Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
New Mexico Invitational (SL #2; FS 5/10K-I)
Colorado Takes Second At New Mexico Invitational
January 31, 2015 | Skiing
RED RIVER, N.M. - The top-ranked University of Colorado ski team and host New Mexico battled it out throughout the day Saturday and when the dust settled the host Lobos edged out the Buffs by just 28 points to win the New Mexico Invitational here at Red River and Enchanted Forest.
New Mexico finished its meet with 579 points to Colorado's total of 551. Utah edged out Denver for third place by just 3-+ points, 505-+-502. Alaska Anchorage took fifth with 470-+ and Montana State finished sixth with 423 points.
"Were not blaming the conditions, but it was tough with more snow on the course," CU coach Richard Rokos said. "I can only imagine the Nordies were fighting a different animal out there with all the factors. Lighter structured skiers dominated the race and Rune (Oedegaard) and Mads (Stroem) don't fit that bill. On the bright side, Maja (Solbakken) is a star, she took full advantage of what she needed to this week with two podiums."
The Buffs entered the day with a 12 point lead but the Lobos immediately took control by doing what the Buffs had done all year, posting a 1-2 finish in the men's Nordic race. UNM's Mats Resaland won the men's 10K freestyle race while teammate Aljaz Praznik was second. In the other five men's Nordic races this year, it was CU's duo of Oedegaard and Stroem that finished 1-2 in the races.
The Buffs knew about the high altitude being an issue at Enchanted Forest, but when you throw new and soft snow into the mix, it just exacerbates the issues. About a foot of snow fell overnight and that course doesn't have a heavy grooming machine like most places, just some snow mobiles, so what was already soft snow became even worse overnight.
"It was a tough day," CU Nordic coach Bruce Cranmer said. "It's tough being at altitude with super soft snow, then we had another foot of snow last night and they don't have great grooming equipment here. If you tried to use any strength, you just punched through. Today isn't indicative of anything, we will get it out of our bodies and minds, leave it behind and focus on what's ahead."
As it stood, the Buffs were led by sophomore Jackson Hill's sixth place finish in a tie of 34:13.5. Oedegaard was 11th in a time of 34:30.6, just the fourth race of his career he's been out of the top five, and Stroem came in 13th in a time of 35:04.2. The Lobos outscored the Buffs 92-65 in the race to take a 17 point lead. Sophomore Max Scrimgeour finished 18th in a time of 35:58.4 and freshman Ian Boucher took 24th in 37:28.8.
"There were a few bright spots," Cranmer said. "Jackson had a good race and Maja (Solbakken) really did well and could've done better. She fell down near the end of the race and I thought she cost herself a podium. She saved that, but could've likely been in second place."
Solbakken did earn that podium, the Buffs lone top three finish on the day in the women's 5K freestyle race, finishing third for the second straight race in a time of 18:29.7. She finished a successful two days of racing earning her first two career podium appearances.
The Buffs raced just three skiers in the women's race and freshman Petra Hyncicova finished 13th in 19:47.3 and sophomore Camilla Brautaset took 18th in 20:40.4. The Buffs left both sophomore Lucy Newman and freshman Ane Johnsen back in Boulder and freshman Jesse Knori, who raced Friday in the classic race, did not race Saturday.
The Lobos, paced by a runner-up performance from Emilie Cedervarn, outscored the Buffs by 10 points in the race to open up a 27 points lead over the Buffs entering alpine action, which consisted of another set of slalom races.
Next to finish was the men's slalom race, and the Lobos and Buffaloes battled strong with UNM outscoring the Buffs by four points, 66-62. CU was led by junior Adam Zika, who finished tied for ninth place with a time of 1:36.03.
Juniors Henrik Gunnarsson (12th, 1:36.36) and Kasper Hietanen (16th, 1:36.80) both scored for the Buffaloes while junior Cameron Smith finished 20th in a time of 1:37.85 and sophomore Roger Carry was right behind him in 21st in 1:37.92.
"Considering all the World Cup guys from Denver and the Westminster guys who aren't in our division, it was a good day for us," Rokos said. "All the teams are struggling to keep up with Denver, those guys will go back out on the World Cup circuit. They do elevate the bar and we have something to shoot for. It's good for development but not as much for results. But overall the guys were consistent, in the end with the conditions we are happy they all had solid runs and escaped without injury."
Now down 31 points, CU's women's alpine team is more than capable of making up that difference, and with junior Thea Grosvold in fourth place and four Buffs in the top 15, they made a run at it. But the Lobos, skiing on their home course, finished 8-9-10 to secure the victory. CU did outscore UNM 69-66 in the women's race for the final margin of 28 points.
Grosvold continued her brilliant skiing, finishing just 12-hundredths of a second off the podium in a time of 1:41.24 on her birthday. She has finished in the top 10 in all four slalom races this year, winning one. With two Westminster skiers on the podium ahead of her, she earned an all-important second place among NCAA skiers for qualification purposes.
