CU Alpine Squad Well Tested for NCAA Championships

BOULDER — The Colorado alpine skiing team has put in a varied week of training with specific attention to focal points as the Buffs head off to the 2018 NCAA Skiing Championships that CU is hosting in Steamboat Springs, Colo., March 7-10.

Coming off the RMISA Championships last weekend, also in Steamboat, the Buffs left the mountain unsatisfied with the results. Colorado as a team finished third on the alpine side of the regional meet and now looks to regain its form it had when it won the regular season title by a 156½-point margin as the Buffs chase what would be their 21st NCAA title in program history.

"Today was actually was very encouraging, we all finished runs with very little mistakes and going fast," head coach Richard Rokos said Friday after a morning of training slalom at Eldora. "It looks like in terms of peaking, hopefully we'll see that."

The general consensus after reflecting on the performance at the RMISA Championships was that the Buffs were losing speed on the flats in the giant slalom race and the grade of the slalom slope at Howelsen hill caused some problems for CU.

"The GS hill (at Mount Werner) is kind similar to most of the races we do, a little pitch and then flat and then pitch and flat. It is not too much of a challenge, it is just trying to keep the speed up in the flats," Ola Johansen said of racing up in Steamboat Springs. "The slalom hill is a little steeper than most of the college races, so there is a little bit more challenge and we have to be a little bit more focused."

To deal with that, Colorado went to both the weight room and altered ites skiing regimen this week to address these focal points before heading back up to Steamboat Springs.

"It was more like homework for them," Rokos said of this week's training. "They were doing this on their own in the weight room. They got prescribed isometric exercises to boost fast-twitch muscles or muscle fibers and I hope they run it and we'll see if it will show up in slalom."

Up on the mountain, Colorado moved from its normal slalom training run to one that is steeper to simulate what they will see at Howelsen.

"It has some similarities, but not every hill is the same," Rokos said of moving to a steeper run for slalom training. "Howelsen is very specific going form very flat to steeper part and then back to flat. We can mimic some part of it, but that's okay, we'll have another training session up there before the race."

Colorado does field a very veteran team heading to NCAA's. Every alpine skier has competed in an NCAA Championship before and can draw on those previous experiences when they hit the slopes with everything on the line next week.

Of the six Buffs on the alpine side, five of them have earned All-America honors before for having top 10 finishes at the national championships.

"It is very important, knowing what the dynamics are of it," Rokos stressed of the importance of having raced at NCAA's before. "It is small format, it is nothing what we normally race. In giant slalom it is back-to-back and the race is over for the gender in an hour-and-a-half, something we normally don't experience, so it is a little more of the dynamics than anything else."

Ketterer Regaining Comfortability
David Ketterer, CU's highly decorated sophomore, is excited for his opportunity at his second NCAA Championship. After becoming just the fifth skier to sweep the alpine national titles at NCAA's last year, he spent roughly half of this season in Europe where he made eight World Cup slalom starts.

There is a big difference from skiing in Europe on steeper, icier terrain to what you see in America with softer snow that has more grip and will effect ones timing going back-and-forth between terrains.

"It is very different situation for me than last year," Ketterer said Friday. "I've had a hard time getting used to the American snow. The hills are also very different than what I skied in December and January in the World Cup starts. I'm confident and trying to only focus on my skiing. For championships there is always a lot of going on around and it is the highlight of our season as a college team. I'm just focusing on my skiing and trying to push myself and my teammates to do the best that we can achieve."

After the grind of the World Cup circuit and all his travels, Ketterer is finally feeling rested and finding his groove for the Buffs at the right time.

"I actually liked the last two weeks before the championships because everything gets a little quieter and you have more time to train," he said Friday. "It was nice to have races in Steamboat on the race hills because it is very important to ski there and get used to the hill. Also today we had a fantastic day here in Eldora and we have some more training next week in Steamboat. I think it is nice getting in race mood and I'm looking forward to racing."

Strong Seasons Build Confidence
Colorado sported the top men's and women's alpine skiers this season on the college circuit. Ola Johansen and Tonje Trulsrud won the RMISA MVP awards after collecting the most NCAA qualifications points this winter. That success has built confidence for the two who both enter their third NCAA Championship.

"This is my best college season so far, so I'm really happy and the whole team has been doing really well in team points for the whole season," Johansen said. "I think we're strong heading into NCAAs."

Johansen and Trulsrud are both looking for redemption at NCAAs next week.

In 2016, Trulsrud was a first-team All-American in the giant slalom after a third-place finish. However, in 2017 an unfortunate and rare occurrence of losing her ski on the second run, which came after she posted the second-fastest time the first run down the hill, left her frustrated by not scoring any team points for the Buffs.

Johansen in 2016, a year he was also the RMISA men's alpine MVP, was a second-team All-American in the giant slalom. At last winter's NCAA Championships, he did not finish his first run in the giant slalom and placed 14th in the slalom.

Both of the Buffs have used that at motivation for this season.

Each has won three races on the year. Johansen has won two slalom races and one in the giant slalom while Trulsrud has three wins in the slalom and has been on the podium in four out of her six giant slalom races.

The other Buffs who has seen success on the biggest collegiate stage are Nora Christensen and Max Luukko.

Christensen has finished fifth in the slalom at her last two NCAA Championships while Luukko has three All-America honors to his name – a first-team nod in the slalom in 2016 after finishing fifth and he finished in the top 10 in both alpine races last year in New Hampshire.

Colorado University Athletics

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Nora Christensen

Ola Johansen

David Ketterer

Max Luukko

Tonje Trulsrud

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