Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
RMISA Championships/NCAA West Regional
Buffs Take Second At RMISA Championships
February 22, 2014 | Skiing
BEAVER CREEK & MINTURN, Colo.—Despite a 1-2 finish on the men's Nordic side from Rune Oedegaard and Mads Stroem and a podium appearance from Brooke Wales in the women's slalom, the University of Colorado wasn't able to hold off Utah and finished second at the 65th Annual RMISA Championships, hosted here by the University of Denver Saturday.
The Buffs had held a slim three point lead at the midpoint of the championships, which double as the NCAA Western Regional, but the Utes outscored the Buffs by seven points to take a four point victory, the slimmest margin of victory in RMISA Championships history. Utah's eight-event total was 640 to the Buffs 636. New Mexico finished third with 617.5 points with the host Pioneers taking fourth with 578.5. Montana State (445) edged out Alaska Anchorage (425) for fifth place.
It matches the closest winning margin for any meet since the 2008 New Mexico Invitational, where the host Lobos topped the Buffs by just 3.5 points and it matches the second-closest RMISA Championship margin, tied with the 1999 RMISA Championships, where the Buffs topped Denver by four points, 517-513. In 1985, Utah beat Wyoming by just 1.5 points in the RMISA Championships.
“On one hand, this is a good indication that we are coming back to full strength as a team, missing out on a regional championship by just a few points,” CU coach Richard Rokos said. “But on the other hand it's very disappointing. Slalom on our men's alpine side has been our strongest event and everybody struggled today. Since they did so well yesterday, it was unexpected. Because we are only a week out from NCAAs, we are over analyzing it and it will take a few days to get over, but we have to look at it like it was a one-time mistake and forget about it quickly.”
The men's alpine team struggled in the slalom which has been the team's better discipline the past few years. But the story of the day was the beginning of the Nordic competition. As Oedegaard approached the start, his suit split open across his chest. He thought he had at least two minutes, the announcer normally gives a two-minute warning over the loud speakers. As he was trying to fix it with his boots yet to be buckled and his skis not on, the 30-second warning, after which the race can start at any time, then came across the loud speaker followed shortly by the starting gun.
“The zipper on my suit broke; I was trying to fix it. I thought I had at least two minutes and then heard the 30 second warning,” Oedegaard explained. “I realized I was going to miss the start and I was about 30 seconds behind everybody. I felt so good during warm-ups that I wasn't that nervous that I could catch up, and I knew Mads was up there slowing the pace. I have to thank him a lot for doing that.”
Oedegaard was the race's top seed and Stroem was the second seed, meaning they would normally have started the race right next to each other. When Stroem realized his teammate wasn't next to him, he raced out to the front of the race and intentionally slowed the pace of the race and the tactic worked as by the end of the first lap, Oedegaard had made his way through the entire field, dodging a crash that included teammate Emil Johansson and rejoined Stroem at the front of the race.
“I was like, 'Oh my god! Where's Rune?,'” Stroem said. “I glanced back and saw him at the back and then kept the pace pretty slow so he could get back up there. I just relaxed in front and waited for him.”
“This is what sports are all about,” Rokos said. “The fact those two guys are beating each other relentlessly and Mads put that aside and did what was best for the team. It's a beautiful story and it makes up for us being second place and not winning the meet.”
In the process, Oedegaard won his fourth race of the season, two each in the freestyle and classical disciplines and he locked up the top Nordic seed for NCAA Championships. He also won his 13th career race, tying Per Kare Jakobsen for the school record amongst men's Nordic skiers, a total that's tied for third overall in CU history. He has also won five of the six races contested in his career at the RMISA Championships. He came in second in the other race by less than one second.
“My skis were so good today, it wasn't really fair for everybody else,” Oedegaard said. “I was just having a lot of fun. This is as good as I've ever felt, this is as fun as ski racing can be and this is why you train 900 hours a year, for days like this, enjoying every moment.”
Oedegaard's time of 45 minutes, 6.8 seconds was 9.2 seconds ahead of Stroem, who just beat out New Mexico's Aljaz Praznik by three-tenths of a second to finish in the runner-up position. Despite being crashed into and falling, junior Emil Johansson took 15th and was the third team scorer in a time of 46:54.2 Junior Arnaud Du Pasquier had some issues with his feet and finished 18th in a time of 48:21.5, three spots ahead of senior Andreas Hoye (49:28.8).
Freshmen Jackson Hill and Max Scrimgeour did not race.
The men's Nordic team outscored Utah by 27 points, pushing the Buffs lead to 30 and it would grow to 31 points by the end of the women's Nordic race as the Buffs edged out Utah 67-66 on the scoreboard.
Freshman Maja Solbakken paced the Buffaloes with a fifth place finish in a time of 41:48.9 while freshman Camilla Brautaset finished eighth in 41:51.4. Brautaset fell twice during the race and likely cost herself a podium finish as in eighth, she was just a few seconds behind Solbakken and less than a minute off of the podium. Freshman Lucy Newman, still struggling with some leg cramps, finished 18th in a time of 43:45.1.
Wales earned her first podium appearance in slalom action, taking third in a time of 1:21.05. With Jessica Honkonen just two spots back in fifth in a time of 1:21.34 and sophomore Thea Grosvold ninth in 1:21.88, the Buffs lost just six points to the Utes, who finished first, sixth and tied for seventh in the race, earning 91 points to the Buffs' 85 as the two finished first and second in the team standings for the race.
For Wales, it moved her up three all-important spots in the seeding for the NCAA Championships. The top five seeds from the RMISA are mixed in with the top five seeds from the EISA for a random draw of the top 10 at the NCAA Championships. She has a top five seed in giant slalom and she just missed out in slalom, finishing sixth and meaning she will start the slalom race either 11th or 12th if things pan out.
Junior Shane McLean finished 14th for the Buffaloes in a time of 1:22.49 while sophomore Clare Wise took 23rd in 1:23.72. Freshman Katie Hostetler did not finish.
With 29 points to spare, the Utah men had finishers of first and sixth and the Buffs struggled with the top finisher being senior Andreas Haug in 15th (1:17.12), followed closely by sophomores Kasper Hietanen in 16th (1:17.28) and Henrik Gunnarsson (1:17.38). Utah managed 83 points in the race to CU's 54 and it was enough to edge the Buffs by four points in the final standings for the regional championship.
Sophomore Cameron Smith finished 19th in a time of 1:17.49, senior Fletcher McDonald was 22nd in 1:17.56 and sophomore Adam Zika finished 25th in 1:18.32. Freshman Roger Carry did not finish the race and freshman Tanner Mottau did not race.
“Still, the overall thinking is that things are coming together,” Rokos said. “It was a long season, there were a lot of ups and downs, more downs, and the first couple of meets weren't an indication of our overall strength. But things are coming back and if we can choose the right team for NCAAs, we will be right in the mix.”
One of the tougher parts of the season for any coach, the NCAA selection process will be even more stressful for Rokos, and alpine assistant Taggart Spenst this year.
“We aren't any closer to selection now than we were before this meet,” Rokos said. “It's not a pleasant situation for me or Tag.”
NCAA selections are due Monday and will be announced by the association on Tuesday. Teams that can count as many as six skiers in regular season meets are forced to select three skier from each men's and women's Nordic and alpine to make a 12-skier contingent. All six Division I teams in the RMISA will send full 12-skier squads to the NCAA Championships, which will be hosted by Utah in Park City and Midway March 5-8.
EISA Update: Vermont ran away with the EISA Championship/NCAA Eastern Regional Sunday, recording a 126 point victory over Dartmouth, who was then 241 points ahead of third place Middlebury.
