Colorado University Athletics
Skiers Open Season in Steamboat This Weekend
January 03, 2008 | Skiing
The University of Colorado ski team enters the 2008 season with its sights set on another NCAA Championship, a feat that they accomplished as recent as two years ago and 17 times overall in its history.
The Buffaloes will return all but three skiers (and all but one letterwinner) from last season, 12 in alpine and 11 in nordic. Head coach Richard Rokos welcomes six newcomers, each of whom Rokos believes will be strong additions to the already accomplished squad.
"This is a unique year because we have lost so few kids," said Rokos. "We're bringing back the entire men's alpine team and the whole women's team, with the exception of one. The cross country team has a few changes, but they are still fairly minor."
The men's alpine team returns as the most experienced unit without a single change, and with a healthy Pat Duran added back into the equation, Rokos has high expectations.
"This is an All-American team," said Rokos. "All those guys are just about the same age and despite coming from different backgrounds or levels of development, they have come together as a team the same way through the entire process at the collegiate level and I believe that it will be hard for anyone to duplicate their level of competition anywhere else."
Two 2007 second-team All-Americans return in junior Josh Bryan and sophomore Stefan Hughes. Bryan made his second-straight appearance in the NCAA Championships last year, while Hughes, a top-five finisher in three races, competed in his first of what Rokos hopes to be many. Duran, a sophomore, is coming off a year of recovery from a broken femur that he suffered in training just prior to the 2006 NCAA Championships in Steamboat. He is back in the action, skiing fast, and is ready to apply everything that he can this upcoming season.
Juniors Tony Cesolini and Miles Cooke, along with sophomores Drew Roberts and Arman Serebrakian, will continue to fight for starting spots this season. Roberts, who nabbed a first place finish in his first slalom race of his collegiate career last year, also saw action in the NCAA Championships and with his international skiing experience at the World University Games, he will look to be a fierce competitor this winter.
"My challenge this year with the alpine team's is to take two teams that we know very well and move them to another level," said Rokos.
In women's alpine action, they return all but four-year letterwinner Kristin Taylor from last season and will welcome two newcomers who will make the team bigger, and hopefully even stronger than last year.
Six-time, first team All-American Lucie Zikova leads CU's women's alpine team and returns for her senior year with one national championship under her belt and is looking to build on her success to make her last season of competition her best yet. Zikova is fresh off eight top-five finishes, including three victories and a second place finish in the women's slalom at the NCAA Championships last year.
She also has 10 individual collegiate wins, just three shy of tying the school record of 13, set by cross country racer Per Kare Jakobsen from 1988 through 1990, and only two short of the alpine mark of 12 by John Skajem over the 1986 and 1987 seasons.
"Lucie has raced in the highest level of competition in skiing as she participated in the Aspen World Cup in December," said Rokos. "Overall, our women's alpine team consists of a strong group of skiers who are possibly the best in the country at this point. To be recognized by a world cup organization is an honor and it's always great to be associated with skiers at that level."
Also returning this year are sophomore Heidi Hillenbrand, junior Lisa Perricone and senior Rachel Roosevelt. Perricone, a two-time first team All-American in 2006, picked up her career-best finish and first-ever victory last year at the RMISA Championships when she took first place in the women's slalom, which was followed by fifth and ninth place finishes at the NCAA Championships in the GS and slalom, respectively.
Roosevelt, a 2005 second team All-American selection, has continued to push herself and will look to finish her collegiate career on a high note this season. Hillenbrand comes off an impressive freshman campaign in which she earned her way to a spot at the NCAA Championships, after picking up three top-five finishes in her first year of collegiate competition.
The Buffs acquired sophomore transfer Ashley Babcock in the beginning of the year and picked up freshman Katie Hartman in January. Both newcomers have blended in very well with the squad and proven their ability to adapt to the collegiate level of training and the overall environment, and it is bound to show in their skiing.
On the nordic side, the women's team lost a huge asset last season in Jana Rehemaa, but now, where they had lost an athlete, they have gained a coach. Rehemaa serves as the lone assistant coach for the Buffaloes under head Nordic Coordinator Bruce Cranmer.
Cranmer and Rehemaa welcome back all but one men's Nordic skier and every member of the 2007 women's squad. Four newcomers will bolster the cross country side as Patrick Neel, Jesper Ostensen, Karoline Borgnes and Jenny Hamilton are all ready to sport Colorado on their back.
For the men's half, the experienced senior Kit Richmond and the up-and-coming sophomore Matt Gelso are bound to set the pace for the Buffaloes this season. The 2006 freestyle national champion, Richmond is a true leader and is dedicated to working hard and finishing his last year of competition with many appearances at the top of the podium. Richmond has tasted a national championship and will look to duplicate those efforts again this season.
Last year's freshman sensation and first team All-American Matt Gelso is fresh off season consisting of eight top-three finishes, including one win, and is ready to build on what he accomplished last year and have an even stronger year in his sophomore campaign.
"Matt had a great year last year, being on the podium in almost every race," said nordic coordinator Bruce Cranmer. "After one year under his belt, he is ready to take his skiing to the next level and be consistently seen in the high spot on the podium."
Three other veteran juniors, Joaquin Goodpaster, Karl Nygren and Josh Smith, will also add depth to the nordic squad, along with Neel, a transfer from Western State, and Ostensen, a true freshman.
On the women's side, two-time first team All-American Maria Grevsgaard will look to lead the Buffs again in her final year of competition. Joining her at the front of the pack is two-time second team All-American junior Lenka Palanova. Senior Mia Gaw, sophomore Maisha Goodpaster, sophomore Kristin Ronnestrand and junior Megan Wilder also return for the Buffaloes and will all be looking to compete for a starting spot and become regular contenders in each meet and help the Buffaloes climb to the top in 2008.
"Our goal is to obviously win another NCAA Championship and we are racing in preparation to get that goal under our control," said Rokos.
