Skiers Take First Day Lead At NCAA Championships

Wednesday, March 11

Lake Placid, NY

All Day

Colorado

NCAA Championships (FS 5/10K-I)

Photo by: CUBuffs.com

March 11, 2015 | Skiing

By: David Plati, Associate AD/Sports Information

LAKE PLACID, N.Y. - The University of Colorado ski team scored big with five top 10 finishes here Wednesday, more than any other school, as the Buffaloes emerged as the first day leader through two events of the 62nd NCAA Skiing Championships.

The Buffs tallied 155 team points to hold a 24-point edge over Utah (131), with New Mexico and Vermont tied for third with 106; defending national champion Denver rounds out the top five with 93.

This is the first time Colorado has held the first day lead since 2008, when it eventually finished second behind Denver; the only other time CU has led after the day one since the sport went coed in 1983 was in 1999 en route to the title. The 24-point advantage also tied for the eighth largest first day lead in the 33-year coed history of the sport.

Western schools dominated the two Nordic classical races, as between the two, five schools from the west had 15 top 10 finishers, led by five from Colorado (all three women, two men); Utah had four, with Denver, Montana State and New Mexico two each. Dartmouth and Vermont had two to give the east schools four, with Northern Michigan earning the last spot.

In the men's 10-kilometer freestyle race, senior Rune Oedegaard placed third in 25:35.1, with sophomore Mads Stroem right behind him in fourth in 25:38.9. Dartmouth's Patrick Caldwell won in 25:09.1, with Denver's Moritz Madlener second in 25:11.3. It was unusual territory for CU duo pair this winter, as they had finished 1-2 in nine of 10 previous races. But being an interval start (skiers went off every 30 seconds) and with almost two dozen skiers they haven't raced against this year, a 1-2 finish wasn't automatic coming in.

But don't tell that to this competitive pair, who both expect to win every time out.

"I think I skied as fast as I could, I felt like I had a great race, I can't think of any point which I could've skied faster," Oedegaard said. "There were just two skiers faster than me today and I have to live with that. We want to go away with some individual wins, so we have to get some payback. We don't' care what other schools are out there, it doesn't matter who's second as long as we win. I always believe Mads and I are two of the strongest skiers in the field, and I don't think any other school is lucky enough to have two skiers that strong."

"I'm not sure what happened, we skied okay," a disappointed Stroem said. "The conditions changed a little bit, especially from the start of the race. That was a tactical choice for DU, it was a risk and paid off. I've been struggling with a sore throat since Monday, today was probably 80 percent of my maximum strength. I heard I was still in it, only about five seconds out of the lead. I need to try and get healthy now, get some food and see how my body responds. Mentally, I'll get fired up for Friday. Fourth place isn't what I came here for, I came here to win, I know I'm good enough to do that."

With sophomore Jackson Hill finishing 14th in 26:42.2, the Buffs outpointed Dartmouth, 82-70, with Vermont third (64) and New Mexico a distant fourth (46). And Hill fell during his race, which CU's coaches estimated that it cost him a top 10 finish, and likely closer to sixth or seventh, as he was just 20 seconds off the latter. It matched his fifth best effort this season.

"This is a team competition, it's good to have a good start," Oedegaard added. "Of course we wanted it even better, Jackson had a great race, he was only a little over a minute behind me and Mads even with that fall. So he would've been top 10, and that just means the team looks strong. Hopefully the GÇÿalpiners' can do what they did at regionals and take it and go."

"We now just need to focus on the pain that is waiting for us in the long classic race Friday," he said. "There are obviously a lot of good schools here, and the NCAA's are special. There are always surprises, it's one race, you never know what happens, anybody can win. But we really don't want to go home with a third and fourth place individually."

Despite only his second race in 11 this year where he didn't finish in the top two, Oedegaard still made history with his third place effort. It was his 35th "podium" effort in his career, or the combined total of wins, second and third place finishes. He has 19 victories, one shy of becoming just the second skier in CU history to win 20, 12 runner-up showings and three thirds in 42 career races.

ALL-TIME PODIUM (TOP THREE) FINISHES BY CU SKIERS (Since 1983)

35 Rune Oedegaard, Nordic, 2012-15 (19 wins; 12 seconds; 4 thirds)

34 Maria Grevsgaard, Nordic, 2006-09 (24-7-3)

34 Lucie Zikova, Alpine, 2005-08 (16-11-7)

32 Eliska Hajkova, Nordic, 2010-13 (8-18-6)

25 Per Kare Jakobsen, Nordic, 1988-90 (13-6-6)

"Of course that's a big thing and it shows that I have been consistent at the top," Oedegaard said rather modestly about setting the record. "But right now, I care more about getting that third individual and second team NCAA title, then I'll be able to better sum up my college career."

In the women's 5k version, the Buffaloes placed three in the top 10 behind Utah's Veronika Mayerhoffer, who won in a 14:21.4 time.

