Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
RMISA Championships/NCAA West Regional
Players Mentioned
Skiers Hold Third In RMISA Championships
February 23, 2007 | Skiing
DONNER'S SUMMIT, Calif. - University of Colorado sophomore Lisa Perricone posted the most lopsided slalom win this season in the west here Friday, but the weather has been the story thus far as the Buffaloes are in third place at the RMISA Championships, which also doubles as the NCAA West Regional.
Â
Snowfall wreaked havoc a second straight day for the alpine events. Moved up one day with little notice, Thursday's giant slalom was cancelled due to blizzard conditions. Friday, the wind died down, but there was a good two feet of soft snow on top of the hardpack that created ruts easier than usual.
Â
Denver is in the lead with 281 points, followed by Utah (273) and defending national champion Colorado (265). Alaska-Anchorage is in a distance fourth with 217 in the nine-team field.Â
Â
The giant slalom will not be made up; thus, only the four previous events will be counted toward individual NCAA qualification. The coaches tentatively decided that the slalom will be scored double for team scoring purposes the regional, but was going to be up for discussion again Friday evening. If that goes through, Denver would have 419 points to Utah's 409 and Colorado's 393.
Â
Perricone had six top 10 finishes going into Friday but had not cracked the top five this winter. But she earned her second career win in style, her first since claiming the slalom in CU's invitational last February, in posting a convincing 2-plus second win in the women's slalom. Her first run of 46.05 second was better than a full second on the field, with her second run of 48.17 the second best for that run as her 1:34.22 combined time easily outdistanced Utah's Kim Stephens (1:36.61). Â
Â
Freshman Heidi Hillenbrand finished 10th in 1:38.68, with junior Kristin Taylor 18th in 1:44.45. Junior Lucie Zikova, the west's top alpine skier, was 28th in 2:01.02; she had to hike a bit on her first run and also started later than usual as coaches often invert their rosters in the alpine events in the RMISA meet to give other skiers a chance to improve seedings.
Â
Sophomore Josh Bryan finished fourth in the men's slalom in a 1:22.98 time; starting in the 44th position, he zoomed up to 10th after a solid first run and posted the fourth best second run to pick up another six spots. His effort appears to have catapulted him into sound position to qualify for nationals; the Buffs came here with only two guaranteed skiers in men's alpine, freshmen Stefan Hughes and Drew Roberts.
Â
Hughes and Roberts started 38th and 39th and finished 32nd and 35th respectively, as the CU coaches gave the better starting positions to junior Miles Cooke, sophomore Tony Cesolini and freshman Arman Serebrakian. Serebrakian was CU's next best finisher, taking 11th in 1:24.13, with Cesolini 16th (1:25.92). Denver's Francesco Ghedina won in 1:22.00.
Â
"Conditions just were not good for alpine," head coach Richard Rokos said. "We at least got the slalom in, there was a time (Thursday) it looked like we just traveled out here for the airline miles. Blizzard, white-out conditions, impossible to ski. It still wasn't premium for a slalom, with the fresh snow at least two feet over the packed snow. Ruts were made quick and deep.
Â
 "Lisa skied tremendously," he added. "She was aggressive and got down the hill as fast as I've seen anyone in these kind of conditions. And for Josh to start where he did and finish fourth was unexpected. Because of the snowfall, the course wasn't as slick for a slalom as usual, so most skiers finished. For him to move up 40 places was most impressive."
Â
Colorado was back near full-strength in cross country, as illness and flu that ravaged the team two weeks ago prior to the New Mexico meet is all but an afterthought.
Â
In the women's 5-kilometer freestyle race, junior Maria Grevsgaard finished second, as she now has eight first- or second place finishes in nine races this winter, including six wins. She was clocked in 15:44.0, as Denver's Annelise Bailly won in a 15:18.1 time.
Â
Freshman Kristin Ronnestrand finished eighth in 16:10.8 and sophomore Lenka Palanova 10th in 16:30.7; neither skied in New Mexico. Palanova had struggled in her three previous races prior to sitting out at UNM, as she also had to overcome some issues from overtraining in addition to some illness. This was her best finish since placing fifth in the freestyle in Montana State's meet on January 19.Â
Â
Junior Mia Gaw continued her fine breakout season, finishing 12th in 16:33.8. She has nine top 20 finishes this year, including her three career best efforts, after posting just three her previous two seasons. Friday's was her third best finish in college.
