Buffs Pull Into Lead at RMISA Championships

AVON, Colo. – The University of Colorado ski program made its move Saturday, going from third to first place with a big day on both the alpine and Nordic sides during day two at the 2017 RMISA/NCAA West Regional Championships.

CU trailed day one leader Montana State by 23 points, but made up ground with strong performances across the board. The Buffaloes had four podium finishes – one in all four events - and placed 12 in the top 10 on a huge day for the Buffs.

CU now leads the regional leaderboard with 499 points, holding a 34.5 point lead over Denver who sits in second. The championship concludes Sunday with the final two events – the women's and men's 15/20K freestyle races.

"I think mission accomplished," head coach Richard Rokos said at Beaver Creek Resort after the alpine races concluded.

The Buffs had three men and three women finish in the top 10 of the slalom races, as Colorado won the alpine events with 324 overall points. CU's men's team ran away with the slalom race, winning by 23 points while the women's team finished in a tie for third in a tight race where only four points separated the top four teams.

On the Nordic side in the 5/10K classic races, the women's team continued its season-long dominance and had four finish inside the top seven while two men were in the top four. Senior Mads Stroem highlighted the men's 10K classic with his second-place finish.

"I feel like we are headed in the right direction," head Nordic coach Bruce Cranmer said from Maloit Park in Minturn, Colo. "Certainly with (the women's team) all skiing well it makes my decision for picking a team (for NCAAs) a little harder, but it's nice to have that kind of problem. With Mads, that is great. To see him back in the game, I knew it would come, but it's hard to know when someone has pretty major surgery."

That was Stroem's first podium finish of the season, but 27th overall in his career as he has made a speedy recovery from surgery on Jan. 7 when he had his appendix removed.

"Definitely a step in the right direction, finally," Stroem said. "It's nice to feel descent to good again."

Freshman Anne Siri Lervik led the women's Nordic team by earning the first podium finish of her career, as she finished third for the Buffs. Behind her was Petra Hyncicova in fifth, Jesse Knori in sixth and Christina Rolandsen in seventh.

"I could not believe that I was third," Lervik said. "The first lap was very hard and very bad, but then I felt so much better on the second lap. I found the killer inside me."

The women's Nordic team scored 90 points to win the 5K event while the men's team placed second with 85 points, seven behind DU.

Back on the alpine side, Ola Johansen earned his best finish of the season in a slalom race by placing second.

"It was a very good race for me and very important for me because I only have one (slalom) result before this day, so for me to be second was amazing and very important for the team as well for NCAA (qualification points)," Johansen said.

Nora Christensen matched her best finish of the season, placing third in the women's slalom.

"First run was just like a descent run for me, I didn't attack it enough," Christensen said. "In the second run I really just wanted to attack and go for it, so I think I managed to do that. I had some mistakes in the second run, but I still went way faster than the first run because I actually attacked it."

Finishing behind Christensen was sophomore Tonje Trulsrud in eighth and freshman Isabella Fidjeland in 10th. For Fidjeland, competing in her first races of the season, she comes out of the championship weekend with a pair of 10th place finishes.

"Absolutely fabulous," Rokos said when asked of his first impressions of seeing Fidjeland compete. "She was coming out of injury and with a little hesitation and anxiety, and so she is there and this was a good confidence builder for her for NCAAs."

SENIOR TRIBUTE
With the alpine races concluding Saturday, two Buffalo seniors saw their final action on the slopes at Beaver Creek. Roger Carry and Katie Hostetler have been a part of two national championship teams in their careers with the Buffs, and have been leaders for this year's team that could make a run to another championship.

"Great way to part with the whole weekend and to thank them for four years of dedication," Rokos said.

Carry finished his weekend with his best finish of the season on Friday in the giant slalom while Hostetler recorded her third top 20 finish of the season on Saturday by placing 18th in the slalom.

"It was nice to end on a strong note. You always hope for a little more, but I am just happy to be going out with some solid skiing," Carry said. "It's been amazing here. It is so different skiing for a team as opposed to skiing for yourself and I'm really lucky to be a part of it and happy I got four years of it."

"It's bittersweet. It is definitely sad being done with something that I've been doing for my entire life, but it is exciting looking forward to my new opportunities," Hostetler said, mentioning she is interested in putting to use her business marketing degree upon graduation. "I'm going to miss the atmosphere and the family I have here, my teammates are my best friends. It is just so much fun traveling with them and working hard."

2017 RMISA Championships

Team Scores (6 of 8 Events)—1. Colorado 499; 2. Denver 464.5; 3. Utah 447; 4. Montana State 418.5; 5. New Mexico 367.5; 6. Alaska Anchorage 273.5; 7. Alaska Fairbanks 112; 8. Wyoming 51.

Men's Slalom Team Scores—1. Colorado 97; 2. New Mexico 84.5; 3. Utah 68; 4. Denver 67; 5. Montana State 60; 6. Alaska Anchorage 44

Women's Slalom Team Scores—1. Denver 82; 2. Montana State 81; T-3. Colorado 78; T-3. Utah 78; 5. New Mexico 59; 6. Alaska Anchorage 43.

Women's 5K Classic Team Scores—1. Colorado 90; 2. Utah 83; 3. Denver 71; 4. Montana State 57; 5. Alaska Fairbanks 55; 6. New Mexico 50; 7. Alaska Anchorage 38; 8. Wyoming 27.

Men's 10K Classic Team Scores—1. Denver 92; 2. Colorado 85; 3. Utah 84; 4. Alaska Fairbanks 57; 5. New Mexico 50; 6. Montana State 48; 7. Alaska Anchorage 38; 8. Wyoming 24

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Roger Carry

Nora Christensen

Isabelle Fidjeland

Katie Hostetler

Petra Hyncicova

Ola Johansen

Jesse Knori

Anne Siri Lervik

Christina Rolandsen

Mads Stroem

Tonje Trulsrud