Sophomore Maja Solbakken led the CU charge with a sixth place effort of 14:44.3, nipping freshman Petra Hyncicova who was seventh in 14:44.6. Freshman Ane Johnsen, racing for the just the second time since January due to illness, was back at full strength and took home 10th place in 14:50.4. It was the fifth time this particular trio all placed in the top 10, but to accomplish it at national made it the CU women's best outing of the year.

"It was awesome, I don't' understand what just happened," Solbakken said. "I haven't been in good shape lately, I was insecure and very nervous after Alaska and excited about this race but not trying to have too high of expectations. I got some advice from Rune and Mads before the start, they told me to not go all out right away, and to wait until about the 1K mark and then go all out. I did that, so when I passed (Coach) Jana (Weinberger) she told me I was seventh. I tried to use my upper body on the flats so I could use my legs on the uphills, and in the very long hill, all our alpine teammates were yelling and it gave me so much energy so that I could just crush it to the finish.

"When I heard I was sixth, I was so happy," she continued. "It was a good race, I was feeling good, I'm excited about Friday. All the girls in top 10 was a great team effort and we're all really happy. I think this is the best race I've had. New Mexico (where she placed third twice) is different - it's high altitude, which gave me an advantage because I'm a light skier. But this is a more valid race to compare to and this was definitely one of my best races of the season. We're going to go hard out and show them who the Buffaloes are on Friday."

"You always want to get as big of a cushion as you can, alpine can be tricky," CU Nordic coordinator Bruce Cranmer said. "The more we can get the better. I think without his fall, Jackson could've been top 10 and from a team standpoint, that's what you want, everybody in the top 10.

"You always want an individual win, and with our guys going 1-2 in so many races, you hope you can get a win out of it," he continued. "But it's hard to have everything perfect all the time. It's tricky and the conditions were fair. We're happy with the team results, we were just hoping a little more, to get a win. I have high expectations with Mads and Rune that we can always get a win. I know Mads is a little under the weather, but that's the nature of the beast."

Oedegaard and Stroem earned first-team All-America honors with their finishes, while Solbakken, Hyncicova and Johnsen garnered second-team honors.

"They're always fired up, they're so competitive," Cranmer continued. "Rune loves classic, Mads has skied well in classic, hopefully he can get healthy and ready to go, it will be a tough, tough race on Friday. It was great to see the girls in the top 10. Ane has been sick for a while and Maja was a little off in Alaska. Petra can definitely be top three in a race like this, I think she's a little disappointed, but overall team-wise, on the women's' side, three top 10's is a solid performance."

The alpine skiers take center stage on Thursday with their first event, the giant slalom. The women's first run at 7 a.m. MDT and the second run to follow as the event will run to completion; the men's first run is scheduled for 10 a.m. with its second run to follow. The classical races are set for Friday, with the women's 15-kilometer race at 8 a.m. and the men's 20k at 10 a.m.; Oedegaard is the two-time defending champion in the race. The slalom races will finish off the NCAA meet on Saturday: the men's first run is up first at 7 a.m., with the women's first run at 8 a.m.; the second runs follow at 10 a.m. (men) and 11 a.m. (women).

The Nordics did a nice job of getting us in good position," CU head coach Richard Rokos said. "We're excited to see what we can do in the GS tomorrow and hopefully maintain or extend the lead."

Colorado is aiming for its 20th national title in the sport, which would be the 472nd by Pac-12 schools if the Buffs (or Utah) win.

NCAA Championships (2 of 8 events) - 1. Colorado 155; 2. Utah 131; 3. New Mexico and Vermont 106; 5. Denver 93; 6. Dartmouth 88; 7. Montana State 77; 8. Northern Michigan 76; 9. Alaska-Anchorage 564; 10. Williams 29; 11. Alaska-Fairbanks 25; 12. Middlebury 11; 13. Michigan Tech and St. Scholastica 11; 15. New Hampshire 4.

Men's 10K Freestyle (40 finishers) - 1. Patrick Caldwell, Dart., 25:09.1; 2. Moritz Madlener, DU, 25:11.3; 3. Rune Oedegaard, CU, 25:35.1; 4. Mads Stroem, CU, 25:38.9; 5. Forrest Mahlen, MSU, 26:09.8; 6. John Hegman, UVM, 26:16.5; 7. Kyle Bratrud, NMU, 26:22.3; 8. Silas Talbot, Dart., 26:24.5; 9. Rogan Brown, UVM, 26:25.5; 10. Niklas Persson, Utah, 26:32.9. Other CU Finisher: 14. Jackson Hill, 26:42.2.

Women's 5K Freestyle (40 finishers) - 1. Veronika Mayerhoffer, Utah, 14:21.4; 2. Sylvia Nordskar, DU, 14:34.6; 3. Emilie Cedervaern, UNM, 14:37.2; 4. Cambria McDermott, MSU, 14:37.3; 5. Sloan Storey, Utah, 14:44.1; 6. Maja Solbakken, CU, 14:44.3. 7. Petra Hyncicova, CU, 14:44.6; 8. Eva Severrus, UNM, 14:45.2; 9. Anna-Lena Heynen, Utah, 14:47.4; 10. Ane Johnsen, CU, 14:50.4.

(Associate SID Curtis Snyder contributed to this report.)