Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
New Mexico Invitational (SL #1; CL 10/10K-T)
Buffs Lead After First Day Of UNM Invite
January 30, 2015 | Skiing
RED RIVER, N.M. -Â On the strength of a win from senior Rune Oedegaard and podium appearances from sophomores Mads Stroem and Maja Solbakken, the top-ranked University of Colorado ski team holds a slim advantage in a tight group of teams here at the 2015 New Mexico Invitational at the midway point of the meet.
No team had a stellar day across the board and after the dust settled the Buffaloes are in possession of a slim 10 point advantage over host New Mexico, 286-276, while Utah (257) and Denver (252) are both still very much in the hunt. Alaska Anchorage rounds out the top five with 223 points while Montana State sits sixth with 203 points.
"The Nordic teams did a great job today, no question," CU coach Richard Rokos said. "The guys did what they've been doing, going 1-2, and three girls in the top 10, it's exactly what we need, a solid performance across the board."
"On the alpine side, it was an average performance, we will be better off tomorrow," Rokos continued. "We learned some things, especially on the second run, that hopefully will carry over to tomorrow and we will ski better."
Oedegaard and Stroem continued their brilliant seasons, finishing 1-2 for the fifth time in five races this season, this time in the 10K classical race. Oedegaard won the race in a time of 33:11.3, by 25.2 seconds over Stroem, to get his fourth win of the season and 18th win of his career. He stands No. 2 all-time at CU behind former women's Nordic star Maria Grevsgaard's 24 wins.
"It's a big help that we can ski together," Oedegaard said. "Every day in training we are pushing each other, we live together in Boulder. We have a good time and are enjoying every minute of college skiing at the moment."
The Oedegaard-Stroem duo has now finished 1-2 in eight of their 13 career races together. Futher, Oedegaard has now won four straight races, matching the longest streak of his career and he's won eight of his last 10 races dating back to the middle of last season.
The last time a skier won more than four consecutive races was Joanne Reid's string of seven straight in 2013 and the last time a male skier accomplished the feat was Matt Gelso, who won five straight near the end of the 2010 season.
"It doesn't get old, it's always nice," CU Nordic coach Bruce Cranmer said. "At this elevation, so much can be a factor, and it was really soft snow today, you had to ski carefully, you couldn't just punch it and kick as hard as you'd like to."
The race was a team start, a rarity in the world of college skiing and really ski racing in general. Each team started the race together in 90 second intervals, bringing a whole new level of tactics into the mix. The story of the day for the Buffaloes in that regard was freshman Ian Boucher, who led the Buffs on the first of two laps, pulling his teammates along before the Buffs broke apart the second lap to ski as fast as they could to the finish.
"Ian went hard for a while and was the rabbit for a bit," Cranmer said. "In general, if you want to do well, you have to ski fast, so after Ian kind of dropped off, Rune and Mads skied together for most of the race until near the end. You still have to ski likes it's a race, it's not totally tactical, or you're only as fast as your slowest guy."
"A lot of teams started really hard," Cramer continued. "Our guys were down about 30-40 seconds after the first (of three) laps. But then after the second lap, they had caught up and even had the lead."
Boucher likely paid for the sacrifice by finishing 28th in a time of 38:46.0, but he can take solace in the fact that his teammates again took the top two podium spots and his other four teammates all took home top 20 honors.
"We had Ian leading us for most of the first lap," Oedegaard said. "We have a strong team, so we were able to ski as a team for the first lap and that helped a lot. Then Mads skied really fast in the second lap, I had to fight to keep up with him and I was able to go really hard at the end. It felt good."
Add in the fact that the races in New Mexico are the highest in college skiing, at 10,000 feet, and it was dumping snow, the weather and altitude were both factors in the races.
"It was a super tough race," Oedegaard said. "It's really high elevation here and it makes it harder when it's snowing like it did today."
