Colorado
Colorado Invitational (FS 5/10K-I)
Oedegaard Wins, Buffs Take Lead At Own Invitational
January 23, 2015 | Skiing
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS – Senior Rune Oedegaard won while sophomore Mads Stroem and freshman Petra Hyncicova both finished second as the University of Colorado ski team took an early lead at its own Spencer James Nelson Memorial Invitational here at Howelsen Hill Friday.
On top of three podium performances, the Buffs had five total top 10 finishes in the women's 5K and men's 10K freestyle races. The Buffs won both races and lead the invitational with 183 points, 24 ahead of second place Utah (159). Alaska Anchorage sits third with 140 points and Denver is fourth with 134. Tied for fifth are Montana State and New Mexico with 113 points, apiece.
“Overall it was a good team effort,” Nordic coach Bruce Cranmer said. “It's good to get three in the top 10 like we did on the women's side today, and I would've hoped for the same on the men's side, we were a little short but Rune getting a win, Petra being second and Mads got second, it's a good day.”
Oedegaard won his second race of the season and alongside Stroem, the duo has now finished 1-2 in all three races this season and in 11 career races together, they have taken the top two spots six times.
“I felt really good today, I had great skis, good balance on the skis, and I could relax and really focus on technique in the race,” Oedegaard said. “Up here in the altitude, you can't ski too hard in the beginning or you'll be in trouble, so focusing on the technique early and not skiing too hard gave me an advantage on the second lap.”
Oedegaard's winning time of 24:19.6 was 27.4 seconds ahead of Stroem (24:46.9), who edged out Denver's Moritz Madlener by three seconds for second place. Oedegaard won his 16th career race for the Buffaloes, the most by a male skier in CU history and he's now tied for second most all time with former women's alpine great Lucie Zikova. Former women's Nordic great Maria Grevsgaard is CU's all-time leader with 24 race wins.
“I'm a competitive person, so when I hear I'm fighting for something, it's in my mind that I want to take that,” Oedegaard said of catching Zikova. “Hopefully I get one more. Unfortunately, I don't have enough eligibility to take Maria down. Twenty four wins in a career is just unbelievable.”
“These kind of people don't come along that often,” Cranmer said of Oedegaard. “He's super motivated, he sets a high bar for himself and has big expectations and trains hard. This year I know school has been tougher for him, too.”
Oedegaard's continued success early this year is even more impressive given the fact that he's now taking graduate level courses at CU along an internship and that he's coming off an off-season in which he couldn't train as much due to issues with his ankle and knee. He had a procedure on his ankle last summer and then tore his meniscus in his knee and had surgery during fall training prior to the season.
“I'm taking one race at a time, I'm always saying I'm happy to be fighting, especially this year, I was sick, I had surgery on my knee and my ankle,” Oedegaard said. “I'm in much better shape than I thought I would be. With a lot of school, balancing everything right now is tough, so I'm trying to enjoy everything.”
On his friendly rivalry with Stroem, Oedegaard joked, “It's awesome, we're joking around with each other all the time, when he beats me, he's sends me some messages and I have to be rough on him back, so today he has to do the dishes, we have to make him work for it a little more.”
“The best way for me to support both Rune and Mads, other than trying to give them the fastest skis I can, is to give them as much support as I can,” Cranmer added. “In a lot of ways, they're as educated as most coaches on the best training methods, they study what the top guys on national teams do.”
Sophomore Jackson Hill was the third CU scorer on the men's side, finishing 14th in a time of 25:46.7 despite a fall during his second lap when his pole got stuck between his skis. Sophomore Max Scrimgeour finished 22nd in a time of 26:39.4 while freshman Ian Boucher took 28th in 27:59.2.
In the truest example of skiing as a team sport, Oedegaard, who started the 30-second interval race about 90 seconds behind Hill, saw Hill ahead of him and knew he had a solid lead, so he eased up a bit so the skiers he was skiing with wouldn't catch Hill, an action that could've cost a few more placements and team points for the Buffaloes.
“I saw Jackson in front of us, so I didn't want to take the Utah guys up to him,” Oedegaard said. “There was no reason for me to fight for every second and push the other teams up to one of our guys. That is what's fun about college skiing, it's a team sport, thinking about those tactical things. I also knew we have a long race tomorrow, it will be a tough race, four laps on this course, so it's good to save something for tomorrow, too.”
“Rune knew he had a solid lead, so he could've won by a few more seconds but didn't feel like he needed to kill himself,” Cranmer added. “And maybe dragging somebody up to Jackson wouldn't help the team as much, either.”
Hyncicova also hit the podium for the Buffs, taking second in the women's 5K race in a time of 14:26.1 while freshman Ane Johnsen finished fifth in a time of 14:30.6, as just 4.5 seconds separated second through fifth places.
