Skiers Hang On To Second In New Mexico Invitational

February 10, 2007 | Skiing

By: David Plati, Associate AD/Sports Information

TAOS / RED RIVER, N.M. ? Junior Maria Grevsgaard won for the second straight day and three other Buffaloes posted top three finishes, but it wasn't enough for a depleted defending national champion University of Colorado ski team here Saturday as it finished second in the New Mexico Invitational.

Denver capitalized on CU's situation in posting the largest margin of victory, 107.5 points, in a western meet since the sport went coed in 1983. The Pioneers racked up 592.5 points, the seventh most since the current scoring format was adopted seven years ago, to Colorado's 485. The Buffaloes narrowly held on to second, as host New Mexico was third with 480.

“This was our midterm break, or so it seems from looking at the scores,” head coach Richard Rokos mused. “Seriously, perhaps things caught up with us, the long trips, missed school, sickness added up to some fatigue. DU was close to or at full strength, but they also skied very well. They had a big lead after the first day and did not let up, which is the sign of a good team. So we'll take the next couple weeks to recuperate before regionals and come back with better immune systems and more strength.”

Rokos alluded to the fact that seven Buffs, five alpine and two cross country performers, had midseason competitions half way around the world. He himself took the alpine skiers to the World University Games in Italy in late January.

Grevsgaard won her third straight race, and her sixth in eight this winter, as she posted a 17-plus second win in the women's 5-kilometer freestyle race. Coupled with her win Friday in the classical event, it marked the second time this year she swept the two races at an invitational, matching her effort at last month's Montana State meet. MSU's Jamie Wolk was second, well behind Grevsgaard in a 15:23.6 time.

Due to illness, Colorado skied just three in the race, with junior Mia Gaw finishing 20th in 16:50.1, with sophomore Megan Wilder 33rd in 20:00.5, the first time she has counted as a scorer in her career. Overall, CU finished fifth here in the women's Nordic point standings, a far cry from what a healthy Colorado women's team did just in the last month, when it won the MSU meet and finished second by a shade at Utah.

In the men's 10k freestyle, freshman Matt Gelso took runner-up honors, as he completed two times around the course in a 27:43.7 clocking, trailing Alaska's Paul Schauer, who won convincingly in 27:27.8. Gelso easily is the star freshman in either discipline in western skiing this winter, as the Truckee, Calif., product has seven top three finishes in eight races, including one win.

Only four Buff men raced as well Saturday, with sophomores Josh Smith and Garrett Reid posting CU's next best efforts, finishing 18th and 19th, respectively, just three-tenths of a second apart in 29:11.9 and 29:12.2. Another soph, Karl Nygren, was 23rd in 29:43.1.

Due to the tightness of the cross country course, which is also above 9,000-feet, both cross country races here featured a staggered start, whereas usually the one will have a mass start.

Colorado competed here without top Nordic performers Kit Richmond, Lenka Palanova and Kristin Ronnestrand, who remained in Boulder, with a siblings Joaquin and Maisha Goodpaster on the trip but were also under the weather; Maisha gave it a go Friday but could not ski a second time.

“I have a van full of sick people and Dan (Weinberger, assistant coach) has a van full of healthy people, so hopefully Maria and Matt won't get affected,” CU Nordic coordinator Bruce Cranmer said in reference to the team heading home to Colorado Saturday afternoon. “As long as no one gets the flu, we can handle a cold or two. Hopefully everyone will be healthy in a couple of weeks, so I am anticipating having a good and healthy team for the regionals and the NCAA's. I'd rather have this behind us than ahead of us.

“It was great to see Maria win another skate race, she's been dominant in classical but this is great for her confidence in freestyle,” he added. “And Matt snapped his streak of third place finishes, and he did it in a good direction, moving up a spot into second.” Gelso had finished third in four straight races.”

In the men's slalom, freshman Drew Roberts finished third, his best result since he opened the season with a slalom victory in the MSU meet. His two-run time of 1:42.31 trailed New Mexico's Tor Fodnesbergene, who posted a 1:41.23 effort that eked out the win over Denver's Adam Cole by three one-hundredths of a second.

Junior Josh Bryan finished 13th in 1:43.84, his second best result of the winter, with junior Miles Cooke in 15th (1:44.23). The Buffalo duo posted the second and third fastest second runs, as Bryan had a 50.15 time and Cooke a 50.21 clocking their second time down the mountain.

In the women's slalom, despite skiing with a respiratory illness, junior Lucie Zikova managed a third place finish in 1:44.60. Lobo skiers swept the event on their home hill, as Malin Hemmingsson won in 1:44.02, with Alaska's Stefanie Klocker second in 1:44.33.

Junior Rachel Roosevelt posted her best finish of the season as well as in the slalom since her freshman year with a seventh place effort in 1:46.70. Freshman Heidi Hillenbrand, in 24th place in the standings after the first run, blazed down the hill on her second run, with her 53.40 the best in the field in the afternoon which enabled her to zoom into a 10th place finish in 1 1:47.76 total time.

Colorado's most consistent unit, Saturday marked the fifth time in 10 races this winter that the women's alpine team placed three racers in the top 10.

“Heidi was skiing almost too fast on her first run, and skied a little out of the course with just two gates to go,” Rokos said. “That cost her two or three seconds and perhaps a win. It was also good to see Josh and Miles do what they did on their second runs, they need that for their confidence.”

This year's New Mexico Invitational had some sentimental value to it as well, as it was the final home meet for Lobo head coach George Brooks, the only coach the UNM program has ever had in its 37-year history of the sport.

This was the final tune-up ahead of the RMISA Championships (NCAA West Regional), which will be held in two weeks in the Lake Tahoe area.

New Mexico Invitational Team Scores?1. Denver 592.5; 2. Colorado 485; 3. New Mexico 480; 4. Utah 439; 5. Alaska-Anchorage 395; 6. Montana State 394; 7. Nevada 387; 8. Western State 285; 9. Whitman 186.5.