Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
New Mexico Invitational (SL/FS)
Skiers Finish Second In New Mexico Invitational
February 06, 2010 | Skiing
TAOS, New Mexico ? Everyone associated with the University of Colorado ski team basically feels second place is for losers, but for the first time in his 20-year career as head coach, Richard Rokos was okay with the Buffaloes finishing as the runner-up in the New Mexico Invitational, which was completed here Saturday.
The host Lobos, the No. 1 ranked team in the nation, won going away with 961 points, 160 ahead of the second place Buffaloes (801). Colorado, ranked No. 2, managed to hang on to the runner-up position, as defending NCAA champion Denver could only shave 63 of the 79 points it trailed CU by in finishing third (785). Utah (713) and Montana State (694) rounded out the top 5.
“We finished second, seriously?” Rokos said when informed where his team finished in the final standings. “I was thinking with as bad a day as we had, we'd be seventh.” That was likely an exaggeration, but with the Buffs suffering from some illness and absence on the Nordic side and the usual friendly slalom turning against CU, he knew his team wasn't exactly in New Mexico's jet wash.
“All I can say is that it was a tough day at the office for the Buffaloes,” Rokos said. “Our expectations based on our previous slalom record are very high, we're very confident, we believe we are always prepared, but things just didn't work out today. We've been training on good, hard snow, and we came here and it was very soft snow, so we didn't have a lot of momentum or much time to adjust. We just need to put it behind us and not over analyze it; we know we're strong in the slalom and that we can ski a lot better. You have to be able to handle the conditions, so no excuses.”
In the men's slalom, CU highest finisher was freshman Spencer Nelson, who finished 12th in a two-run time of 1:39.84. If the first finisher being 12th wasn't disappointing enough, Nelson was the one CU male skier not designated to score for the team. Thus the first point scorer for CU was actually senior Drew Roberts, who claimed 18th (1:40.26); two other seniors were the Buffs' next scorers, Arman Serebrakian (19th, 1:40.30) and Stefan Hughes (21st, 1:40.70). Junior Gabriel Rivas was in second after the first run, and then disaster hit.
“Gabby was leading after the first run, partially because he started second and being from France, he's got that gentle French touch and can handle softer snow,” Rokos explained. “His second run was catastrophic. He lost a ski on his second run, reattached it, then ran into some workers on the course and was awarded a re-run. He then lost a ski again and someone touched it (which is illegal) and that led to a disqualification. He was so far behind at that point it didn't matter.”
Sophomores Taggart Spenst (24th, 1:42.13) and Eric Davis (29th, 1:48.31) also finished the slalom, which was won by New Mexico's Petter Brenna in 1:38.06, 5/100th of a second ahead of Denver's Andreas Kilde.
“The girls' still had three in the top 10, which for them is a disappointing since the first of those three was in sixth place,” Rokos said of the women's race, the first time in seven regular season races a CU female did not finish in the top five in the standings.
Colorado smoked the field in the women's giant slalom on Friday, but was a distant third in the slalom, with UNM scoring 133 points to CU's 100 (Utah had 104). The Lobos had three in the top five, including the winner, Anne Brusletto, who posted a 1:43.38 time. Colorado was led by junior Carolina Nordh, sixth in 1:44.46, followed by junior Katie Hartman (8th, 1:45.04) and freshman Sara Hjertman (10th, 1:45.19).
Freshman Erika Ghent hit some soft snow near the end of her first run, missed a gate and had to hike back, causing her to eventually finish 31st (2:07.39), her first time outside of the top five all winter. Sophomore Jennifer Allen also had some struggles in finishing just ahead of Ghent in 30th (2:07.06). Frosh Khyla Burrows was actually ahead those two, placing 28th in 2:02.56, but was not a designated scorer even though she finished fourth among her teammates. Sophomore Joelle Chevalier did not finish her second run.
In Saturday's Nordic competition, it was a unique starting situation?a delayed start by team, similar to team time trials in cycling. The trails were too narrow to allow for a mass start, so race officials went with wave starts by team. The end result was that New Mexico worked together so well as a unit that the Lobos secured the top four spots in the men's 10-kilometer freestyle race. Martin Kaas won in 26:17.0 to lead the 1-2-3-4 assault, allowing UNM to become the first school to score a perfect 141 points in any discipline under this year's new scoring format. The last one through four sweep is believed to have been done by Denver's men's Nordic team early last decade.
Colorado was second as a team in the freestyle, led by senior Matt Gelso's fifth place effort in 26:27.0. Three juniors followed for the Buffs, Vegard Kjoelhamar (8th, 26:36.9), Patrick Neel (10th, 26:39.7) and Jesper Ostensen (11th, 26:42.7).
A side note, while New Mexico leads the west in individual wins with 13, Colorado is the leader in top 10 finishes with 64?and also leads the pack with another eight in the 11th position.
Freshman Ian Mallams (19th, 27:32.9) and sophomore Reid Pletcher (21st, 27:53.7) rounded out the CU men's effort.
In the women's 10-kilometer freestyle, Nevada's Maria Graefnings won her first collegiate race, zooming around the course in a 29:16.8 time, winning by over 38 seconds. CU was led by junior Alexa Turzian, who captured sixth in 30:58.1. Sophomore Eliska Hajkova was ninth in 31:51.8, struggling at high altitude (10,000-feet) for the second straight day after posting a win and three seconds in the season's first four races. Colorado's two other finishers were sophomore Katie Stege (18th, 33:42.2) and freshman Mary Rose (21st, 34:46.7); top frosh Joanne Reid did not travel with the team to get caught up on school after she missed two weeks to participate in the Nordic Junior World Championships in Germany, where she was America's top junior in the distance events.
