Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
RMISA Championships/NCAA West Regional (FS-5/10K-I)
Stroem Wins As Ski Team Third At RMISA Championships
February 26, 2016 | Skiing
BEAVER CREEK & MINTURN, Colo. — Junior Mads Stroem dominated the field and won his third straight RMISA Individual Championship, helping the University of Colorado ski team to a third place finish here Friday at the midpoint of the 2016 RMISA Championships, which double as the NCAA Western Regional Championships.
Stroem's win, along with a 2-3 performance in the men's giant slalom race by senior Henrik Gunnarsson and freshman Max Luukko, helped the Buffs to 297 points through four of eight races at the Championship. Utah leads the way with 361 points while Denver sits second with 304. Behind CU, Montana State had an impressive day with 269 points and New Mexico rounds out the top five with 221 points, just five ahead of Alaska Anchorage (216).
“Overall, it wasn't the day we wanted,” CU coach Richard Rokos said. “It wasn't bad, but it wasn't as good as we've had recently. Utah had a good showing. But with Mads winning and going 2-3 today in the men's GS race, it's still a strong day overall.”
Stroem not only won the men's 10K freestyle race, he dominated it. His time of 22 minutes, 12.6 seconds was 43.6 seconds ahead of the field in the largest margin of victory in an RMISA 10K race in over a decade. In 2006, Alaska Anchorage's Kjetil Dammen won the 10K classic race at the U.S. National Championships by 43.7 seconds, which doubled as UAA's meet that season. You have to go back to the 2011 RMISA Championships to find a larger margin in any men's Nordic race regardless of distance when UAA's Lukas Ebner won the 20K classic race by 45.7 seconds.
“It was a good day, the first two laps I was under control and then I just pushed it more and opened up a lead,” Stroem said. “It was good for me, my goal is to win the 10K at the NCAAs so this was a big confidence booster.”
To put his 43.6 second margin of victory into perspective in this race, the 10 skiers who finished between third and 12th were separated by less time, 42.5 seconds. The previous largest margin of victory this season was 19.6 seconds, Stroem's win at the New Mexico Invitational last week in the classic race. The eight men's Nordic races this season were won by a cumulative 54.7 seconds, just 11.1 seconds more than his margin Friday.
“Mads had a great race,” CU Nordic coach Bruce Cranmer said. “He led from the beginning and obviously a 43 second win is very solid. He's had a great season and seems to be getting stronger as the season goes on, especially after the break after the CU meet.”
Stroem has now won three straight races after sweeping the races last week at New Mexico, and has won five races this season. He now has 11 career victories which is tied for sixth most in program history since skiing went coed in 1983. He is tied with former Buffs Joanne Reid, Anette Skjolden and Line Selnes with 11 career victories and he is now third on the men's Nordic wins list behind former teammate Rune Oedegaard, who had 19 career wins, and Per Kare Jacobsen, who had 13 career wins.
“The course felt a little easy on the first lap, but then on laps two, three and four, it gets harder,” Stroem said. “There's a big hill and a couple of technical downhills. It's nice, if you're in shape you can push the entire way and distinguish yourself from the field.”
Freshman Petter Reistad finished sixth in a time of 23:23.5 and he was just 20 seconds off the podium, and junior Jackson Hill finished 10th in 23:41.1. Senior Arnaud Du Pasquier was 17th in 24:09.6, junior Max Scrimgeour was 28th in 25:15.6 and sophomore Ian Boucher was 32nd in 25:56.1.
“Petter had a solid race, top six, and with Jackson we had three in the top 10,” Cranmer said. “I think Petter and I both hope and wish he was a little higher. This is one of those courses where if you're not working it right, it's tricky, uphill, downhill, lots of turns. As soon as you do one technique, you have to switch. It's 2.5K, so there are a lot of laps, it's turny and twisty. If we can step it up a little and Mads can maintain that level, we'll be in good shape.”
