Colorado University Athletics
Photo by: Steve Fuller
Skiing 2017 In Review
December 31, 2017 | Skiing
BOULDER - Even when using the storied history of the University of Colorado's ski program as the standard, the performances of CU's David Ketterer and Petra Hyncicova in 2017 stand out as special in Colorado annals.
Ketterer, just a freshman, put forth one of the best alpine seasons in program history, an effort that included a sweep of the NCAA slalom and giant slalom titles — only the fifth such sweep in NCAA history (third by a Buff).
Ketterer was dominant all season for Richard Rokos' Buffs. He tied the CU single-season record for alpine wins with seven — including a program-record five slalom wins — and he became the first Buff to ever win his first two NCAA alpine competitions. He was named the USCSCA National Skier of the Year as well as the RMISA Skier of the Year, and in 13 collegiate competitions, he finished no worse than sixth and was on the podium nine times.
Hyncicova was equally dominant in her junior season after becoming just the 15th woman (fourth Buff) to sweep the Nordic races at the NCAA Championships, first claiming the 5K classic race, then adding the 15K freestyle title to her haul.
Hynicova, the USCSCA's National Skier of the Year for Nordic competition, finished fifth or better in all eight of her races over the season, with five victories. She was selected the CU Co-Female Athlete of the Year with track standout Dani Jones.
Together, Hyncicova's and Ketterer's season helped Richard Rokos' Buffs to second place at the NCAA Championships — the 32nd time in CU history the Buffs have finished in the top two (20 titles, 12 runner-up finishes). It was just the fifth time in CU history that Buffs claimed four titles in the same championships and only the second time in NCAA history that two discipline sweeps were recorded by the same school (CU also accomplished the feat in 2008).
Skiing Notes
Ketterer, just a freshman, put forth one of the best alpine seasons in program history, an effort that included a sweep of the NCAA slalom and giant slalom titles — only the fifth such sweep in NCAA history (third by a Buff).
Ketterer was dominant all season for Richard Rokos' Buffs. He tied the CU single-season record for alpine wins with seven — including a program-record five slalom wins — and he became the first Buff to ever win his first two NCAA alpine competitions. He was named the USCSCA National Skier of the Year as well as the RMISA Skier of the Year, and in 13 collegiate competitions, he finished no worse than sixth and was on the podium nine times.
Hyncicova was equally dominant in her junior season after becoming just the 15th woman (fourth Buff) to sweep the Nordic races at the NCAA Championships, first claiming the 5K classic race, then adding the 15K freestyle title to her haul.
Hynicova, the USCSCA's National Skier of the Year for Nordic competition, finished fifth or better in all eight of her races over the season, with five victories. She was selected the CU Co-Female Athlete of the Year with track standout Dani Jones.
Together, Hyncicova's and Ketterer's season helped Richard Rokos' Buffs to second place at the NCAA Championships — the 32nd time in CU history the Buffs have finished in the top two (20 titles, 12 runner-up finishes). It was just the fifth time in CU history that Buffs claimed four titles in the same championships and only the second time in NCAA history that two discipline sweeps were recorded by the same school (CU also accomplished the feat in 2008).
Skiing Notes
- The Buffaloes finished second at the 2017 NCAA Skiing Championships hosted by New Hampshire. Colorado has now finished as the runner-up seven times, with eight titles, in 27 seasons under head coach Richard Rokos. All-time overall, CU has 20 championships (second only to Denver University) and 12 runner-up finishes in the sport.
- CU saw eight different skiers earn a combined 14 All-America accolades at last winter's NCAA Championships and six of the eight return to the team this year.
- David Ketterer (men's alpine) and Petra Hyncicova (women's Nordic) swept the NCAA titles in their individual events last season, giving CU 94 individual NCAA titles to extend their all-time lead over DU (88). It marked the first time CU saw sweeps in both Nordic and alpine titles since 2008 when Maria Grevsgaard swept the women's Nordic titles and Lucie Zikova in women's alpine.
- Ketterer became just the fifth skier in NCAA history to sweep the giant slalom and slalom titles in the same year. He also joined two other Buffaloes as the only two to win their first two NCAA races, though he is the first alpine skier to accomplish the rarity. Ketterer finished his freshman year with seven victories; that ties for the fifth-most overall in school history for as single year, and tied the most by a male alpine skier (John Skajem won seven in 1986 and Toni Standteiner the same in 1991). Five of his seven wins were in the slalom, and that set a new school record for the most race victories by a CU alpine skier in a single season (male or female).
- Hyncicova became the 15th woman to sweep the cross country races at the NCAA Championships, the fourth CU skier to pull off the double, joining Line Selnes (1998), current assistant coach Jana Rehemaa Weinberger (2006) and Maria Grevsgaard (2008). She now has five career All-America honors (three first-team and two second-team) in her career.
- The men's alpine team returns a total of 11 individual race victories to its roster in 2017 (David Ketterer 7, Ola Johansen 3, Max Luukko 1) while the women's team returns two (both by Tonje Trulsrud).
- The women's Nordic team returns five individual race victories (all by Hyncicova) while the men's team one (Petter Reistad).
- Colorado has won at least six individual Nordic races in each of the last 12 years.
Players Mentioned
NORDIC
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ALPINE
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ALPINE
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ALPINE
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NORDIC
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ALPINE
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