Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
Denver Invitational (SL)
Skiers Move Into Second At DU Invitational
February 12, 2011 | Skiing
WINTER PARK ? The University of Colorado ski team improved two spots in the standings in the Denver Invitational here Saturday, as the Buffaloes took full advantage of the first career wins in Nordic competition by junior Reid Pletcher and sophomore Joanne Reid as well as five top seven finishes in the slalom to move into a tie for second.
The meet will come down to Sunday's final two events, the men's and women's freestyle races, as only six points separate four schools who are in the hunt for the title. New Mexico is atop the standings with 648 points, followed by the No. 2-ranked Buffaloes and host Denver, both tied with 644 points, and Utah lurking in fourth with 642.
Saturday marked the first Nordic competition in the meet, and CU won the women's 5K classical race with 116 points, two ahead of UNM, while the Buffs and Lobos tied for the top spot in the men's 10K version with 107 points.
Reid's previous best classic effort was a fourth place finish at last year's NCAA Championships that earned her first-team All-American honors; she had one podium finish prior to Saturday when she opened the 2011 season with a third place time in the freestyle in the Montana State Invitational. She earned her first win with a time of 15:35.3, three-plus seconds ahead of UNM's Terese Andersson (15:38.4). Junior Eliska Hajkova was third in 15:56.5, edging Lobo Sofie Jonsson by three-tenths of a second in the interval start-style set-up.
Pletcher won in convincing fashion, with his time of 27:41.7 over six seconds ahead of Utah's Miles Havlick (27:47.9). His previous collegiate best came as a freshman in DU's meet back in 2009, when he finished second, also in the classic.
“It was great for both Reid and Joanne to get their first college wins. Joanne is obviously going good,” said Bruce Cramner, CU's Nordic Coach. “She's usually a better skater, so it's really great that she did so well in the classic. You're not exactly sure where someone stands with an interval start until a good portion of the field finishes, but we had a good feeling when we knew she had posted a better time than those who have been finishing first and second all year.”
“Reid didn't ski in New Mexico because he wasn't feeling that great, and it turned out to be a good idea for him to sit that one out because he came back strong and had a very good, a very strong race,” Cranmer added.
Senior Jesper Ostensen struggled a bit on Saturday, posting CU's next best effort in claiming ninth in 28:43.6. Freshman Andreas Hoye was CU's third scorer, skiing the course in 29:20.0 to finish 15th. Junior Ian Mallams (18th, 29:40.2), senior Patrick Neel (23rd, 30:04.8) and freshman Spencer Lacy (25th, 30:35.0) rounded out the Buff men, as the CU was without the services of one of its top performers, senior Vegard Kjoelhamar, who was out due to illness.
Sophomore Mary Rose was CU's third scorer on the women's side, finishing 25th in 17:26.1. Junior Katie Stege was 29th in 17:42.2, while senior Alexa Turzian had some struggles and uncharacteristically came in 30th with a 17:54.7 time.
In the men's giant slalom, the Buffaloes placed three in the top seven, led by freshman Andreas Haug who was third in a two-run time of 1:19.97; he was atop the standings after his first run time of 40.11. Senior Gabriel Rivas was fourth in 1:20.18, securing the spot with a second run time of 38.71, the fastest clocking down the hill in the afternoon. Junior Eric Davis continued his recent string of successes, with his seventh place effort in 1:20.39 his fourth straight top 10 effort which also matched his best finish of the winter.
“I tried going for it the first run, and had a good run,” Haug said. “On the second, I skied a little too safe, so I lost a little bit, but overall a good day. Two podiums in two days, I'll take it.” He also finished third in Friday's giant slalom.
“All the guys have been talking about the MVP,” Haug added, referring to his current lead in the point standings. “I haven't been thinking too much about it. It's really cool to be the most valuable player on the circuit. It means you've been doing well consistently. A lot of people can have one good race, but to do it consistently on different mountains and different conditions, it's an honor.”
“The first run I had a mental mistake,” Rivas said. “I've had that issue recently, and I'm trying to commit to not making any mistakes. I still need to work on that, but in the second run, I just went all out, I needed to catch up and I was trying to get as high as I could, possibly podium, and I just missed it.”
Utah's Torjus Krogdahl won in 1:19.22, with New Mexico's Petter Brenna second in 1:19.52. Freshman Fletcher McDonald grabbed the 12th spot for CU in 1:12.14, with sophomore Max Lamb right behind him in 13th in 1:21.25. Junior Taggart Spenst rounded out the men's performers with a 24th place time of 1:23.02.
In the women's slalom, junior Sara Hjertman led the way for the Buffs with a fourth place effort in 1:34.71; DU's Sterling Grant won the race in 1:32.68, nearly a two-second win. Sophomore Erika Ghent was the next best Buff, as she finished seventh in 1:34.94; her second run of 48.53 was the fastest in the field and marked the first slalom run won by a Buff woman this winter.
Rounding out the CU women were junior Carolina Nordh, the third scorer with a 12th place time of 1:35.89; junior Jennifer Allen (14th, 1:36.54), freshman Kirsten Cooper (19th, 1:37.41), senior Ashley Babcock (20th, 1:37.52) and sophomore Khyla Burrows (21st, 1:38.52).
