Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
RMISA Championship (GS)
Hajkova Win Leads Skiers Into Second At RMISA Championships
February 25, 2011 | Skiing
PARK CITY, Utah — The University of Colorado ski team is in second place at the midway point of the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association Championships, which also serve as the annual NCAA West Regional.
Utah, the No. 3 team in the nation in the latest Ski Racing Magazine rankings, leads through four events with 447 points, while Colorado, ranked No. 2 in the nation behind Vermont, has 434.5. Utah, which is trying to win its first RMISA title since 2003, outpointed the Buffs 249-243 in Nordic action and 198-191.5 in the alpine events. New Mexico is in a distant third (387.5) and Denver fourth (372).
Colorado is looking for its 11th RMISA title under head coach Richard Rokos, including a second straight and fourth in the last six years. The Buffs have 22 RMISA championships overall, but in recent years, the meet has become more of a last chance attempts for schools to qualify the full 12-skier team for the NCAA Championships.
Barring the extraordinary on Saturday, it appears CU, along with Denver, New Mexico and Utah will qualify the full dozen competitors, with Alaska likely to send 11 and Montana State nine to Stowe, Vt., site of the NCAA meet from March 9-12.
Junior Eliska Hajkova earned her second career win, capturing the women's 5km freestyle race in convincing fashion, as her 16:45.9 time was good for a 25-plus second victory over teammate Joanne Reid. Her other career win previously came on the same track at Soldier Hollow, in the 5km classic event in Utah's 2010 invitational.
“It wasn't easy, in this kind of weather it's always hard,” Hajkova said. “We raced here earlier this year, so I had some experience. It helped a lot being here before today. When we raced here before, I finished about 11 seconds behind Maria Graefnings (Utah), and I knew I had to start faster and knew I would make up time on the big uphill, and I like that, so it really helped. We had great skis today that were crazy fast.
“I had an advantage with the weather. Maria is a strong and big racer and I'm tiny. When the conditions are hard, I always have an advantage. In the snow, it's better to be lighter because you don't sink that much, so maybe that helped me. These conditions are very similar to Eldora where we train and that helped too.
“We are an amazing team, this year and last year, I really like the team idea of racing,” she continued, referring to her second year of U.S. collegiate racing. When you don't feel good in the morning, there are so many people who help you feel better and the entire team can race well because we have this spirit and support each other. I'm looking forward to working more as a team with the mass start (in Saturday's classic race).
Reid, a sophomore, posted her third straight podium finish, taking second in 17:11.6. Utah's Graefnings was third in 17:21.4, with CU senior Alexa Turzian fourth in 17:42.1, the fourth time the Buff women placed three in the top five in a race this winter, the third occasion in the top four. Sophomore Mary Rose was 17th in 19:08.5, with junior Katie Stege finishing 27th in the 19:52.7.
In the men's 10km version, Utah's Miles Havlick, who is from Boulder, won in a 30:29.3 time, also winning in just over 25 seconds over New Mexico's Tor-Hakon Hellebostad (30:54.6). CU junior Reid Pletcher was third in 31:19.2, his second podium finish of the season.
Senior Vegard Kjoelhamar, who missed the last two races while battling the usual illness that begets most Nordic skiers at some point every winter, finished 10th in 32:12.8. Right behind him was junior Ian Mallams (11th, 32:12.8) and senior Patrick Neel (12th, 32:16.7). Freshmen Spencer Lacy (22nd, 33:15.1) Andreas Hoye (DNF) rounded out the CU men on Friday, as senior Jesper Ostensen did not race due to illness.
“The conditions were tough and some people do well when it's tough,” CU Nordic coach Bruce Cranmer said. “When it snows like this, it slows everybody down. Some people do better in these conditions, you just have to dig deep and fight hard. Eliska is tough, Joanne was tough and certainly other skiers are tough. Eliska had a good day, she had a good feel. You just have to be tough when it's like this, it's hard to see. We were in the ball park with the wax on the skies, and she made up a lot of time at the end of the run. Going into the last hill, Eliska had just 8 or 10 seconds on Graefnings and I think Joanne was probably behind her at that same point, as well.”
“Reid getting third was good to see,” Cranmer added. “Jesper (Ostensen) isn't here, he's sick, Vegard isn't quite back to form after being sick for an extended period. He'll come back from that, but just not quite there.
“The only disadvantage about having a mass start (Saturday) when it's snowing hard is you just have a train,” he said, referring to the classic races. “The first person will be at such a disadvantage. If it's snowing and if you're the first person, you just pull over, because you're working harder than every other skier. You're talking about what movie you saw last night while they're working very hard in front.”
In the men's giant slalom, Utah's Jeremy Elliot rode the best first run time (1:02.03) in the field to victory, winning in a 2:03.26 clocking. Alaska's Halfdan Falkum-Hansen was second in 2:03.32, with CU senior Gabriel Rivas and New Mexico's Armin Triendl tied for third in 2:03.57. Junior Taggart Spenst was the next best Buff, finishing 17th in 1:04.21, with CU's third of three scorers, freshman Fletcher McDonald, 22nd in 2:08.69. Sophomore Max Lamb was 24th in 2:09.68, while freshman Andreas Haug, who had to hike back up the hill on his second run after posting the 12th fastest time in the morning, wound up 27th in 2:22.77.
