Colorado University Athletics
Buffs Open Title Defense Monday In Utah
January 04, 2016 | Skiing
BOULDER – The defending NCAA Champion Colorado Ski Team opens the 2016 season Monday in Utah, looking to become the first team in six years and first CU team in 17 years to repeat as national champions.
The 2016 season will debut Monday at the Utah Invitational with men's and women's slalom races taking center stage in alpine action. The Buffs enter the 2016 season after one of the best preseason's in recent memory.
A squad-by-squad look at the Buffs in 2016:
Men's Alpine
The men's alpine team looks to be one of the most experienced in program history led by four seniors and a junior all with extensive experience with two talented newcomers coming into the mix. Last year the Buffs raced with five on the men's alpine side and what was perceived to be a potential weakness in the run for a title turned into one of Rokos' favorite group of guys. All five of those skiers are back and two more have been added to the mix to form potentially one of the deepest teams in the nation.
Seniors Henrik Gunnarsson, Kasper Hietanen, Cameron Smith and Adam Zika and junior Roger Carry have combined for 182 college starts with 59 top 10 finishes, 16 NCAA Championship starts, five All-America honors and one individual NCAA Championship.
Freshman Ola Johansen is ranked the No. 115 GS skier in the world in the latest FIS rankings with 14.42 points and already in his time at CU he has improved his slalom points from 37.3 to 22.8 and moved into the top 300 in the world in that discipline, as well.
In seven races prior to the start of the college racing season, Johansen has five finishes in the top 6 and won a giant slalom race at Copper Mountain in early December. He brought home two finishes in the top 32 in a pair of Nor-Am Cup races, also at Copper Mountain. In five slalom finishes, he hit the podium at the Jimmie Heuga Classic at Echo Mountain in third place on Nov. 22 and took fourth and fifth in a pair of slaloms at Howelsen Hill in Steamboat Springs just before Christmas.
Fellow freshman Max Luukko also comes in as one of the top newcomers in the nation with sub-20 point totals in both GS and slalom. His 14.72 points in GS ranks 119th in the world and his 18.62 slalom points ranks 191st.
Luukko has been equally impressive in preseason racing, finishing fourth in the second slalom at the Jimmie Heuga Classic at Echo Mountain, and then taking second in a giant slalom race at Copper Mountain. He was also 13th in a slalom race at Jackson Hole in Nor-Am Cup racing.
Women's Alpine
The women's alpine team looks to continue to be a strength of the Buffs team in 2016 but the squad will have to overcome the losses of Shane McLean and Brooke Wales Granstrom, both departing seniors. Anchoring the team is a trio of seniors in Thea Grosvold, Jessica Honkonen and Clare Wise, and junior Katie Hostetler. The team also adds a pair of talented newcomers in Nora Christensen and Tonje Truslrud to the mix.
Grosvold and Honkonen are simply two of the best slalom skiers in CU history. Two years ago, Honkonen was the top seeded slalom skier out of the RMISA at the NCAA Championships and last year she was the RMISA Champion while Grosvold ranked second in slalom NCAA qualifying points. The duo have combined for 84 college starts with 50 Top 10 finishes and three wins. They have both represented the Buffs at the NCAA Championships each of the last three years, helping the team to two team championships with both earning three All-America honors along the way.
CU's two newcomers will also make an immediate impact on the team. Christensen is ranked in the top 200 in the world in both giant slalom (193rd, 21.24 points), and slalom (148th, 21.26). This preseason, she has two top 10 finishes in two slalom starts and two top 11 finishes in three GS starts.
Truslrud is similarly ranked in the top 200 in the world in both disciplines, coming in at No. 170 in GS at 19.8 points and 154th in slalom at 21.6 points. In three finishes this preseason, she hit the podium in third place in a GS race at Copper Mountain and was 13th in a slalom race at the Jimmie Heuga Classic.
The Nordic teams won't start competition for another week as most athletes are either still abroad between during the semester break or competing at the US National Championships in Michigan this week. Nordic coach Bruce Cranmer looks to return another pair of strong teams in 2016.
Men's Nordic
Arguably the top team in the nation in 2015, the men's Nordic squad lost one of the best skiers in CU history in Rune Oedegaard, a seven time All-American, but the Buffs return the other half of the best duo's in program history with Mads Stroem entering his junior season.
The squad also returns Jackson Hill, who competed for and was one fall away from being an All-American last year at the NCAA Championships, as well as junior Max Scrimgeour, sophomore Ian Boucher and senior Arnaud Du Pasquier. Du Pasquier returns from a year off competing in top races in Europe last year. He competed for the Buffs two years ago at the NCAA Championships.
New to the men's team is Petter Reistad, who brings a high level of experience to the squad. Reistad finished 11th at a US Super Tour 15K freestyle race and was sixth in the 1.3K classic sprint final this fall and has been impressive throughout CU's dryland training season.
While filling the shoes of Oedegaard may not be easy, the return of Stroem as potentially the strongest skier in the nation, the continued improvement of Hill and Scrimgeour, now upperclassman, and Boucher, now a sophomore, and the return of Du Pasquier and the addition of Reistad will make the Buffs formidable once again in 2016.
Women's Nordic
The women's Nordic team, which came through huge for the Buffs at the 2015 NCAA Championships with each of the three skiers for the Buffs earning two All-America honors helping the team to the championship, will look to remain strong in 2016.
The loss of Maja Solbakken will not be easily overcome, she was a first-team All-American in 2015 and returned home to Norway to attend medical school. CU returns Petra Hyncicova and Ane Johnsen, who both earned two All-America performances as freshman, and looks to have Camilla Brautaset closer to 100 percent this season. Brautaset was the Buffs top performer two years ago before being sidelines with injuries last season.
Third year sophomore Jesse Knori and junior Lucy Newman have also both shown flashes of stardom and freshman Christina Rolandsen looks to make an immediate impact as a sub 100-point distance skier, ranking in the top 300 in the world. In a 10K classic race at the US Super Tour earlier this year, Rolandsen finished 12th and was in the top five collegian finishers, two spots behind Hyncicova.
The Nordic teams will kickoff their collegiate season next week at the Utah Invitational while the alpine teams move onto the Montana State Invitational. After the Nordic teams finish up the MSU meet, the Buffs will host the Spencer Nelson Memorial Invitational in Steamboat Springs in late January, a precursor to the NCAA Championship, which the Buffs will also host in Steamboat Springs March 9-12.
