Skiers Take Lead In Nevada Invitational

Friday, February 19

Auburn / Sugar Bowl, Nev.

All Day

Colorado

Nevada Invitational (GS/CL)

Photo by: CUBuffs.com

February 19, 2010 | Skiing

By: CUBuffs.com

TRUCKEE, Calif, - The University of Colorado ski team used 11 top 10 finishes, including wins by Gabriel Rivas in the giant slalom and Matt Gelso in Nordic classical, to take the lead at the midway point of the final Nevada Invitational here Friday.

Through four events, the No. 2-ranked Buffaloes lead with 448.5 points, topping New Mexico, the nation's No. 1 ranked team, as the Lobos finished the day with 428 points. Denver, ranked No. 4, is a distant third at this point (360), followed by Alaska-Anchorage (356), Utah (352.5), Montana State (314.5) and host Nevada (306.5). The Wolfpack, barring an unforeseen turnaround, will likely eliminate skiing as a varsity sport after this winter.

This is the final competition ahead of next weekend's Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association Championships, which also serve as the NCAA West Regional. Colorado will host the event in Steamboat Springs Feb. 26-27, so teams are in the process of trying to qualify full 12-skier teams for next month's NCAA Championships.

"We'll evaluate where we are with qualification for the NCAA's after this meet, but we are close to having a full team qualified," CU head coach Richard Rokos said. "We still have opportunities ahead of us with more races here and then of course the RMISA Championships next week." CU definitely will have the maximum three in women's alpine and Men's Nordic, with the only questions are where the third skier stands in men's alpine and women's Nordic. "It's hard to say on those two spots as things are changing after every race, but we are right there in the thick of things," Rokos said.

Rokos also said it's hard to figure the west right now. "Other teams are dealing with injuries, sickness and/or have Olympic participants, but New Mexico and us seem to be the most healthy and with the least sickness. It's a bit unusual for as many skiers around the RMISA to be nursing as many injuries that have cropped up. So we just need to worry about Colorado."

Rivas, a junior, won his fourth career collegiate race, his first giant slalom, largely due to a dominant first run where he opened up a .22 of a second lead on the field. His two-run time of 2:02.35 would best runner-up Petter Brenna of New Mexico by nearly a full second (2:03.19), but the Lobos swept the second through fourth spots to win the race with 132 team points. The Buffs finished second with 109, with senior Drew Roberts finishing 12th in 2:04.54 and sophomore Eric Davis 13th in 2:04.71. Roberts started in the 37th position, moved into 22nd after his first run, and then posted the third-fastest second run time (58.12) to wind up just .13 seconds out of the top 10.

Freshman Spencer Nelson (19th, 2:05.29), senior Arman Serebrakian (20th, 2:05.61), sophomore Taggart Spenst (24th, 2:06.26) and senior Stefan Hughes (27th, 2:08.45) rounded out the Colorado men's performances Friday.

The women's giant slalom featured a first in recent memory?the first six spots were occupied by skiers from six different schools. New Mexico's Anne Brusletto won in 2:04.49, with CU's top finish record by junior Katie Hartman, who tied for second in 2:04.41. She had the third fastest run down Northstar Mountain for the morning run and posted the second fastest in the afternoon.

Colorado skiers filled out the remainder of the top 10, however, occupying the seventh through 10th spots, led by junior Carolina Nordh (2:06.41). She was followed by sophomores Jennifer Allen (2:06.53) and Joelle Chevalier (2:06.62) and freshman Sara Hjertman (2:06.64). Though Chevalier wasn't designated to score Friday, she zoomed from 33rd into 17th after the first run and then used the seventh fastest time the second time down the hill to snare the first top 10 finish of her career.

Speaking of the top 10, it marked the second time this winter the Buffaloes placed five women in the top 10, also doing so in the GS qualifier in Bozeman last month.

Freshman Erika Ghent, who skied first, was fourth after the first run but ran into some trouble her second time down, skiing a bit off the course that cost her two if not three seconds, eventually finishing 17th in 2:07.53; otherwise the Buffs may have been looking at six finishers in the top 10 or 11. Fellow freshman Khyla Burrows was 19th in 2:08.23 to complete the CU women finishes on the day.

"The women continue to post excellent results, five in the top 10 is always a good day at the office," Rokos said. "The guys are skiing pretty good. I'm happy with how they are skiing. We're just starting a bit behind the rest of the field so we have to plow through to get some good results, and they're doing that.

Gelso, a senior from Truckee, won his second career race, his first in the classic discipline as well as in a race that featured an interval start; his other victory came in CU's 21k freestyle event last year in Aspen. With a time of 23:24.9 in the 10k, he cruised to a 12-second win over junior teammate Jesper Ostensen (23:37.0). Junior Vegard Kjoelhamar took fifth in 24:05.2 and sophomore Reid Pletcher eighth in 23:28.3 to give CU four finishers in the top 10 for the fourth time this winter.

"It's great being home," Gelso said. "They changed the course up a little this year. It had been a little harder in the past. We just had to figure out a good way to ski it they way it was set up and I was able to do that. I skied the course over Christmas. It was a little different, but during warm-ups I figured out where I would be able to take little chunks of time. I was able to pick up some time on the hills and then on the back side flats, I was just hanging in there.

"I always thought I was a better classic skier and a better interval start skier, but I had never won, so it feels good to finally do it."

Freshman Ian Mallams (18th, 25:00.0) and junior Patrick Neel (21st, 25:19.3) rounded out the CU men's contingent here.

