Colorado
RMISA Alpine Qualifier (WGS)
Buffs Open 2015 Season With Five In Top 20
January 06, 2015 | Skiing
PARK CITY, Utah—Seniors Shane McLean and Brooke Wales Granstrom both opened the season with top five performances, as the University of Colorado Ski Team christened the 2015 season on a good note with women's giant slalom races here Tuesday at Park City Mountain Resort.
The race was an RMISA qualifier race, meaning there is no team scoring for the race, but it counts for NCAA qualification purposes.
“Overall we were a little inconsistent today,” CU coach Richard Rokos said. “We had a good run and then a not-as-good run, but we haven't really been able to train much GS yet this year, just a couple of days at Eldora, and we are still building our confidence.”
Granstrom was in second place after the first run, less than three-tenths of a second off the lead, and used a 10th-fastest second run to finish fourth in a time of 2:26.36. McLean moved up two spots after her first run placement of seventh to take fifth just behind Granstrom in a time of 2:27.17.
“Brooke and Shane both had two solid runs,” Rokos said. “Brooke was more affected by the condition of the course. Shane has been focused and is bringing everything together very well.”
The course set between the first and second runs were very different. In the first run, it was more of a technical course while on the second run, it was built for speed and had more of a downhill feel.
“One run was more technical, the other was more of a downhill type of course,” Rokos explained. “On the technical course, we made a mistake here or there and on the other, the speeds are higher. It just depends on how confident you are, and we need a couple more weeks of training, especially in GS.”
Still, the Buffs managed to get five skiers in the top 20, as junior Jessica Honkonen finished ninth in a time of 2:28.32, junior Thea Grosvold took 15th in 2:28.86 and freshman Dani Brownell-Patty made her college debut in 17th in a time of 2:29.70.
“This is a confidence builder for both Jessica and Thea,” Rokos said. “With some more training they will both improve. Dani made a bad mistake on her first run but had a great second run. She started early in the second run. The snow conditions on the course was definitely a factor today.”
For the second run, the start order is based on your first run time and the top 30 skiers are flipped, meaning if you finished 30th in the first run, you will go first on the second run and the skier with the top time on the first run goes 30th in the second run.
Sophomore Katie Hostetler finished 27th in a time of 2:33.69 and junior Clare Wise rounded out the Buffs contingent in 29th with a time of 2:35.13.
The men get things going Thursday in a giant slalom race, also an RMISA Qualifier race, beginning at 9:30 a.m. at Park City Mountain Resort. The 2015 Utah Invitational then gets underway Friday through Monday with alpine and Nordic teams both in action.
MEN CONCLUDE PRESEASON RACING
While the women's alpine squads got the 2015 season underway, most of the men's teams were in action at nearby Snowbird in a FIS sanctioned slalom race. Junior Kasper Hietanen hit the podium, taking third place in just his second race this winter. He's been recovering from off season knee surgery.
Henrik Gunnarsson, who also had surgery in the off season, on his ankle, finished eighth and junior Adam Zika finished 11th. Junior Cameron Smith came in 19th while sophomore Roger Carry did not finish the race.
“The guys had a great day today to have three in the top 11, that's a strong field with very good skiers,” Rokos said. “Kasper came out and had a good showing after not much training and Henrik is in a similar situation, he's finally healthy and ready.”
HAJKOVA NABS SECOND TOP 10 AT US NATIONALS
Former Buff Eliska Hajkova had another very good day at the U.S. Cross Country National Championships in Hougton, Mich., bringing home her second top 10 performance in as many races.
She won the qualification race in a time of 5:18.63 and along with Joanne Reid, who was 19th in 5:31.03 and Mary Rose, who was 26th in 5:33.84, the trio all advanced past qualification. Current Buffs Jesse Knori (43rd, 5:39.44) and Lucy Newman (62nd, 5:46.33) did not advance.
Once into the quarterfinals, Hajkova finished second in the first heat to advance to the semifinals. There, she finished fourth in her heat of six skiers and then took second place in the Finals B Heat to officially finish eighth.
Reid and Rose did not advance past the quarterfinals. Rose finished in 25th place and Reid in 27th.
On the men's side, former Buff Matt Gelso finished 14th in qualifying to advance to the quarterfinals, where he finished fifth in his heat and didn't advance to the semifinals.
Current Buffs Max Scrimgeour (81st) and Jackson Hill (103rd) didn't advance out of the qualification stages. Ian Boucher finished 77th and did qualify for the junior quarterfinals. He finished fourth in his heat there and did not advance to the semifinals.
Women's Giant Slalom (39 Collegiate Finishers)—1. Chloe Fausa, UU, 2:25.92; 2. Kristiina Rove, UU and Mateja Robnik, UNM, 2:26.00; 4. Brooke Wales Granstrom, CU, 2:26.36; 5. Shane McLean, CU, 2:27.18; 6. Monica Huebner, DU, 2:27.29; 7. Sydney Staples, UNM, 2:27.51; 8. Sofija Novoselic, WMC, 2:28.12; 9. Jessica Honkonen, CU, 2:28.32; 10. Lauren Samuels, UU, 2:28.44. Other CU Finishers: 15. Thea Grosvold, 2:28.86; 17. Dani Brownell-Patty, 2:29.70; 27. Katie Hostetler, 2:33.69; 29. Clare Wise, 2:35.13.
Players Mentioned
