Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
New Mexico Invitational (SL)
Ostensen Take Second, Buffs In Sixth At UNM
February 05, 2011 | Skiing
Host New Mexico leads its own invitational with 449 points, a 56 point advantage over Utah (493) with Alaska Anchorage third with 374 points and Montana State fourth with 362. Denver is fifth with 342 points, followed by the Buffaloes (324) and Westminster College (96) to round out the team scoring.
The Buffaloes are short handed, with head coach Richard Rokos and seven alpine skiers currently participating in the 25th World University Games in Turkey and with a few key members of its Nordic team recovering from illness or their own world level competitions.
“A few of us had a good day, but that was about it,” CU Nordic coach Bruce Cranmer said. “We know this is a little different beast here. This is the only course we race on where the elevation is near 10,000 feet. We won't dwell on the results here on either side, alpine or Nordic, it's just a dip in the season after a strong start. We will ramp it back up for the second half of the season with a full squad next week.”
Ostensen took second place in the men's 10K classical race in a time of 28:58.3, just 16.8 seconds behind race winner Martin Kaas from New Mexico. For Ostensen, it marks his 11th career podium appearance and eighth in the classical discipline. Patrick Neel finished 18th in a time of 30:48.7 in a pack of Buffaloes as Ian Mallams took 19th (31:02.8), Vegard Kjoelhamar 20th (31:05.8) and Andreas Hoye 22nd (31:39.7).
Kjoelhamar, who had finished first or second in every race this season, took it easy as he has been sick for the last week and a half. Junior Reid Pletcher did not race, as he is recovering from being sick, as well.
In the women's 5K classic race, junior Eliska Hajkova finished off the podium for the first time this season. She was just one spot off, taking fourth in a time of 17:32.5, missing by less than three seconds. Senior Alexa Turzian took 15th in a time of 18:58.5, while Katie Stege finished 20th in a time of 19:11.1 and Mary Rose 28th in 20:03.5. Joanne Reid did not race as Cranmer felt one more day off would be beneficial after her return from the World Junior Cross Country Championships.
In alpine action, the short-handed Buffs did what they set out to do on the men's side, and that was to improve upon the NCAA qualification for those who didn't travel to Turkey and for the most part, it was mission successful. Freshman Andreas Haug finished fifth in a time of 1:35.90 and his time of 46.75 was the fastest second run of the day. Sophomore Max Lamb took seventh in a time of 1:36.38 and freshman Fletcher McDonald took ninth in 1:36.51. Junior Eric Davis did not finish, but he was turning in one of the fastest first-run times when he straddled a gate just five gates from the finish.
“The men did exactly what they were supposed to do,” assistant alpine coach Arman Serebrakian said. “Andreas, Max and Fletcher all had good placements and that will help them all with NCAA qualification. That's always our top goal and with most teams missing some skiers, that was our focus even more with the skiers we have here.”
With five of the eight women's alpine skiers in Turkey, the three who traveled had the same goals as the men's skiers, but some bad luck left the Buffs with just one finisher, senior Ashley Babcock, who took 14th in a time of 1:43.99. Junior Jenny Allen and Khyla Burrows did not finish the race.
Allen especially had bad luck, as she asked for and was granted a re-run when a broken gate was in the middle of the course on her first run. After still completing the first run, her second run saw her hike twice before not finishing, including out of the gate where she skied over her pole out of the gate. Burrows had a solid first run but pushed a little too hard and lost her line, according to Serebrakian.
The UNM Invitational will conclude Saturday with the Nordic freestyle races and another set of slalom races on the alpine side. The alpine races usually take place at Taos, but with the move to Red River, there is not an ideal ski run for a giant slalom course. Thus both RMISA alpine qualifier races with be giant slalom runs to even things back out.
SPENST, RIVAS RUN GIANT SLALOM RACES AT WORLD UNVIERSITY GAMES
ERZURUM, Turkey – Two CU skiers were in action at the 25th World University Games Friday with Taggart Spenst taking 33rd in the giant slalom races in a time of 58.39. CU senior Gabriel Rivas, skiing for France, finished 89th in a time of 1:05.70. Women's slalom races will take place Saturday with the Games ending Sunday with the men's slalom races.
New Mexico Invitational Team Scores (4 events)—1. New Mexico 449; 2. Utah 393; 3. Alaska Anchorage 374; 4. Montana State 362; 5. Denver 342; 6. Colorado 324, 7. Westminster College 96.
Women's Slalom (17 finishers)—1. Anne Cecilie Brusletto, New Mexico, 1:37.89; 2. Tii-Maria Romar, Utah, 1:38.59; 3. Kayla Fry, Alaska Anchorage, 1:39.11; 4. Anna Kocken, Utah, 1:39.19; 5. Kate Williams, New Mexico, 1:39.64; 6. Sofia Smith, Utah, 1:40.45; 7. Jamie Dupratt, Utah, 1:40.86; 8. Alex Parker, Alaska Anchorage, 1:42.51; 9. Ida Bjerka, Alaska Anchorage, 1:42.52; 10. Karen Bell, 1:42.55. CU Finishers: 14. Ashley Babcock, 1:43.99. Did Not Finish (second run): Jenny Allen, Khyla Burrows.
Men's Slalom (28 finishers)—1. Juho-Pekka Penttinen, UNM, 1:34.87; 2. Chris Barber, MSU, 1:35.57; 3. Chris Acosta, UNM, 1:35.63; 4. Petter Brenna, UNM, 1:35.87; 5. Andreas Haug, CU, 1:35.90; 6. Chriss Salbu, UNM, 1:36.19; 7. Max Lamb, CU, 1:36.38; 8. Andreas Adde, UAA, 1:36.50; 9. Fletcher McDonald, CU, 1:36.51; 10. Armin Triendl, UNM, 1:36.56. Other CU Finishers: Did Not Finish (first run): Eric Davis.
Women's Classical (29 finishers)—1. Maria Graefnings, UU, 16:51.7; 2. Martine Weng, New Mexico, 17:18.7; 3. Kate Dolan, DU, 17:29.5; 4. Eliska Hajkova, CU, 17:32.5; 5. Sarah MacCarthy, UU, 18:06.6; 6. Stephanie Hiemer, UAA, 18:09.3; 7. Sofie Jonsson, UNM, 18:17.6; 8. Makayla Cappel, DU, 18:19.8; 9. Casey Kutz, MSU, 18:24.1; 10. Terese Andersson, UNM, 18:25.3. Other CU Finishers: 15. Alexa Turzian, 18:58.5; 20. Katie Stege, 19:11.1; 28. Mary Rose, 20:03.5. Did Not Start: Joanne Reid.
Men's Classical (26 finishers)—1. Martin Kaas, UNM, 28:41.4; 2. Jesper Ostensen, CU, 28:58.3; Kristian Soerlund, DU, 29:02.4; 4. Didrik Smith, UU, 29:16.5; 5. Bernhard Roenning, MSU, 29:20.6; 6. Markus Moe, DU, 29:30.8; 7. Ryan Scott, MSU, 29:20.5; 8. Tor-Hakon Hellebostad, UNM, 29:51.2; 9. Tom Smith, UU, 29:52.7; 10. Pierre Niess, UNM, 29:55.3. Other CU Finishers: 18. Patrick Neel, 30:48.7; 19. Ian Mallams, 31:02.8; 20. Vegard Kjoelhamar, 31:05.8; 22. Andreas Hoye, 31:39.7.