"Thea solidified her position in slalom," Rokos said. "She is really good, I'm happy to see her skiing great. We will do more GS training and it will all come together well."
Senior Shane McLean finished 12th in a time of 1:42.60 with senior Brooke Granstrom Wales taking 15th in 1:42.92 and junior Jessica Honkonen 15th in 1:43.37. Sophomore Katie Hostetler finished 29th in a time of 1:51.43 while freshman Dani Brownell-Patty and junior Clare Wise did not finish the race.
The Buffs have a break in the college season of three weeks before heading to Alaska for both the Alaska Anchorage Invitational and the RMISA Championships the last week of February.
But many Buffs will next head to Spain on Monday for the World University Games, set for Grenada, Spain, from February 4-14. Rokos will coach the United States alpine team once again and will be coaching Brownell-Patty, McLean, Smith and Wise for team USA.
Also competing at the games will be Carry (Canada), Grosvold (Norway), Hietanen and Honkonen (Finland) and Zika (Czech Republic). Second only to the Olympic Games, this is the 27th Winter World University Games and more than 2,500 athletes from more than 50 countries participate in the 11 day event.
"My main goal is to have good training for kids," Rokos said. "We'll come and split into different groups, they'll be with their national teams but all training we will try to group it so we can train together. We will be bothers in training and enemies in the race."
New Mexico Invitational Team Scores (Final)-1. New Mexico 579; 2. Colorado 551; 3. Utah 505.5; 4. Denver 502; 5. Alaska Anchorage 470.5; 6. Montana State 423; 7. Westminster 328; 8. Colorado Mountain College 56.
Men's 10K Freestyle (28 finishers)-1. Mats Resaland, UNM, 33:02.6; 2. Aljaz Praznik, UNM, 33:04.5; 3. Clement Molliet, UAA, 33:15.1; 4. Noe Bellet, UU, 33:16.9; 5. Nick Hendrickson, UU, 33:59.2; 6. Jackson Hill, CU, 34:13.5; 7. Etienne Richard, UAA, 34:13.6; 8. Sawyer Kesselheim, MSU, 34:19.9; 9. Forrest Mahlen, MSU, 34:23.4; 10. Moritz Madlener, DU, 34:23.5. Other CU Skiers: 11. Rune Oedegaard, 34:30.6; 13. Mads Stroem, 35:04.2; 18. Max Scrimgeour, 35:58.4; 24. Ian Boucher, 37:28.8.
Women's 5K Freestyle (23 finishers)-1. Veronika Mayerhoffer, UU, 17:40.5; 2. Emilie Cedervarn, UNM, 18:21.9; 3. Maja Solbakken, CU, 18:29.7; 4. Sloan Storey, UU, 18:30.6; 5. Mackenzie Kanady, UAA, 18:31.0; 6. Anna-Lena Heynen, UU, 19:02.7; 7. Natalia Mueller, UU, 19:03.2; 8. Manon Locatelli, UAA, 19:21.0; 9. Isabella Smith, MSU, 19:25.1; 10. Eva Sever Rus, UNM, 19:38.2. Other CU Skiers: 13. Petra Hyncicova, 19:47.3; 18. Camilla Brautaset, 20:40.4.
Men's Slalom (29 finishers)-1. Trevor Philp, DU, 1:33.88; 2. Espen Lysdahl, DU, 1:34.53; 3. Erik Read, DU, 1:34.82; 4. Tim Lindgren, WMC, 1:35.15; 5. Mark Miller, UNM, 1:35.24; 6. David Neuhauser, MSU, 1:35.30; 7. Juho-Pekka Penttinen, UNM, 1:35.37; 8. Taylor Shiffrin, DU, 1:35.64; 9. Sebastian Brigovic, DU & Adam Zika, CU, 1:36.03. Other CU Skiers: 12. Henrik Gunnarsson, 1:36.36; 16. Kasper Hietanen, 1:36.80; 20. Cameron Smith, 1:37.85; 21. Roger Carry, 1:37.92.
Women's Slalom (29 finishers)-1. Monica Huebner, DU, 1:40.81; 2. Anna Goodman, WMC, 1:40.94; 3. Ann-Kathrin Bruenning, WMC, 1:41.12; 4. Thea Grosvold, CU, 1:41.24; 5. Tonje Sekse, WMC, 1:41.41; 6. Kristine Haugen, DU, 1:41.42; 7. Ana Kobal, UU, 1:41.49; 8. Sydney Staples, UNM, 1:41.74; 9. Sara Ottosson, UNM, 1:42.07; 10. Courtney Altringer, UNM, 1:42.20. Other CU Finishers: 12. Shane McLean, 1:42.60; 14. Brooke Wales Granstrom, 1:42.92; 15. Jessica Honkonen, 1:43.37; 29. Katie Hostetler, 1:51.43. Did Not Finish (CU Skiers): Dani Brownell-Patty, Clare Wise.
Players Mentioned
