Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
Seawolf Invitational (Nordic)
Nordics Sweep Again; Buffs Fourth In Alaska
January 10, 2009 | Skiing
ANCHORAGE & GIRDWOOD, Alaska ? A second straight sweep in men's Nordic competition, teamed with another win and a runner-up effort in other disciplines highlighted the University of Colorado ski team performances here Saturday in the Seawolf Invitational.
The Buffaloes are in fourth in the meet, one of two being conducted here simultaneously due to a quirky (and that's being kind) scheduling plan. Utah is in the lead with 412 points with six of eight races completed, followed by host Alaska (405), Denver (390.5) and the Buffaloes (377.5). Saturday's four events were all part of the Seawolf Invitational, which concludes Sunday with Nordic freestyle races.
The University of Alaska Anchorage Invitational will also come to a close Sunday with the men's giant slalom and women's slalom races. Through six events, host UAA is in the lead with 420 points with Colorado on its heels with 410; New Mexico (378), Denver (358) and Utah (354) round out the top five.
In the men's 15-kilometer classical race, which featured a mass start, the Buffaloes finished in the exact same order as they did in Friday's interval race. Sophomore Jesper Ostensen won in a time of 41:52.6, with both his career wins coming in the last two days. Freshman Vegard Kjoelhamar was second in 42:08.2 with junior Matt Gelso third in 42:43.0 and none of the three were really pressured out of position over the last couple of kilometers.
Further research found three previous instances where Buff Nordic skiers had a previous sweep, the last of the 1-2-3-4 variety, but it still occurred almost 47 years ago in the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association championships. Mike Gallagher, John Southard, M.J. Elisha and Pete Wallis led the one through four effort for the Buffs in Winter Park on March 4, 1962. That followed perhaps the most impressive sweep in school history, which came at the 1960 NCAA Championships when John Dendahl, Elisha and Bob Gray captured the gold, silver and bronze respectively to hog the podium and help CU to its second straight national title. That same trio swept the top three spots earlier that winter at Denver's Winter Carnival (Gray was second and Elisha third).
In the women's 10k classical, senior Maria Grevsgaard returned to her winning ways as she sprinted away from the rest of the field in the last kilometer and won in a 33:50.4 time; Alaska's Sadie Bjornsen was behind her in 33:53.2 for runner-up honors. Grevsgaard, who struggled earlier in the week due to be tired from traveling along with flu-like symptoms, won her 20th career race, adding to her all-time CU total.
“In this frozen environment, that's kind of a warm feeling to know we accomplished that,” CU Nordic Coordinator Bruce Cranmer said of CU's sweeps in men's Nordic competition. “We had borderline temperatures again, right around minus 2 or 3 degrees at the start with a decent breeze. In the trees they were fine but in the open areas and the stadium, it got nasty.
“Hopefully it's the beginning of more of the same,” he added. “And I think we'll do better in warmer weather. It's nice to have Maria win again. She's feeling better and is closer to her old self.”
“It feels really good,” Ostensen said of the sweeps. “The team is really strong this year, and when you go 1-2-3 it just confirms it as well as everything we did this fall to prepare for the season. It was very cool to see the three Buff jerseys finish first two days in a row.”
As for the weather, Ostensen wasn't overly fazed. “We've been here for so many days (seven) so we're used to it by now. You just have to be careful in this kind of weather, mainly to protect your hands.”
Kjoelhamar won the freestyle to open the UAA invite last Monday, thus CU skiers have won the first three men's Nordic races out of the gate this winter, the first time that has happened since Ove Erik Tronvoll won the first five for the Buffs back in 1999.
“I think I was really tired from traveling back from Europe and I had a touch of the stomach flu, but that's all over with now,” Grevsgaard said. “There were a group of us together and we kind of skied together the whole race. My strength is handling the uphill parts of course, and that's where I made some gaps, but everyone would catch me on the downhills. But after the last climb I sprinted ahead a bit and was able to maintain it to the finish.”
“We're doing what the doctors are telling us to do, one day on, then one off and so forth,” Cranmer said. “So we gave her the day off and she'll come back and race tomorrow.”
In the men's slalom, New Mexico had the individual champ for the second straight day as Petter Brenna won in a 1:33.09 clocking. Taking second was CU junior Gabriel Rivas in 1:33.28; it was CU's first top five effort by a male alpine racer in three events this winter, matching the total from a year ago, and the first runner-up finish by a Buff since Stefan Hughes placed second as a freshman in the slalom at both the Montana State and Utah invites 24 months ago.
Freshman Eric Davis was 12th (1:34.61) and junior Drew Roberts 15th (1:34.75) were CU's two other scorers in the race. Davis had the second fastest afternoon run (46.54) to vault 10 spots in the standings after being in 21st after his first time down the mountain. Hughes, now a junior, tied for 16th (1:35.04) with fellow juniors Arman Serebrakian (19th, 1:35.55) and Patrick Duran (20th, 1:35.68) and freshman Taggart Spenst (31st, 1:148:08) completing both runs. Senior Tony Cesolini was disqualified after his second run,
In the women's giant slalom, UAA's Alexandra Parker won fairly easily in a two-run time of 1:40.48. CU sophomore Carolina Nordh was CU's top finisher, finishing fifth in 1:41.59, thanks to the third fastest run the second time down the hill in 47.91. Her performance was bolstered by senior Lisa Perricone (11th, 1:43.20) and freshman Jennifer Allen (15th, 1:43.81).
Sophomore Ashley Babcock (25th, 1:46.45) and junior Heidi Hillenbrand (29th, 1:48.34) had lower starting positions and couldn't move up in the field substantially after either run. Sophomore Katie Hartman was in second place after her morning run but crashed really hard early in her second run and did not finish.
“We are getting in a groove and Gabriel finishing second in a competition where a few guys came straight from Nor-Ams and World cup competition was a very good placing for him,” head coach Richard Rokos said. “The rest of the team is showing some good signs, they're just not putting two runs together yet but that will come. We need to capitalize on our potential. It's good to see the guys skiing fast and be a bit more competitive. As for the girls, Carolina has had two good finishes here, but for a second straight day we had three in the top seven or so and couldn't get them all down the second time. We may be pushing a bit too much so we'll get that corrected to where we ski the same way we do the first time down.”
“In my 20 years, this was one of the toughest meets for everyone involved because of the cold,” added Rokos, who actually was treated for a mild case of frostbite Friday. He along with other coaches set the courses at 6 a.m., when the wind chill has been as much as 30 below zero. “I'll be looking forward to returning to the warmth of Colorado.”
The action will then shift to Colorado next week for the CU Invitational, which will run Wednesday through Saturday in both Eldora and Aspen.
377.5; 5. New Mexico 358.5; 6. Nevada 288.5; 7. Montana State 247; 8. Whitman 136; 9. Wyoming 27.