In the women's 5K freestyle race, sophomore Ane Johnsen led the Buffs with a sixth place finish in a time of 13:41.4, she missed out on a top five by just 1.3 seconds and was just 21.3 seconds off the podium. Freshman Christina Rolandsen finished 13th in 14:05.4 in one of her best showings of her young career and sophomore Jesse Knori returned to action in 15th in 14:16.1. Knori had missed the last four races due to illness.
“Ane had a solid race,” Cranmer said. “I still look for her to be top four or five, she's had a second place this year, you always hope she's in there. Christina did better than she has been, that's good to see, and Jesse's knocking around there, not too far from a top 10.”
Junior Camilla Brautaset finished 21st in 14:35.8 and junior Lucy Newman finished 22nd in 14:36.0. It marked the sixth time in nine races this season that the junior duo has finished within four spots of each other in the final results and the duo hasn't finished further apart than seven spots all season.
Sophomore Petra Hynicova is not racing at the RMISA Championships as she is traveling back from Romania where she participated in the Under 23 World Cross Country Championships the last couple weeks.
Meanwhile over at Beaver Creek on the famous Birds of Prey course that hosted the 2015 Alpine World Championships and the only World Cup this season in the United States, the Buffs suffered a loss in training for the second straight week. Freshman Ola Johansen, announced Friday night as the men's alpine MVP in the RMISA, suffered a fall in training Thursday and did not race Friday and will not on Saturday.
“It was a typical ski racing training injury,” Rokos said. “In came in, his edge was low and he high-sided it, flew a little and landed hard. He injured his leg and we had a little concern about a concussion. He went through the concussion protocol against his baseline and it doesn't show any serious conditions there.”
Despite missing Johansen, CU's duo of Max Luukko and Henrik Gunnarsson both continued their impressive racing of late, each reaching the podium for the third straight race. Gunnarsson took second in a time of 2:19.61, just 29-hundredths of a second behind the race winner, UAA's Sean Alexander. Luukko was third in 2:19.71, just a tenth behind Gunnarsson.
The result was especially important for Gunnarsson, who had his best GS finish of the season as he shores up a solid NCAA Qualification spot in the discipline. He had already posted two wins and three podiums in slalom races, but had just one top 10 finish in GS prior to Friday. The finish moved him up from a 12th place potentially into the top five or six on the GS qualification list.
Luukko also improved his points in GS. He has finished in the top six in all five other GS races but hit the podium for the second time Friday and pretty much guaranteed himself a top five seed out of the west which will put him into the top seeding process at the NCAA Championships.
“Both Max and Henrik skied very well,” Rokos said. “This is terrain we never have a chance to experience and train on. Being 2-3 today, it left just one spot in front for Ola and he wasn't there for it. This is a unique hill, it's unique globally, Birds of Prey is famous for its technicality and difficulty around the world. It's a world cup hill and it's an honor to ski on it. I just wish we had more opportunity to train on it, we'd be better.”
Senior Adam Zika finished 11th in a time of 2:20.80, about a half-second out of fourth, and picked up 20 valuable team points for the Buffaloes. Senior Cameron Smith finished 18th in 2:22.34 and senior Kasper Hietanen 21st in 2:23.40. The Buffs are down to just five skiers with Johansen out after losing junior Roger Carry to a knee injury last week in training before the New Mexico Invitational.
Freshman Tonje Trulsrud led the women's alpine team with an eighth place finish in the GS race in a time of 2:21.50. Senior Jessica Honkonen finished 14th in 2:23.25 and freshman Nora Christensen was CU's third team scorer in 16th in 2:24.63.
Senior Thea Grosvold finished 18th in 2:26.06, senior Clare Wise was 23rd in 2:28.63 and junior Katie Hostetler was 24th in 2:28.79.
“The women all adjusted well on their second runs,” Rokos said. “But I think they were all a little timid on the first run. We just need more confidence, we didn't get much training in yesterday, about three runs, and for a hill like this that just isn't enough.”
Saturday's slalom races at Beaver Creek and classic races at Maloit Park will conclude the RMISA Championships and leave just the NCAA Championships on the docket. The RMISA Championships are unique in that coaches can manipulate seeding and starting places more than most races to give skiers their best opportunity to improve their NCAA seeding, especially on the alpine side, and Saturday's races will be no different.