“We're licking our wounds a bit, but at the same time, we're excited for the second half of the season,” CU Nordic coach Bruce Cranmer said. “There are no other races like these two that we do all year, so there's nothing to worry about. The elevation, the narrow trails, the format, all that. Just like in alpine, where some like soft snow and others hard ice, some excel at elevation and others struggle.
“So many little things added up to conspire against Eliska, some sickness, lack of experience at altitude being the major factors,” he added. “There was nothing stellar about our weekend, but we still had three qualifiers in the top 10. So nothing to feel terrible about, we just need to leave this behind and move forward. Plus we'll have Joanne back the rest of the year which will be a big boost.”
“So in a sense, it was a surprise we finished as high as second with all that happened to us in alpine and the Nordics being short and also dealing with illness,” Rokos added. “There's no reason to press the panic button, and you have to give credit to New Mexico. They skied very well and whooped everyone this weekend.”
After taking next weekend off, the season resumes Feb. 19-21 with the University of Nevada Invitational, set for the Auburn, Nev., and Donner's Summit, Calif., area.
ELSEWHERE IN NCAA SKIING: The Vermont Carnival is taking place at Mt. Mansfield, with the alpine events now completed as well as the first day of Nordic competition. The host Catamounts still hold the team lead after four events Saturday (slalom, Nordic freestyle), but UVM's lead shrunk from 66 points to 27; Vermont has 687 points to Dartmouth's 660, with New Hampshire in a distant third with 585. UVM and Dartmouth each had two individual winners Saturday, with both posting four podium finishes; the others came from New Hampshire (two), Colby and Middlebury. Colorado is the host of this year's NCAA Championships, set for March 10-13 in Steamboat Springs.
Men's Slalom (30 finishers)?1. Petter Brenna, UNM, 1:38.06; 2. Andreas Kilde, DU, 1:38.11; 3. Thomas Schwab, UNM, 1:30.70; 4. Torjus Krogdahl, Utah, 1:38.89; 5. Martin Harris, UNR, 1:38.99; 6. Christopher Acosta, UNM, 1:39.20; 7. Grant Jampolsky, DU, 1:39.27; 8. Michael Mackie, MSU, 1:39.43; 9. Thomas Zumbrunn, Utah,1:39.53; 10. Chris Barber, MSU, 1:39.56. CU Finishers: 12. Spencer Nelson, 1:39.84; 18. Drew Roberts, 1:40.26; 19. Arman Serebrakian, 1:40.30; 21. Stefan Hughes, 1:40.70; 24. Taggart Spenst, 1:42.13; 29. Eric Davis, 1:48.31. Disqualified (2nd run): Gabriel Rivas.
Women's Slalom (33 finishers)? 1. Anne Brusletto, UNM, 1:43.38; 2. Eva Huckova, UU, 1:43.59; 3. Kate Williams, UNM, 1:44.08; 4. Lindsay Cone, DU, 1:44.09; 5. Malin Hemmingsson, UNM, 1:44.42; 6. Carolina Nordh, CU, 1:44.46; 7. Petra Gantnerova, UAA, 1:44.55; 8. Katie Hartman, CU, 1:45.04; 9. Anna Kocken, Utah, 1:45.12; 10. Sara Hjertman, CU, 1:45.19. Other CU Finishers: 28. Khyla Burrows, 2:02.56; 30. Jennifer Allen, 2:07.06; 31. Erika Ghent, 2:07.39. Did Not Finish (2nd run): Joelle Chevalier.
Men's 10k Freestyle (35 finishers)?1. Martin Kaas, UNM, 26:17.0; 2. Tor-Hakon Hellebostad, UNM, 26:17.4; 3. Pierre Niess, UNM, 26:21.3; 4. Simon Reissmann, UNM, 26:23.7; 5, Matt Gelso, CU, 26:27.0; 6. Harald Loevenskiold, DU, 26:33.9; 7. Andrew Dougherty, DU, 26:34.5; 8. Vegard Kjoelhamar, CU, 26:36.9; 9. Ryan Scott, MSU, 26:39.9; 10. Patrick Neel, 26:39.7. Other CU Finishers: 11. Jesper Ostensen, 26:42.7; 19. Ian Mallams, 27:32.9; 21. Reid Pletcher, 27:53.7.
Women's 10k Freestyle (28 finishers)? 1. Maria Graefnings, UNR, 29:16.8; 2. Antje Maempel, DU, 29:55.2; 3. Katie Dolan, DU, 30:06.3; 4. Polina Ermoshina, UNM, 30:43.6; 5. Kaelin Kiesel, MSU, 30:51.6; 6. Alexa Turzian, CU, 30:58.1; 7. Mari Elden, DU, 31:33.8; 8. Laura Rombach, UAA, 31:42.7; 9. Eliska Hajkova, CU, 31:51.8; 10. Kristin Ronnestrand, UNR, 31:56.7. Other CU Finishers: 18. Katie Stege, 33:42.2; 21, Mary Rose, 34:46.7.
Players Mentioned