Freshman Jackson Hill was the Buffs third finisher for team points, taking 17th in a time of 36:01.7, followed by sophomore Max Scrimgeour in 20th in 36:53.2. Senior Emil Johansson missed his third straight as he's recovering from an infection he suffered during a biking accident and has been in the hospital in Boulder the last couple days.
On the women's Nordic side, the Buffs were led by sophomore Maja Solbakken, who hit the podium for the first time in her college career, taking third place in a time of 40:04.9. In a strange race, the top four skiers were all about a minute apart from each other.
"It was her first podium, so she's excited about that," Cranmer said. "It was a smart and tactical race and that's how she skied. She knew she couldn't get more kick, so she wasn't looking for it. Some other skiers were looking for more kick and in these conditions, if you use enough wax to get a solid kick, you'll really slow yourself down on the downhill's. She skied a good race and it's great to see her on the podium."
Freshman Petra Hyncicova finished eighth in a time of 42:06.7 while Camilla Brautaset was two spots back in 10th in a time of 42:08.5 as the two skied the entire 10K course together. Freshman Jesse Knori finished 21st in 44:55.0.
"It was a hard race for Petra, despite finishing eighth," Cramer said. "She probably pushed herself too hard at this altitude, she had a hard recovery from this race. Racing at this altitude is a unique enough thing that we don't really train for it, all of our more important races are at much lower elevations."
"Camilla came back nicely with a top 10," Cramer said. "She started getting better as the race went on and gained confidence."
The Buffs were without freshman Ane Johnsen or sophomore Lucy Newman, who both remained in Boulder under the weather.
"They didn't even come down here," Cranmer said. "Lucy has the flu, which I think is why she was hurting in Steamboat after the last race there. Ane has been sick and not totally healthy. She's not really sick, but not totally healthy, and this isn't the place to come if you're not healthy."
Over at the alpine hill, the Buffs struggled a bit on the day, taking home just one top 10 finish, that of Thea Grosvold, who took eighth in a time of 1:36.47 in the women's race.
"Denver and Westminster dominated, they have great skiers and we have to stand up against them," Rokos said. "Overall, however, the distribution of wealth and power comes differently for all teams and I believe across the board we are better balanced."
Junior Jessica Honkonen finished 12th in a time of 1:37.59 just ahead of senior Shane McLean, who's time of 1:37.88 was good enough for 13th. Freshman Dani Brownell-Patty had a solid couple runs, moving from a starting position of 26 up to finish 16th in a time of 1:39.65 while junior Clare Wise had one of her better races, finishing 19th in 1:41.29.
Sophomore Katie Hostetler finished 30th in 1:44.55 while senior Brooke Wales Granstrom finished in 33rd after having to hike on her first run, in a time of 1:48.98.
"Brooke was having a great run," Rokos said. "She just made a mistake near the finish line. It happens, she went a little too straight and it's nothing to hold against her, just part of the sport."
On the men's side, the Buffs were led by junior Henrik Gunnarsson, who finished 14th in a time of 1:32.72, just .11 ahead of junior Adam Zika (1:32.83) who finished 15th. Cameron Smith had to hike on his second run and finished 28th in a time of 1:46.95, while junior Kasper Hietanen, who was fourth after the first run, and sophomore Roger Carry each didn't finish their second runs.
"Kasper had a great run going and the same thing happened to him that happened to Brooke," Rokos said. "It was about the same place, about 100 meters from the finish line and he went a little too straight."
The UNM Invitational comes to a close Saturday with two more slalom races on the alpine side and the 5K women's and 10K men's freestyle races on the Nordic side. Skiers than have most of February off as the college season doesn't resume until Feb. 23-26 with the Alaska Anchorage Invitational. Teams will stay in Alaska for the RMISA Championships on Feb. 27-28.
"We are looking forward to tomorrow," Rokos said. "It will be different, probably more difficult with the snow falling tonight, but we will see how it goes."
A good portion of the alpine team is competing in World University Games. Second only to the Olympic Games, the Winter Universiade will take place Feb. 4-14 in Granada, Spain.
