Skiers Increase Lead at Montana State Invitational

January 20, 2007 | Skiing

By: David Plati, Associate AD/Sports Information

BOZEMAN, Mont. ? Another solid cross country performance Saturday, especially on the women's side, enabled the defending national champion University of Colorado ski team to add to its lead for a second straight day in the Montana State Invitational.

The Buffaloes built a 47.5 point lead at the halfway mark of the meet, and added six more to the cushion with just the giant slalom remaining. The meet actually began two weeks ago, when weather allowed for only the slalom to take place, and now it will go back on hiatus for another two weeks as the GS will be run Super Bowl Sunday (Feb. 4) at Eldora, Colo.

Colorado has 449.5 points through three events and six races, with Denver second (396) and Utah a distant third (359.5); CU is thus in very good shape to earn a victory. The Buffaloes have won five straight meets, one short of the school record set in 1995, but for CU to extend the streak, it will need to win the Denver Invitational at Winter Park Feb. 2-3 since the MSU invite won't be completed until the next day.

The western record for consecutive wins is 11, set by Utah over the 1988-89 seasons, followed by two Denver streaks, eight (2005-06) and seven (2001-02).

Colorado won the overall Nordic competition for the second straight week, amassing 297 points in the four races. The Buffs scored the most points among the women (158), topping host Montana State (142), though were actually fourth in the men's standings (139), trailing Denver (153), Utah (143) and Alaska (140).

In the women's 10K classical, junior Maria Grevsgaard again posted a dominant victory, skiing the course in a time of 53:09.12, just under 54 seconds ahead of Alaska's Kasandra Rice (54:03.02). It was Grevsgaard's third win in four races this season, all by wide margins, as she added the classic win to her freestyle triumph on Friday.

CU freshman Kristin Ronnestrand captured third in 54:42.36, her best career finish to date, while junior Mia Gaw placed 10th in 56:13.95, both the first time she posted a top 10 finish and that her effort counted toward the Buffs' team scoring. It couldn't have come at a better time, as sophomore Lenka Palanova, a perennial top 10 finisher, did not finish for the first time as a Buff. With conditions worsening and not feeling that good, she decided to pull out of the race.

In the men's 20k race, run during heavy snowfall, freshman Matt Gelso posted Colorado's best effort, finishing third in 1:06:53.87. Just 15-plus seconds separated the top three racers after 12.4 miles of skiing, as Denver's Rene Reisshauer won in 1:06:38.34 with Utah's Snorri Einarsson the runner-up in 1:06:43.22.

Junior Kit Richmond finished 10th in 1:07:27.44, with the next CU finisher coming in 17th, as sophomore Joaquin Goodpaster clocked in a 1:07:59.26 time. Sophomore Josh Smith also posted a top 20 finish, as his 1:08:07.02 time placed him 20th overall.

“Today was a kind of a tough day,” CU Nordic coordinator Bruce Cranmer said. “The girls' race went well; Maria had things under control the whole time and finished well ahead of everyone. She had a lot of energy left at the end and probably could have won by a bigger margin. Kristin had a good race, she's been doing well and it was good to see her have a podium finish. Mia had her best race, finishing in the top 10 for the first time. She's been gradually improving and when Lenka is in there, we now have four legitimate top 10 or 12 skiers.”

“I felt I trained well last summer when I was home in Norway, and then again with the team in Boulder in the fall,” Grevsgaard said. “So I think it really has to do with the training and conditioning, and a goal I have of wanting to ski fast. I had a good year last year, but I want to do better. I feel the training I put in has enabled me to ski fast and with a lot of energy to where I still have something left at the finish line.”

Grevsgaard's win, the fourth of her career, maintained Colorado's “.500 batting average,” as the Buffaloes have had seven individual winners in the 14 races so far this season in the west. Denver and Utah are next with two, with three schools owning one (Alaska, Montana State and Western State). Showcasing CU's depth in 2007, five different skiers have won the races for Colorado: in addition to Grevsgaard's three, Gelso and Richmond have Nordic wins while Drew Roberts and Lucie Zikova have alpine victories.

Cranmer noted that once the snow started to fall heavily, the complexion of the men's race changed. “Once it started snowing really hard, it turned into a really tactical race,” he said. “The lead guy had to ski fresh snow and everyone else lagged right behind. He's working hard and everyone behind him in a tight pack were just chit-chatting, about school, where to go to dinner, whatever. Some of the coaches actually went out and tried it put some tracks on the course to help out, but they filled in quickly. Matt felt good about his race and though team-wise, it wasn't as good as we've had, we still feel good about it.”

There is no competition this weekend, with several schools having alpine skiers in Italy for the World University Games as well as the Junior World Cross Country Championships in Tarviso, Italy. The latter is likely on hold due to a lack of snow; Gelso and sophomore Karl Nygren are on the United States team if the event goes forth.

WORLD UNIVERSITY GAMES (at Bardonecchia, Italy) ? Freshmen Stefan Hughes and Drew Roberts both recorded top 20 finishes in the men's slalom, the second and third best American performances Saturday, in the third day of competition at the 2007 World University Games.

All six members of the United States team who finished both runs placed in the top 30 in the field of 116, as just one was unable to complete the course which saw only 47 of those who started post results.

No American medaled, with Utah's Tague Thorson finished sixth in 1:27.81. Hughes was 14th in 1:29.11 and Roberts 18th in 1:29.68. Hughes was in fifth place after his first run, which he skied in 43.97 seconds, while Roberts, who was first to ski, was seventh with a 44.19 time. However, the first 30 are inverted for the start order, and the high placing of both after the first run meant both skied much later (26th and 24th, respectively), with more ruts developing on the course as each skier passed through. When combined with some fast runs posted by other skiers, both dropped in the standings.

The women's giant slalom, cancelled Friday due to high winds, has been rescheduled for Tuesday (January 22). Colorado has three skiers in Italy, juniors Lucie Zikova and Rachel Roosevelt and sophomore Lisa Perricone; Roosevelt and Perricone are skiing on the U.S. team, while Zikova is representing her native Czech Republic. In another schedule change, the Super-G for both genders was also moved up to Wednesday from Friday.

Montana State Invitational Team Scores?1. Colorado 449.5; 2. Denver 396; 3. Utah 359.5; 4. Alaska-Anchorage 344.5; 5. Montana State 309.5; 6. Nevada 299; 7. New Mexico 289; 8. Western State 188; 9. Whitman 117; 10. Wyoming 27.