“It was a good day, we shrunk the lead, that was our goal and we will see what the Nordic's can do(Sunday),” CU head coach Richard Rokos said. “Staying in the hunt was our goal. I was surprised with the number of finishers today. That says a little bit about the kind of snow, it was soft and forgiving. Everybody came back strong in their second run and improved upon their time, with the exception of Sara, she dropped a bit but recovered well and finished fourth.”
“Gabriel winning the second run will do a lot for his confidence, even if you don't win the race, if you win the second run, it helps,” Rokos said. “With Andreas, there is a very fine line to push the envelope to the limits and those limits can bite you, so he was running the second run a little more conservatively, even to his taste. He didn't like it, but he got a solid third place, and that's what we needed for the team. I'm glad he is coming to terms with the soft snow that was an issue for him early on. Eric is finally putting everything together, and that's great to see. I'm praying he can stay healthy and capitalize on how well he's doing; it's three years in the making. He's doing everything right and skiing fast.”
“I'm calling this the wound-liking period, we have to take a break,” Rokos added. “We have a couple of days to regenerate and get healthy and some people are sick after the World University Games (in Turkey). School is another stress factor, we need a few days to get caught up in the classroom as well. We'll be better off these last two events of the year after we can get a little break here.”
The invitational concludes Sunday with the freestyle events. The collegians will participate in the annual 21K Owl Creek Chase, where the skiers of all ages race from Snowmass Village to Aspen.
“Hopefully we'll have a good day. We had a couple off their pace today, and they intend to bounce back strong in the skate,” Cranmer said. “We don't have everything all dialed in at 100 percent at this stage of the game, it's still a few weeks before NCAA's, so we don't want to be peaking as a team just yet. So it'd be nice to get the team win here ahead of that happening.”
Denver Invitational Team Scores (6 events)?1. New Mexico 648; 2. Colorado 644; 2. Denver 644; 4. Utah 642;
5. Alaska-Anchorage 476; 6. Montana State 460; 7. Westminster 253; 8. Wyoming 120.
Men's Slalom (32 finishers)?1. Torjus Krogdahl, Utah, 1:19.22; 2. Petter Brenna, UNM, 1:19.52; 3. Andreas Haug, CU, 1:19.97; 4. Gabriel Rivas, CU, 1:20.18; 5. Seppi Stiegler, DU, 1:20.31; 6. Chris Barber, MSU, 1:20.53; 7. Eric Davis, CU, 1:20.39; 8. Armin Triendl, UNM, 1:20.79; 9. Andreas Adde, UAA, 1:20.89; 10. Ryan Wilson, Utah, 1:20.92. Other CU Finishers: 12. Fletcher McDonald, 1:21.14; 13. Max Lamb, 1:21.25; 24. Taggart Spenst, 1:23.02.
Women's Slalom (31 finishers)?1. Sterling Grant, DU, 1:32.68; 2. Eva Huckova, Utah, 1:34.50; 3. Lindsay Cone, DU, 1:34.51; 4. Sara Hjertman, CU, 1:34.71; 5. Stefanie Demetz, UNM, 1:34.80; 6. Anne Brusletto, UNM, 1:34.92; 7. Erika Ghent, CU, 1:34.94; 8. Ida Dillingoeen, DU, 1:34.96; 9. Anne Kocken, Utah, 1:35.01; 10. Jennie VanWagner, DU, 1:35.10. Other CU Finishers: 12. Carolina Nordh, 1:35.89; 14. Jennifer Allen, 1:36.54; 19. Kirsten Cooper, 1:37.41; 20. Ashley Babcock, 1:37.52; 21. Khyla Burrows, 1:38.52.
Men's 10k Classical (34 finishers)?1. Reid Pletcher, CU, 27:41.7; 2. Miles Havlick, Utah, 27:47.9; 3. Tor-Hakon Hellebostad, UNM, 27:52.1; 4. Kristian Soerlund, DU, 28:07.8; 5. Andrew Dougherty, DU, 28:08.4; 6. Bernhard Roenning, MSU, 28:19.6; 7. Erik Bjornsen, UAA, 28:23.4; 8. Martin Kaas, UNM, 28:25.6; 9. Jesper Ostensen, CU, 28:43.6; 10. Pierre Niess, UNM, 28:43.8. Other CU Finishers: 15. Andreas Hoye, 29:30.0; 18. Ian Mallams, 29:40.2; 23. Patrick Neel, 30:04.8; 25. Spencer Lacy, 30:35.0.
Women's 5k Classical (40 finishers)?
1. Joanne Reid, CU, 15:35.3; 2. Terese Andersson, UNM, 15:38.4; 3. Eliska Hajkova, CU, 15:56.5; 4. Sofie Jonsson, UNM, 15:56.8; 5. Maria Graefnings, Utah, 16:00.7; 6. Sarah MacCarthy, Utah, 16:00.9; 7. Kate Dolan, DU, 16:05.4; 8. Mari Elden, DU, 16:17.7; 9. Laura Rombach, UAA, 16:24.5; 10. Stephanie Hiemer, UAA, 16:28.1. Other CU Finishers: 25. Mary Rose, 17:26.1; 29. Katie Stege, 17:42.2; 30. Alexa Turzian, 17:54.7.