It was also released Friday that the Buffs have ascended to the top spot in the latest SYNC Coaches Poll. The Buffs were tied for third in the preseason poll and on the strength of having the top-ranked Nordic team nationally, have vaulted to the top spot in the inaugural season of the poll. The Buffs are also ranked No. 2 on the alpine side.
New Mexico Invitational Team Scores (4 events)-1. Colorado 286; 2. New Mexico 276; 3. Utah 257; 4. Denver 252; 5. Alaska Anchorage 223; 6. Montana State 205; 7. Westminster 177; 8. Colorado Mountain College 31.
Women's 10K Classical (22 finishers)-1. Veronika Mayerhoffer, UU, 38:10.7; 2. Emilie Cedervarn, UNM, 39:02.8; 3. Maja Solbakken, CU, 30:04.9; 4. Sloan Storey, UU, 40:59.0; 5. Josefin Nilsson, UU, 41:25.3; 6. Natalia Mueller, UU, 41:27.7; 7. Mackenzie Kanady, UAA, 41:41.3; 8. Petra Hyncicova, CU, 42:06.7; 9. Jessica Gnuchtel, UNM, 42:07.9; 10. Camilla Brautaset, CU, 42:08.5. Other CU Finishers: 21. Jesse Knori, 44:55.0. Did Not Finish (CU Skiers): Ane Johnsen, Lucy Newman.
Men's 10K Classical (29 finishers)-1. Rune Oedegaard, CU, 33:11.3; 2. Mads Stroem, CU, 33:36.5; 3. Moritz Madlener, DU, 33:45.1; 4. Sawyer Kisselheim, MSU, 34:15.7; 5. Etienne Richard, UAA, 34:18.4; 6. Clement Molliet, UAA, 34:20.9; 7. Mats Resaland, UNM, 34:22.4; 8. Aljaz Praznik, UNM, 34:22.6; 9. Niklas Persson, 34:24.9; 10. Oscar Ivars, UU, 34:51.6. Other CU Finishers: 17. Jackson Hill, 36:01.7; 20. Max Scrimgeour, CU, 36:53.2; 28. Ian Boucher, 38:46.0. Did Not Start (CU Skiers): Emil Johansson.
Men's Slalom (30 finishers)-1. Espen Lysdahl, DU, 1:30.71; 2. Trevor Philp, DU, 1:30.96; 3. Giulio Bosca, WMC, 1:31.59; 4. Alex Leever, DU, 1:31.62; 5. Tim Lindgren, WMC, 1:31.67; 6. Sebastian Brigovic, DU, 1:31.70; 7. Erik Read, DU, 1:31.75; 8. Juho-Pekka Penttinen, UNM, 1:31.88; 9. Sean Horner, UNM, 1:32.36; 10. Carl-Johan Oster, UNM, 1:32.41. CU Finishers: 14. Henrik Gunnarsson, 1:32.72; 15. Adam Zika, 1:32.83; 28. Cameron Smith, 1:46.95. Did Not Finish (CU Skiers): Kasper Hietanen, Roger Carry.
Women's Slalom (35 finishers)-1. Monica Huebner, DU, 1:34.28; 2. Anna Goodman, WMC, 1:35.56; 3. Ana Kobal, 1:35.70; 4. Sofija Novoselic, WMC, 1:35.72; 5. Ann-Kathrin Bruenning, WMC, 1:35.80; 6. Kristine Haugen, DU, 1:35.83; 7. Tonje Sekse, WMC, 1:36.13; 8. Thea Grosvold, CU, 1:36.47; 9. Benedicte Lyche, MSU, 1:36.84; 10. Mateja Robnik, UNM, 1:37.28. Other CU Finishers: 12. Jessica Honkonen, 1:37.59; 13. Shane McLean, 1:37.88; 16. Dani Brownell-Patty, 1:39.65; 19. Clare Wise, 1:41.29; 30. Katie Hostetler, 1:44.55; 33. Brooke Wales Granstrom, 1:48.98.
Players Mentioned
