading, I knew exactly what pace I needed to have. I gave it everything I had today and I am really, really happy with the result.
“I learned a lot how to ski here when we were here in January,” he added, referring to CU's home invitational. “I maybe opened a little bit too fast really hard second lap last time and learned from that, so I tried to keep it a little more under control today. This is a really good track for me.”
Colorado was led by its senior duo of Erling Christiansen and Henrik Hoye, who finished sixth and seventh, respectively. Christiansen posted his second best finish in the classic format this year, skiing the track in 28:56.8. Hoye was right behind him in seventh in 28:58.9, but at one point fell and slipped out of the tracks on a downhill, probably costing him somewhere between 10 and 20 seconds.
“I didn't really feel like I skied that fast, I was just trying to push and ski for the team today because after one K I could feel that I wasn't in great shape,” Hoye said. “But I'm happy with my effort and that's pretty much it. I fell. I ate it on the mountain today so I lost a little bit there but it was also because I was tired.
“I hope to be able to bounce back for Saturday,” Hoye said. “This (classic) is usually my strongest event, but you never know. I feel like I have been in pretty good shape for a while now. There is no reason not to be in good shape on Saturday, so I definitely might bounce back. I sure hope so.”
CU's third Nordic skier, sophomore Kit Richmond, finished 19th in 30:13.5, as he skied with flu-like symptoms. It was his first finish outside of the top seven all winter.
“I'm super excited about two podiums in the women's race,” said CU Nordic coordinator Bruce Cranmer. “Jana and Maria skied so very well, and Lenka skied great too. On the women's side, I couldn't have really hoped for better. Three in the top seven at the NCAA's is fantastic, especially when you take one-two. I feel really good for Jana, she's such a great competitor and team player for us. She has such a strong personality and being the team captain, so her winning the NCAA is just great and I couldn't be happier for her. She's on form, and she's just as strong in skating, as are the other girls, so we're looking forward to Saturday. It should be great.”
“The men did well today,” Cranmer added. “That was a good finish for Erling in classic; Henrik was a little disappointed with his finish, and with two thirds last year (at NCAA's), I am sure he had his sights set higher. Team-wise they skied well, but the key will be for us how Kit will be feeling. It's an unknown, hopefully today was the low part and he'll be coming back to where he was. There have been some sickness issues among other teams, so some stuff is going around. Hopefully everyone else will stay healthy.'
“It was sort of anticipated that it could come down to the slalom,” CU head coach Richard Rokos said. “It could be the deciding event because it is so unpredictable, it really leaves the whole thing really open at this point. No one is safe, no one is secure, and no one is out of it.”
“Both genders had a fantastic race, the women collected more points and hardware, but with the exception of Kit, who was experiencing some health issues and didn't perform to his usual standard, the other guys did a great job, too,” Rokos said. “Five top seven finishers including a champion makes for a good day, and the cross country team did what we hoped they would do, and that's get us back into the hunt.”
The first-ever night slalom in the NCAA Championships is set for Friday, with the men's first run at 5:15 p.m. (MST), with the women's to follow at 6:30. The second run for the men is set for 8:15 with the women's at 9:15.
As for Colorado's strategy, Rokos stated it very simple.
“We can not hold back,” he said. “It's an obvious combination of skiing fast and finishing and that's the only thing that counts in racing, so we'll try to combine those two as best as we can. We are in the hunt, and that's what makes things exciting and motivating.”
The cross country freestyle races, featuring a mass start, will close out the meet on Saturday. The men ski 20K at 10 a.m., with the women to close the championships with their 15K race at Noon.
NCAA Championship Team Scores?1. Denver 337?; 2. Colorado 307; New Mexico 254; 4. Utah and Vermont 253; 6. Dartmouth 237?; 7. Alaska-Anchorage 208; 8. New Hampshire 170; 9. Middlebury 169; 10. Nevada 135; 11. Alaska-Fairbanks 129; 12. Bates 110; 13. Northern Michigan 108; 14. Montana State 88; 15. Williams 64?; 16. Western State 63; 17. Colby 59; 18. Michigan Tech 37; 19. Whitman 26?; 20. Boise State 24; 21. St. Olaf 12; 22. Wisconsin-Green Bay 10; 23. St. Lawrence 5; 24. Gustavus Adolphus 2.
Team Leaders (Net Points)?1. Colorado 298; 2. Denver 296?; 3. Dartmouth 237?; 4. Vermont 226; 5. Utah 225; 6. New Mexico 222; 7. Alaska-Anchorage 208; 8. New Hampshire 170; 9. Middlebury 165; 10. Nevada 135.
