Skiers Streak Ends At Five With Runner-Up Finish In DU Invitational

February 03, 2007 | Skiing

By: David Plati, Associate AD/Sports Information

WINTER PARK / STEAMBOAT, Colo. ? Two individual wins, a great showing in the women's slalom and a little bit of history weren't enough for the defending national champion University of Colorado ski team Saturday, as the Buffaloes finished second to the host Pioneers in the Denver Invitational.

The Buffaloes had won five straight meets, one short of the school record set in 1995, but the streak ended this weekend as DU racked up 550 points to 538 for Colorado. Utah finished third with 478, with New Mexico a distant fourth 434.

The women's alpine did team did everything it could Saturday, placing five skiers in the top 11 in the slalom, including two medalists. Junior Lucie Zikova swept the events here, adding the slalom crown to her giant slalom title on Friday, as she used the fastest morning run of 42.79 seconds to a two-run time of 1:33.3, which was good for almost a full-second win over Denver's Claire Abbe (1:34.27). Freshman Heidi Hillenbrand, who had the second fastest first run (42.90) took the bronze with a 1:34.40 clocking.

Zikova's win was the 10th of her career, becoming the sixth CU skier since the sport went coed in 1983 to reach double figures in wins. Being only a junior, she has as many as nine meets remaining to take over the top spot, both overall and in alpine. Per Kare Jakobsen won 13 men's cross country titles to lead all Buff skiers, following by John Skajem, the alpine leader with 12. Line Selnes and Anette Skjolden won 11 women's Nordic events, and Bjorn Svensson captured 10 men's cross country races.

It was the third time Zikova won both the GS and slalom at the same meet, the only three by a Buffalo skier since 1994, when Andreja Rojs won both events, also at DU's invite. Zikova now only trails Skajem in all-time alpine meet sweeps, as he had four over the 1986-87 seasons.

Also shining in the slalom were sophomore Lisa Perricone, who finished eighth in 1:35.97, senior Kristin Taylor, who in finishing 10th in 1:36.62 posted her best finish of the season, and junior Rachel Roosevelt, literally right behind Taylor by one one-hundredths of a second in 1:36.63 to grab 11th.

“You can't ask for much better in slalom,” CU head coach Richard Rokos said. “We've posted a lot better results in slalom, we just have some issues in GS right now. The girls skied awesome, and Lucie has been amazing. She's our star. She is skiing with such confidence and such leverage that it's a pure delight just to watch her.”

In the men's slalom, the host Pioneers used a 1-2 finish to cement the team win, as John Buchar won in a 1:24.71 time with teammate Adam Cole a shade behind him in 1:24.73. Freshman Drew Roberts recorded CU's best finish, as his two-run time of 1:25.68 placed him ninth. Arman Serebrakian, another frosh, was 12th in 1:27.26 with sophomore Josh Bryan in 14th in 1:27.64.

In the women's 10K freestyle at Howelson Hill in Steamboat Springs, junior Maria Grevsgaard won her fourth race this season, her third classic in as many races, as she cruised to the victory in a 35:57.6 time. That bested runner-up Polina Ermoshina of New Mexico by over a minute-and-a-half.

“Maria's win was simply just great, she again won by a large margin,” CU Nordic coordinator Bruce Cranmer said. “She looks strong and confident, especially in classic where no one's really pushed her recently. She was strong at the finish and looked like she had more in her when she crossed the finish line. She's on top of her game, everything is going well, she doesn't feel like she is at her peak and it's great to see. Hopefully that will help pick the other girls up.”

Unfortunately for the Buffaloes, it marked the first time this season that CU did not have at least two finishers in the top 10. Next up was junior Mia Gaw, who placed 14th in 39:13.9, followed by freshman Kristin Ronnestrand in 20th (39:48.3) while sophomore Lenka Palanova continued to struggle, as the two-event second-team All-American as a freshman last winter came in 31st in 43:06.8.

“On the women's side, we already have three qualified (for the NCAA's), so it'd be nice to get Mia in there in case Lenka doesn't return to form,” Cranmer said. “We're doing different things in preparing for races, with different goals other than winning at present as we want to build to a crescendo, to peak at the right time. As far as Lenka is concerned, she's off her form and we don't know why. After being a top contender last year, ranked right there near the top, she's definitely behind where she was. We don't know if it's overtraining or an illness deal, or if there's some other reason for it. She's frustrated and doesn't have the confidence she had last year, but she's qualified and I think eventually will come around, get better and regain both her form and confidence.”

In the men's 15k version, freshman Matt Gelso led three Buffs in the top 11, as he finished third in a 47:18.3 effort. It was Gelso's fifth top three finish in six races this year, including one win, his second straight bronze effort in the DU meet. Utah's Snorri Einarsson won in a sprint, as his time of 46:58.4 just topped Denver's Rene Reisshauer, who was clocked in 47:00.1. Junior Kit Richmond finished sixth in 48:22.7, while sophomore Karl Nygren took 11th in 48:45.9.

“Matt's been in there every race with the top guys, he's been training consistent and well, and we don't think he's at a high point right now. He definitely had a solid weekend and keeps improving. Kit is consistent and is nowhere nearing peaking, either, so that bodes well for us. And I think Karl is now set for NCAA's, it would be pretty miraculous if his two best efforts (a ninth and now an 11th) weren't solid enough to qualify him for the nationals.

“It was a very tough two days at Winter Park, the coaches were working the hill as gatekeepers both days and it was as windy and cold as I've ever experienced at a ski meet,” Rokos added. “There were timing problems on Friday with the men's giant slalom, we had a couple of guys ski great runs and their times were up to four seconds off. There's not a consensus or unanimous agreement right now what should be done with the race; some coaches want it tossed completely.”

FIS and race officials finally certified the race at 3 p.m. Saturday.

The alpine skiers continue competition Sunday, as a giant slalom make-up race for the Montana State Invitational will be held at Eldora. Colorado will serve as the host for the races that were cancelled the first week in January. The women's first run is set for 8:30 a.m., with the men to follow at 10 a.m.; the afternoon runs will be at 12:45 and 2:15.

Colorado will likely turn right around and start a new win streak, as the Buffaloes will take a 53.5-point lead over Denver into the two GS make-up races. In the Denver meet, the Pioneers just edged the Buffs in GS points, 140-132. Utah is a distant third in the standings, some 90 points behind CU.

The New Mexico Invitational is then next up, set for Santa Fe and Red River next weekend (February 9-10).

Denver Invitational Team Scores?1. Denver 550; 2. Colorado 538; 3. Utah 478; 4. New Mexico 434; 5. Montana State 415; 6. Alaska-Anchorage 398; 7. Nevada 321; 8. Western State 206; 9. Whitman 122; 10. Wyoming 21.