Colorado
Colorado Invitational (GS)
Buffs Win Own Spencer Nelson Invitational
January 26, 2015 | Skiing
ELDORA—Senior Brooke Wales Granstrom and sophomore Roger Carry both hit the podium as the University of Colorado ski team won its own Spencer James Nelson Memorial Invitational, ending the four day meet with men's and women's giant slalom action here at Eldora Mountain Resort.
The Buffs finished their meet with 668 points, beating Utah (631) by 37 points. Denver was third with 585.5 points while New Mexico finished fourth with 476 points. Alaska Anchorage was fifth with 436 points and Montana State finished sixth with 408 points.
“It always feels good to win your own meet,” CU coach Richard Rokos said. “Being in your home environment, it's great, you have to fight for it.”
Wales Granstrom, fresh off winning the first GS race of the season at Utah's meet, continued her brilliant skiing, taking second in a time of 2:04.86. It's her eighth college podium appearance and the sixth time she's finished second in a GS race. In five college races this season, she's finished fourth or better four times.
“It was rough, it was hard day out there,” Wales Granstrom said. “It was a huge effort from everybody involved, all the volunteers and others who were helping. This is my favorite award of the season, it's our meet and Spencer's parents are here. To remember Spencer, have a race in his name and get a sweet belt buckle, it means a lot. If there's a race I want to do well and be on the podium, it's this one.”
Senior Shane McLean finished sixth in a time of 2:06.16 and junior Jessica Honkonen gave the Buffs three in the top seven in a time of 2:06.42. Junior Thea Grosvold was 13th in 2:06.98. That duo now has a combined 16 top 10 finishes this year, four each in five races.
“We didn't have a great day yesterday, you have bad days in ski racing and unfortunately they all came on the same day for us,” Wales Granstrom said. “We rebounded really well today and proved we're right in there and can be a strong force.”
“The girls did well today on all levels,” Rokos said. “They communicated well, they improved greatly from yesterday.”
Katie Hostetler narrowly missed the top 20 in 21st in a time of 2:09.21 and junior Clare Wise finished 27th in 2:13.86. Freshman Dani Brownell-Patty didn't finish her second run.
In men's action, Carry earned his career best finish and first college podium, taking second in a time of 2:03.30. He was third overall in the race, second among collegians, so he picked up one of the podium awards along with Wales Granstrom.
“I feel like I've been skiing well in training and it's nice that it's happening in the races,” Carry said. “It was a rough race but I'm happy to get on the podium. I came to CU last year and didn't know too much about this race, but it's amazing to see all the history involved and how much it means to everybody.”
Junior Adam Zika finished 13th for the Buffs in a time of 2:04.00 and CU then had spots 17-18-19 with juniors Henrik Gunnarsson (2:04.53), Kasper Hietanen (2:04.63) and Cameron Smith (2:05.08) all earning top 20s.
“With the men's race, I asked them to ski more conservatively today,” Rokos said. “The course was in bad shape and with our guys coming off of injuries, I didn't' want them to take any chances. They were disciplined enough to do it, they lost a few places but saved their legs and ligaments and we'll need those at the end of the season. Roger is healthy so he could go for it, and he did a great job.”
The CU meet is now over but the teams will stick around one more day for a pair of giant slalom qualifiers races here Tuesday. The races count toward NCAA qualification but do not count toward team competition.
“It's more fun and pressure-free skiing,” Rokos said.
Colorado Invitational Team Scores (FINAL)—1. Colorado 668; 2. Utah, 631; 3. Denver 585.5; 4. New Mexico 476; 5. Alaska Anchorage 436; 6. Montana State 408; 7. Westminster 192.5; 8. Colorado Mountain College 46.