“I'm really happy to finish third because of my bib start, it wasn't too high (23rd), but to hit the podium from there is good and I was happy with that,” Rivas said. “As a team, we had a pretty strong first run — the conditions were not to anybody's favor. We just didn't finish quite as strong in the second run as a team.”
“Tomorrow I need to stay solid because I need a result for the team in case somebody falls or something, but I also need to go after it a little bit to make sure nobody passes me up for qualification and seeding for the NCAA Championships,” he added in looking ahead to Saturday's slalom.
The women competed in the slalom, with Denver's Sterling Grant winning easily in a 1:27.82 time. Junior Carolina Nordh paced the Buffaloes, as she was fourth in 1:29.79, with sophomore Erika Ghent eighth in 1:30.88 and junior Jennifer Allen 11th in 1:31.50, as CU was the only school with three finishers in the top 13.
Rounding out the CU women were freshman Kirsten Cooper (17th, 1:33.44) and senior Ashley Babcock (23rd, 1:41.76).
Two alpine skiers, juniors Eric Davis and Sara Hjertman, were nursing injuries did not race for CU Friday.
“Overall, the Nordics did very well on their side, especially the girls with an outstanding result,” Rokos said. “On the alpine side, things were a little up and down. These are the races where we finalize the seeds for the NCAA, so we were trying to get those improved for several of the kids. But with the snow like it was today, a lot of skiers, not just ours, had to hike, but we were pushing hard, especially the ladies. There was heavy snow all day long, probably at least a foot, but the organizers did a great job of making things work.”
The championships conclude Saturday with the men's slalom, the women's giant slalom and the Nordic classical races; the women will ski 15-kilometers at 9 a.m., followed by the men's 20km at 10:30.
RMISA Championship Team Scores (4 of 8 events)—1. Utah 447; 2. Colorado 434.5; 3. New Mexico 387.5; 4. Denver 372;
5. Alaska-Anchorage 352; 6. Montana State 315; 7. Westminster 187.
Men's Giant Slalom (30 finishers)—1. Jeremy Elliot, Utah, 2:03.26; 2. Halfdan Falkum-Hansen, UAA, 2:03.32; 3 (tie). Gabriel Rivas, CU, and Armin Triendl, UNM, 2:03.57; 5. Nick Cohee, Utah, 2:03.63; 6 (tie). Chris Barber, MSU, and Seppi Stiegler, DU, 2:04.32; 8. Christopher Acosta, UNM, 2:04.46; 9. Ryan Wilson, Utah, 2:04.63; 10. Petter Brenna, UNM, 2:04.70. Other CU Finishers: 17. Taggart Spenst, 2:06.21; 22. Fletcher McDonald, 2:08.69; 24. Max Lamb, 2:09.68; 27. Andreas Haug, 2:22.77.
Women's Slalom (29 finishers)—1. Sterling Grant, DU, 1:27.82; 2. Sandy Tschofen, WC, 1:29.19; 4. Alexandra Parker, UAA, 1:30.29; 4. Carolina Nordh, CU, 1:29.79; 5. Kendal Brown, WC, 1:30.29; 6. Stefanie Demetz, UNM, 1:30.44; 7. Georgia Wettlaufer, DU, 1:30.56; 8. Erika Ghent, CU, 1:30.88; 9. Sofia Smith, Utah, 1:30.96; 10. Kayla Fry, UAA, 1:31.16. Other CU Finishers: 11. Jennifer Allen, 1:31.50; 17. Kirsten Cooper, 1:33.44; 23. Ashley Babcock, 1:41.76.
Men's 10K Freestyle (26 finishers)— 1. Miles Havlick, Utah, 30:29.3; 2. Tor-Hakon Hellebostad, UNM, 30:54.6; 3. Reid Pletcher, CU, 31:19.2; 4. Tom Smith, Utah, 31:23.6; 5. Rolf Figi, UU, 31:34.3; 6. Christian Otto, UNM, 31:51.9; 7. Lukas Ebner, UAA, 32:04.2; 8. Ian Havlick, Utah, 32:06.0; 9. Tyler Reinking, MSU, 32:12.5; 10. Vegard Kjoelhamar, CU, 32:12.8. Other CU Skiers: 11. Ian Mallams, 32:14.9; 12. Patrick Neel, 32:16.7; 22. Spencer Lacy, 35:15.1. Did Not Finish: Andreas Hoye.
Women's 5K Freestyle (34 finishers)— 1. Eliska Hajkova, CU, 16:45.9; 2. Joanne Reid, CU, 17:11.6; 3. Maria Graefnings, Utah, 17:21.4; 4. Alexa Turzian, CU, 17:42.1; 5. Zoe Roy, Utah, 17:53.6; 6. Mari Elden, DU, 17:58.7; 7. Kate Dolan, DU, 18:08.4; 8. Christina Levald Helleberg, UNM, 18:12.4; 9. Sofie Jonsson, UNM, 18:13.6; 10. Ase Carlson, MSU, 18:35.5. Other CU Finishers: 17. Mary Rose, 19:08.5; 27. Katie Stege, 19:52.7.
(Associate SID Curtis Snyder contributed to this report.)