“We are playing with the seeding, you could see it today,” Rokos explained. “It will be the same for tomorrow, trying to improve our start position for the NCAA Championships. We are narrowing the search down. Everybody else is fine, healthy, and we are looking forward to the slalom. In our recent history, it's our stronger event, even on a steep hill, the best skiing will win and we're looking forward to that challenge.”
“It's a short course, there's a lot of laps tomorrow, six for the women and eight for the men, and there are a lot of hills and a lot of turns,” Cranmer said about Saturday's prospects. “It will be interesting tomorrow, if we can stay out of trouble, we'll have a good day.”
Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association Championships (4 of 8 events)—1. Utah 361; 2. Denver 304; 3. Colorado 297; 4. Montana State 269; 5. New Mexico 221; 6. Alaska Anchorage 216; 7. Wyoming 58; 8. Colorado Mountain 49.
Men's 10k Freestyle (33 finishers)— 1. Mads Stroem, CU, 22:12.6; 2. Nick Hendrickson, UU, 22:56.2; 3. Moritz Madlener, DU, 23:03.8; 4. Kevin Bolger, UU, 23:06.9; 5. Niklas Persson, UU, 23:21.4; 6. Petter Reistad, CU, 23:23.5; 7. Sawyer Kisselheim, MSU, 23:28.1; 8. Austin Huenck, UNM, 23:35.2; 9. Oscar Ivars, UU, 23:35.6; 10. Jackson Hill, CU, 23:41.1. Other CU Finishers: 17. Arnaud Du Pasquier, 24:09.6; 28. Max Scrimgeour, 25:15.6; 32. Ian Boucher, 25:56.1.
Women's 5k Freestyle (34 finishers)— 1. Veronika Mayerhofer, UU, 13:04.6; 2. Linn Eriksen, DU, 13:13.2; 3. Sloan Storey, UU, 13:20.1; 4. Cambria McDermott, MSU, 13:32.1; 5. Natalie Mueller, UU, 13:40.1; 6. Ane Johnsen, CU, 13:41.4; 7. Anika Miller, MSU, 13:45.7; 8. Johanna Taliharm, MSU, 13:46.2; 9. Emilie Cedervarn, UNM, 13:48.8; 10. Mackenzie Kanady, UAA, 13:55.4. Other CU Finishers: 13. Christina Rolandsen, 14:05.4; 15. Jesse Knori, 14:16.1; 21. Camilla Brautaset, 14:35.8; 22. Lucy Newman, 14:36.0.
Men's Giant Slalom (29 finishers): 1. Sean Alexander, UAA, 2:19.30; 2. Henrik Gunnarsson, CU, 2:19.61; 3. Max Luukko, CU, 2:19.71; 4. Dominic Demschar, UU, 2:20.17; 5. Seabatian Brigovic, DU, 2:20.35; 6. Carl-Johan Oseter, UNM, 2:20.43; 7. Erik Read, DU, 2:20.48; 8. Hughston Norton, UAA, 2:20.64; 9. Entre Bjertness & Joergen Brath, UU, 2:20.71. Other CU Finishers: 11. Adam Zika, 2:20.80; 18. Cameron Smith, 2:22.34; 21. Kasper Hietanen, 2:23.40.
Women's Giant Slalom (27 finishers): 1. Benedicte Lyche, MSU, 2:19.74; 2. Kristine Haugen, DU, 2:19.80; 3. Roni Remme, UU, 2:19.84; 4. Julie Mohagen, UU, 2:20.30; 5. Tuva Norbye, DU, 2:20.76; 6. Charley Field, UAA, 2:20.81; 7. Monica Huebner, DU, 2:21.03; 8. Tonje Trulsrud, CU, 2:21.50; 9. Chloe Fausa, UU, 2:21.60; 10. Karoline Myklebust, UNM, 2:21.81. Other CU Finishers: 14. Jessica Honkonen, 2:23.25; 16. Nora Christensen, 2:24.63; 18. Thea Grosvold, 2:26.06; 23. Clare Wise, 2:28.63; 24. Katie Hostetler, 2:28.79.