"The men's results were awesome," CU Nordic coach Bruce Cranmer said." It's the first win for Matt in a while, on his home course. He won by over 12 seconds, that's solid. He had a good strategy. It's a flatter course than we're used to, so you really have to look for places to gain time. He obviously found those and did a good job with that. It was a great team effort, especially on the men's side. The conditions were pretty icy, a fast time for that long of a race."

In the women's 5-kilometer event, Denver's Antje Maempel won in a 13;27.9 time, with CU's top finisher, Eliska Hajkova, finishing third in 13:52.7. It was the second straight classical race the Buffs struggled in, the only two in seven races this winter where CU did not place at least two in the top 10. Colorado's next finisher was freshman Joanne Reid, who was 16th in 14:55.8, followed by junior Alexa Turzian, who was 19th in 15:04.1. Sophomore Kate Stege was the only other CU woman competing here, and she finished 28th in 16:00.7.

"Eliska being third, she's been there most of the year," Cranmer noted. "She struggled a bit down in New Mexico so it's good to see her back up in the top three, where she has been most of the year before UNM. That was good to see, it's a good confidence boost. I thought the other girls would've been up a little higher, but I think the course wasn't ideal for them. They prefer a lot more hills, so that may have had something to do with it. They're not way off, but a little more than normally we like to see.

"Alexa and Jo are better in skating (freestyle) and the course is harder tomorrow, so that should help on the women's side. It should be exciting, it's supposed to be kind of funky weather so who knows what's going to happen."

The meet concludes Saturday with the slalom and Nordic freestyle races, with RMISA Alpine Qualifier No. 2 set for Sunday at the Sugar Bowl Ski Area, where the teams will compete in a second slalom.

ELSEWHERE IN NCAA SKIING: The Williams Carnival is taking place in Hancock, Maine, and Vermont used a stellar day in the giant slalom to take the lead through four of eight events. UVM, ranked No. 5 in the nation, has 494 points, well ahead of No. 3-ranked Dartmouth (435) and Middlebury (358). Vermont had both individual GS winners and had four of the six podium finishes, and added two more, including one win, in the Nordic classical races. Dartmouth was buoyed by four finishers in the top seven in the women's classic. Colorado is the host of this year's NCAA Championships, set for March 10-13 in Steamboat Springs.

Nevada Invitational Team Scores (4 events)1. Colorado 448.5; 2. New Mexico 428; 3. Denver 360; 4. Alaska-Anchorage 356;

5. Utah 352.5; 6. Montana State 314.5; 7. Nevada 306.5.

Men's Giant Slalom (35 finishers)1. Gabriel Rivas, CU, 2:02.35; 2. Petter Brenna, UNM, 2:03.19; 3. Thomas Schwab, UNM, 2:03.32; 4. Olivier Lacaille, UNM, 2:03.34; 5. Andreas Adde, UAA, 2:03.54; 6. Andreas Kilde, DU, 2:03.66; 7. Halfdan Falkum-Hansen, UAA, 2:03.75; 8. Chris Barber, MSU, 2:03.98; 9. Chriss Salbu, UNM, 2:04.17; 10. Christopher Acosta, UNM, 2:04.41. Other CU Finishers: 12. Drew Roberts, 2:04.54; 13. Eric Davis, 2:04.71; 19. Spencer Nelson, 2:05.29; 20. Arman Serebrakian, 2:05.61; 24. Taggart Spenst, 2:06.26; 27. Stefan Hughes, 2:08.45.

Women's Giant Slalom (34 finishers) 1. Anne Brusletto, UNM, 2:04.89; 2. Katie Hartman, CU, and Eva Huckova, UU, 2:04.41; 4. Lindsay Cone, DU, 2:04.76; 5. Nicole Poleschuk, UNR, 2:06.10; 6. Alexandra Parker, UAA, 2:06.11; 7. Carolina Nordh, CU, 2:06.41; 8. Jennifer Allen, CU, 2:06.53; 9. Joelle Chevalier, CU, 2:06.62; 10. Sara Hjertman, CU, 2:06.64. Other CU Finishers: 17. Erika Ghent, 2:07.53; 19. Khyla Burrows, 2:08.23.

Men's 10k Classical (37 finishers)1. Matt Gelso, CU, 23:24.9; 2. Jesper Ostensen, CU, 23:37.0; 3. Michael Schallinger, UAA, 24:00.7; 4. Pierre Niess, UNM, 24:01.9; 5. Vegard Kjoelhamar, CU, 24;05.2; 6. Martin Liljemark, Utah, 24:22.3; 7. Harald Loevenskiold, DU, 24:24.7; 8. Reid Pletcher, CU, 24:28.3; 9. Martin Kaas, UNM, 24:29.8; 10. Didrik Smith, Utah, 24:31.7. 2 Other CU Finishers: 18. Ian Mallams, 25:00.0; 21, Patrick Neel, 25:19.3.

Women's 5k Classical (29 finishers) 1. Antje Maempel, DU, 13:27.9; 2. Polina Ermoshina, UNM, 13:31.0; 3. Eliska Hajkova, CU, 13:52.7; 4. Maria Graefnings, UNR, 13:53.6; 5. Kristin Ronnestrand, UNR, 14:12.0; 6. Casey Kutz, MSU, 14:14.1; 7. Mari Elden, DU, 14:16.5; 8. Zoe Roy, Utah, 14:21.8; 9. Laura Rombach, UAA, 14:30.0; 10. Stephanie Hiemer, UAA, 14:30.5. Other CU Finishers: 16. Joanne Reid, 14:55.8; 19. Alexa Turzian, 15:04.1; 28. Katie Stege, 16:00.7.