Colorado Wins a 28th RMISA Championship

MINTURN, Colo. – On a suspenseful day of Nordic freestyle racing at Maloit Park, the 2017 RMISA/NCAA West Regional Championship came down to the final 1.5K.

Colorado's Petra Hyncicova, Anne Siri Lervik and Christina Rolandsen trailed three Denver Pioneer racers in the final half lap, but made up ground to secure a third-, fourth- and fifth-place finish and preserve the championship victory for the Buffaloes by a slim margin of 7.5 points.

It is Colorado's 28th RMISA/NCAA West Regional Championship in school history.

"I'm really happy," head Nordic coach Bruce Cranmer said. "I think we are getting stronger as we are getting close to the (NCAA) Championships and hopefully we got that extra little gear to step it up for the championships. We were able to hang on to the win as a team, so I'm happy about that."

Entering the women's 15K freestyle race, the Buffs held a 15.5 point advantage over Denver after Petter Reistad and Mads Stroem finished third and fifth in the men's 20K earlier that morning.

DU was right behind the Buffs and had a strong contingent in the women's race. The Pioneers had the top three women in the lead of the women's race with 1.5K to go, but CU's top trio charged coming down the final hill and in a mad dash to the finish pulled ahead of DU's Sylvia Nordskar, who was in third, to finish 3-4-5 and secure the regional title.

"I kind of hit the wall on the fifth loop and when I saw the DU girls one through three I'm like, 'no, no, no, no,' " Hyncicova said of the last lap. "We really needed to break the DU group and when I saw Anne Siri coming up, I thought we will just make it, we will not let them be one, two, three."

That comeback finish narrowed the gap Denver had on the women's race, which would have erased CU's lead and given the Pioneers the title if they finished 1-2-3. Instead, CU kept DU's win in the women's race to only eight points (102-94) and thus gave the Buffaloes the overall meet victory by just 7.5 points.

"This is awesome, this whole season for the girls is awesome," an ecstatic Hyncicova said following the race. "Before the season we were maybe hoping to have three girls in the top 10, but now we all know that we can be on the podium. Anne Siri taking third and then fourth today, is great."

On the men's side, CU finished third in the 20K freestyle with 79 points, trailing Denver who scored 98 and Utah with 82.

Along with Reistad and Stroem, senior Jackson Hill was the third scorer for this Buffs as he earned 16 points with his 17th place finish Sunday. Hill or freshman Andrew Potyk, who finished 18th in Sunday's race, will likely will be CU's third NCAA qualifier on the men's side. That will be announced on Monday at 3 p.m. when the NCAA sets the qualifiers for the 2017 National Championships that are being held in New Hampshire.

SENIOR TRIBUTE
Seniors Lucy Newman and Max Scrimgeour raced for the final time as Buffaloes on Sunday, closing out their dedicated careers.

"It's tough to see them go, it is really a great group of athletes and it is sad to see them leave," Cranmer said of his seniors. "It happens every year and this is sincerely a group that I felt like I was really close to, so it is sad to see them go, but they have been awesome for four years."

Newman has battled through health issues all season, but was an inspiration to her teammates with her passion for skiing and being a Buff.

"I struggled a bit with a heart condition this year and it's been a little emotional, but it's been good and I am excited to finish it off," Newman said. "It has been super rewarding and just so, so fun. I wouldn't have traded it for anything else. This team and the atmosphere of the RMISA is so, so fun every weekend coming out.

"Today I was told not to race, but it was kind of hard especially with the day being so nice. Starting and going super easy and just kind of enjoying that last one, so it was fun."

Scrimgeour in his final two races finished 22nd on Sunday in the 20K freestyle and was 18th in the 10K classic race on Saturday.

"I was just trying to ski with a smile on my face and really enjoy it," Scrimgeour said of his final races. "I had a lot of friends and family here and I'm just happy to ski my last race in the sunshine in front of everyone I know.

"I've made so many friends, not only on the CU team, but every other team. I think skiing is kind of unique in the matter that all the teams are kind of friends and there is that comradery. I made a lot of friends from all places around the planet, so I look forward to seeing them in the future too."

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Players Mentioned

Jackson Hill

Petra Hyncicova

Anne Siri Lervik

Lucy Newman

Andrew Potyk

Petter Reistad

Christina Rolandsen

Max Scrimgeour

Mads Stroem