“It was really good, I didn't expect to finish second because in Utah I didn't finish as high,” Hyncicova said. “I had raced one week before Utah in the Czech Republic, so the altitude affected me a little bit, and I had just traveled from overseas. Today was quicker than I expected, the first half there are some really steep hills.”
“Petra has that ability, she skied well and looked strong the few places I saw her,” Cranmer said. “She's a good sprinter, she looked good through the whole race, and it will be a good confidence booster for her. And Ane has been a little sick and had a solid race less than five seconds to second place.”
Sophomore Maja Solbakken continued her run of top 10s with a ninth place finish in a time of 14:52.8. That trio have all finished in the top 10 in all three races this season. Together they compiled 88 points, seven better than Utah's total of 81 to claim the race victory for the Buffaloes.
Freshman Jesse Knori finished 19th in a time of 15:43.3 with sophomore Lucy Newman finishing 24th in 16:04.2 and sophomore Camilla Brautaset taking 26th in a time of 16:19.2.
The CU Invitational continues Saturday with the conclusion of the Nordic action. The men will race first, a 20K classical mass start race, scheduled for 9:30 a.m., followed by the women's 15K classic race at 10:45 a.m. Action will then shift to three days of alpine racing at Eldora, the first two part of the CU meet and the final day an extra RMISA GS Qualifier.
Colorado Invitational Team Scores (2 events)—1. Colorado 183, 2. Utah 159, 3. Alaska Anchorage 140, 4. Denver 134, 5. Montana State & New Mexico, 113.
Women's 5K Freestyle (28 finishers)¬—1. Sylvia Nordskar, DU, 13:52.6; 2. Petra Hyncicova, CU, 14:26.1; 3. Veronika Meyerhofer, UU, 14:28.9; 4. Mackenzie Kanady, UAA, 14:30.2; 5. Ane Johnsen, CU, 14:30.6; 6. Sloan Storey, UU, 14:49.3; 7. Emilie Cedervaern, UNM, 14:49.7; 8. Manon Locatelli, UAA, 14:51.3; 9. Maja Solbakken, CU, 14:52.8; 10. Anika Miller, MSU, 15:03.8; 11. Natalia Mueller, UU, 15:17.8; 12. Selma Ashland, DU, 15:18.3; 13. Anna-Lena Heynen, UU, 15:20.9; 14. Josefin Nilsson, UU, 15:28.7; 15. Kathrin Schratt, UAA, 15:30.9; 16. Isabella Smith, MSU, 15:33.8; 17. Patricia Sprecher, UAA, 15:38.7; 18. Eva Severrus, UNM, 15:41.7; 19. Jesse Knori, CU, 15:43.3; 20. Annie Liotta, MSU, 15:51.6; 21. Heleene Tambet, UNM, 15:53.3; 22. Gretchen Buckholder, MSU, 15:57.0; 23. Lina Hultin, MSU, 16:02.8; 24. Lucy Newman, CU, 16:04.2; 25. Julia Hayes, MSU, 16:12.3; 26. Camilla Brautaset, CU, 16:19.2; 27. Silje Benum, DU, 16:27.7; 28. Hanna Slotte, UAA, 17:26.0.
Men's 10K Freestyle (28 finishers)¬—1. Rune Oedegaard, CU, 24:19.6; 2. Mads Stroem, CU, 24:46.9; 3. Moritz Madlener, DU, 24:50.0; 4. Alex Mahoney, UAA, 25:01.5; 5. Niklas Persson, UU, 25:03.9; 6. Nick Hendrickson, UU, 25:06.7; 7. Mats Resaland, UNM, 25:07.4; 8. Sawyer Kisselheim, MSU, 25:07.9; 9. Kevin Bolger, UU, 25:11.5; 10. Clement Molliet, UAA, 25:11.8; 11. Forrest Mahlen, MSU, 25:18.7; 12. Noe Bellet, UU, 25:20.0; 13. Aljaz Praznik, UNM, 25:35.7; 14. Jackson Hill, CU, 25:46.7; 15. Erik Axelsson, MSU, 25:53.8; 16. Etienne Richard, UAA, 25:59.2; 17. Tucker McCrerey, UU, 25:59.6; 18. Oscar Ivars, UU, 26:03.2; 19. Andrew Arnold, UAA, 26:15.3; 20. Dag Trolleboe, DU, 26:18.8; 21. Mario Roncador, UAA, 26:30.8; 22. Max Scrimgeour, CU, 26:39.4; 23. Christian Otto, UNM, 26:55.8; 24. Joergen Brevik, DU, 27:01.6; 25. Noah Anderson, MSU, 27:05.4; 26. Kyle Beling, UNM, 27:55.0; 27. Christian Shanley, DU, 27:57.7; 28. Ian Boucher, CU, 27:59.2; 29. Sam Miller, DU, 29:46.2; 30. Alec Wiltz, UNM, 33:04.5.
Players Mentioned