Women's 5K Classical?1. Jana Rehamaa, CU, 16:29.6; 2. Maria Grevsgaard, CU, 16:36.0; 3. Lindsey Weier, NMU, 16:54.3; 4. Anna-Karin Maeki, DU, 16:55.8; 5. Kasandra Rice, UAA, 17:06.0; 6. Tami Kochen, NMU, 17:06.5; 7. Lenka Palanova, CU, 17:17.5; 8. Kate Crawford, UVM, 17:19.4; 9. Kristina Owen, MTU, 17:19.7; 10. Sara Schweiger, Utah, 17:20.3; 11. Ingvild Engesland, DU, 17:24.3; 12. Nicole Naef, Utah, 17:26.8; 13. Alison Crocker, Dart., and Laura Valaas, Whit., 17:33.1; 15. Cassidy Edwards, Midd., 17:35.6; 16. Crystin Jaques, UNM, 17:37.4; 17. Johanna Turunen, UAF, 17:38.6; 18. Susan Dunklee, Dart., 17:42.9; 19. Pavla Havlova, UAF, 17:51.6; 20. Carina Hamel, UVM, 17:53.5; 21. Laura Vanalst, UNM, 18:00.0; 22. Ashley Quiggle, WSC, 18:12.3; 23.Evelyn Dong, Midd., 18:13.2; 24. Anja Jokela, UVM, 18:16.3; 25. Nicole DeYong, UAA, 18:21.3; 26. Marit Rognmo, UNM, 18:22.3; 27. Sally Johnson, UNR, 18:22.6; 28. Ashley McQueen, Utah, 18:27.4; 29. Eva Bohmova, UNR, 18:30.4; 30. Johanna Winters, UWGB, 18:41.2; 31. Joanna Kinsman, UNH, 18:42.9; 32. Karin Nilsson, DU, 18:47.0; 33. Mandy Bowden, MSU, 18:53.8; 34. Claire Rennie, MSU, 18:56.1; 35. Chelsea Holmes, UNR, 19:10.0; 36. Kaitlyn McElroy, Bates, 19:35.1; 37. Jenny Hamilton, Midd., 20:07.0; 38. Chandra Dow, GAC, 22:29.2. Did Not Finish--Kristina Trygstad-Saari, Dart.
Men's 10K Classical?1. John Stene, DU, 27:57.7 2. Marius Korthauer, UAF, 28:10.0; 3. Bryan Cook, NMU, 28:10.6; 4. Rene Reisshauer, DU, 28:39.7; 5. Benjamin True, Dart., 28:43.1; 6. Erling Christansen, CU, 28:56.8; 7. Henrik Hoye, CU, 28:58.9; 8. Dirk Grimm, UNM, 29:06.4; 9. Geir Endre Rogn, UNM, 29:15.6; 10. Haavard Selseng, DU, 29:25.4; 11. Kjetil Dammen, UAA, 29:26.0; 12. Michael Sinnott, Dart., 29:34.5; 13. Erik Wickstrom, UAF, 29:05.8; 14. Lutz Preussler, UNR, 29:54.4; 15. Brian Gregg, UAA, 29:55.3; 16. Juergen Uhl, UVM, 30:07.0; 17. Glenn Randall, Dart., 30:08.5; 18. Benjamin Sonntag, UAA, 30:10.8; 19. Kit Richmond, CU, 30:13.5; 20. Bart Dengel, UAF, 30:22.8; 21. Erik Gjoemle, Utah, 30:24.4; 22. Sylvan Ellefson, Bates, 30:35.5; 23. Christian Coe, MSU, 30:41.8; 24. Ryan Foster, UVM, 30:42.4; 25. Anders Osthus, UVM, 30:45.5; 26. Mark Iverson, MSU, 30:52.1; 27. Joshua Dayton, WSC, 30:57.5; 28. Karl Nygren, St. Olaf, 31:05.9; 29. Andrew Richmond, WSC, 31:07.8; 30. Garrott Kuzzy, Midd., 31:15.8; 31. Jess Kiesel, Utah, 31:22.7 32. Jedd Young, UNM, 31:41.3; 33. Fabian Figi, Utah, 31:55.7; 34. Aaron Ditty, MTU, 31:55.8; 35. Hunter Karnedy, SLU, 32:08.8; 36. Tim Reynolds, Midd., 32:47.7; 37. Seth Hubbard, Bates, 32:57.7; 38. David Kurtz, WSC, 33:49.9; 39. Jacob Whitcomb, Midd., 35;24.3.