Â
In the men's 10k freestyle, freshman Matt Gelso finished fourth in 28:03.5, as the Truckee, Calif., product skied on his home course logged his eighth top four effort in nine races this season. Junior Kit Richmond, who also missed the UNM meet due to the flu, finished eighth in 28:36.5. Sophomore Josh Smith was CU's third finisher, as he was 20th in 29:55.1; fellow sophs Karl Nygren (23rd, 30:03.0) and Garrett Reid (24th, 30:04.1) were right behind him.
Â
"The women had four in the top 12 and the men two in the top eight, so I feel we had a good day; we were competitive as anybody," CU Nordic coordinator Bruce Cranmer said.  "The conditions were good, just on and off light snow showers, temperatures were good. Everything was fine for the Nordic, no issues.Â
Â
 "We're coming around health-wise," he added. "Lenka is much improved and Kristin is feeling better. Kit doesn't feel like he's all the way back (from the flu), but the hope there is he'll be 100 percent for the NCAA's."
Â
The Nordic classical races will conclude the meet Saturday morning.
Â
RMISA Championships/NCAA West Regional Team Scores-1. Denver 281;Â 2. Utah 273; Â 3. Colorado 265;Â 4. Alaska 217;Â 5. Montana State 191;Â 6. Nevada 167;Â Â 7. New Mexico and Western State 145;Â 9. Whitman 135.
Â
Men's Slalom-1. Francesco Ghedina, DU, 1:22.00; 2. John Buchar, DU, 1:22.73; 3. Kyle Kung, Utah, 1:22.85; 4. Josh Bryan, CU, 1:22.98; 5. Dan McKay, UAA, 1:23.13; 6. Max Meier-Meitinger, UAA, 1:23.18; 7. Ben Chaddock, Whit., 1:23.30; 8. Lars Loeseth, UNM, 1:23.47; 9. Alex Mach, UNM, 1:23.50; 10. Toby Lamar, MSU, 1:23.63. Other CU Skiers: 11. Arman Serebrakian, 1:24.13; 16. Tony Cesolini, 1:25.92; 31. Miles Cooke, 1:43.10; 32. Drew Roberts, 1:49.76; 35. Stefan Hughes, 2:08.31.
Â
Women's Slalom-1. Lisa Perricone, CU, 1:34.22; 2. Kim Stephens, Utah, 1:36.61; 3. Chirine Njeim, Utah, 1:36.62; 4. Stefanie Klocker, UAA, 1:36.76; 5. Taryn O'Flynn, UN, 1:37.31; 6. Amanda Goyne, UN, 1:37.63; 7. Karine Falck-Pedersen, DU, 1:37.71; 8. Jenny Tank, DU, 1:38.21; 9. Smaranda Munteanu, UAA, 1:38.37; 10. Heidi Hillenbrand, CU, 1:38.68.  Other CU Skiers: 18. Kristin Taylor, 1:44.45; 28. Lucie Zikova, 2:01.39; 30. Rachel Roosevelt, 2:14.01.  Â
Â
Women's 5K Freestyle-1. Annelise Bailly, DU, 15:18.1; 2. Maria Grevsgaard, CU, 15:44.0; 3. Jamie Woelk, MSU, 15:50.9; 4. Sara Schweiger, Utah, 15:52.8; 5. Devon Spika, Whit., 16:05.2; 6. Sarah MacCarthy, Utah, 16:06.4; 7. Claire Rennie, MSU, 16:06.8; 8. Kristin Ronnestrand, CU, 16:10.8; 9. Mandy Bowden, MSU, 16:11.0;  10. Lenka Palanova, CU, 16:30.7. Other CU Results: 12. Mia Gaw, 16:33.8. Â
Â
Men's 10K Freestyle-1. John Stene, DU, 27:36.7; 2. Andy Liebner, UAA, 27:46.2; 3. Snorri Einarsson, Utah, 27:48.8; 4. Matt Gelso, CU, 28:03.5; 5. Rene Reisshauer, DU, 28:09.2; 6. Havard Selseng, DU, 28:11.7; 7. Patrick Neel, WSC, 28:29.2; 8. Kit Richmond, CU, 28:36.5; 9. Fabian Figi, Utah, 29:00.3; 10. Even Sletten, Utah, 29:07.2. Other CU Results: 20. Josh Smith, 29:55.1; 23. Karl Nygren, 30:03.0; 24. Garrett Reid, 30:04.1; 27. Joaquin Goodpaster, 30:12.2
Â