Men's Giant Slalom (30 finishers)— 1. Erik Read, DU, 2:02.41; 2. Roger Carry, CU, 2:03.30; 3. Giulio Bosca, WMC, 2:03.50; . Sebastian Brigovic, DU, 2:03.50; 5. Taylor Shiffrin, DU, 2:03.54; 6. Sean Horner, UNM, 2:03.57; 7. Garret Driller, MSU, 2:03.66; 8. Andy Trow, UU, 2:03.76; . Jorgen Brath, UU, 2:03.76; 10. Michael Bansmer, WMC, 2:03.77; 11. Trevor Philp, DU, 2:03.79; 12. David Neuhauser, MSU, 2:03.84; 13. Adam Zika, CU, 2:04.00; 14. Endre Bjertness, UU, 2:04.06; 15. Carl-Johan Oster, UNM, 2:04.34; 16. Jonas Nyberg, WMC, 2:04.45; 17. Henrik Gunnarsson, CU, 2:04.53; 18. Kasper Hietanen, CU, 2:04.63; 19. Cameron Smith, CU, 2:05.08; 20. Juho-Pekka Penttinen, UNM, 2:05.14; 21. David Herzog, WMC, 2:07.52; 2. Conor McDonald, UAA, 2:07.64; 23. Mark Miller, UNM, 2:07.83; 24. Hughston Norton, UAA, 2:09.06; 25. David Owsley, MSU, 2:09.65; 26. Marrins Onskulis, UAA, 2:10.51; 27. Curtis McKillop, UAA, 2:10.87; 28. Graham Black, CMC, 2:12.68; 29. Alex Leever, DU, 2:12.89; 30. James Schindler, UAA, 2:16.36; 31. Charles Howard, CUI, 2:22.86. Did Not Finish: Dominic Demschar, UU; Michael Radford, MSU; Tim Hribar, UU; Andrew Kirchner, MSU; Nicolas England, CMC; Owen Reilly, CUI; Tim Lindgren, WMC; Sean Alexander, UAA; Max Marno, DU; Cedrik Gagnon, UAA;.
Women's Giant Slalom (34 finishers)— 1. Chloa Fausa, UU, 2:04.52; 2. Brooke Wales Granstrom, CU, 2:04.86; 3. Kristiina Rove, UU, 2:05.11; 4. Mateja Robnik, UNM, 2:05.39; 5. Sydney Staples, UNM, 2:05.80; 6. Shane McLean, CU, 2:06.16; 7. Jessica Honkonen, CU, 2:06.42; 8. Charley Field, UAA, 2:06.52; 9. Tonje Sekse, WMC, 2:06.62; 10. Kristine Haugen, DU, 2:06.63; 11. Devin Delaney, DU, 2:06.69; 12. Lauren Samuels, UU, 2:06.75; 13. Thea Grosvold, CU, 2:06.98; 14. Ana Kobal, UU, 2:07.10; 15. Courtney Altringer, UNM, 2:07.32; 16. Ann-Kathrin Bruening, WMC, 2:07.40; 17. Sara Ottosson, UNM, 2:07.57; 18. Sofija Novoselic, WMC, 2:07.65; 19. Stephanie Irwin, MSU, 2:07.71; 20. Natalie Knowles, DU, 2:08.11; 21. Katie Hostetler, CU, 2:09.21; 22. Teagan Palmer, UU, 2:09.27; 23. Isabella Andreini, UAA, 2:10.48; 24. Marion Hudry, UAA, 2:11.87; 25. Tenaya Driller, MSU, 2:12.68; 26. Madeline Johnson, CMC, 2:13.22; 27. Clare Wise, CU, 2:13.86; 28. Audrey Hume, UAA, 2:14.33; 29. Anna Berecz, UAA, 2:16.22; 30. Emma Naatz, DU*, 2:16.42; 31. Elizabeth Koprucki, MSU, 2:17.60; 32. Katie Talbot, CMC, 2:18.35; 33. Bridget French, DU, 2:18.60; 34. Miriam Schachtman, CU-I, 2:40.50. Did Not Finish: Marie Aufrere, WMC; Benedicte Lyche, MSU; Nora Eide, UU; Kari Hole, MSU; Taylor Grauer, UNM; Monica Huebner, DU; Karoline Myklebust, UNM; Dani Brownell-Patty, CU; Tianda Carroll, DU; Devon Clarke, WMC; Katherine Lamoureux, UAA.
Players Mentioned
