Mikaela Tommy Added To Ski Roster

BOULDER — Mikaela Tommy, one of the top giant slalom skiers in the world, will join the University of Colorado Ski Team, coach Richard Rokos announced Monday. Tommy joins seven other student-athletes who previously committed to skiing and continuing their education at CU.

Tommy, currently the No. 31-ranked giant slalom skier in the world, is the defending Nor-Am Cup Giant Slalom Champion. She comes to Colorado from Edelweiss Ski Club in Wakefield, Quebec, and has been a member of the Canadian National Team for the past five years. She made her debut on the Nor-Am Cup in 2011 at the age of 16 and raced her first World Cup race at Maribor, Slovakia, in 2013.

"She's very experienced," Rokos said. "She's an older athlete, she's been on the Canadian National Team for a number of years. What I'm expecting from her is leadership. She will be a mentor and it's something I'm excited to see and try. She's 23 and some of our other incoming freshmen are 17 and we've never had that big of a gap before, this is a new situation for me."

She has 40 World Cup starts to her credit with six World Championship starts and 17 Europa Cup starts to go along with 120 Nor-Am Cup starts. In Nor-Am Cup action, she has three season championships, the giant slalom in both 2013 and 2018 and the Alpine Combined in 2014. In the overall standings, she finished second in 2015 and third in 2018 and has finished in the top 11 five times, including fifth in 2014, seventh in 2013 and 11th in 2017. The only season she did not finish in the top 11 was in 2016 when she injured her knee.

By all indications, she has made a full recovery, having finished second in the overall Nor-Am Cup standings in 2015 prior to her injury and this past season, returning back near the top in third place.

"She's definitely a survivor," Rokos said. "She knows how to come back from injury. We have two skiers with ACL injuries right now. She's a great example of not giving up."

In Nor-Am Cup action, she has 27 podium appearances and 10 race wins since 2013. She has had at least four podiums and one race win each year except 2016, and she also finished 22nd at the World Championships in 2015 in Beaver Creek in the giant slalom. She scored her first world cup points at Squaw Valley with a 27th place finish in the giant slalom race in March 2017.

Tommy joins Olivia Gerrard and Kaitlyn Harsch as additions to the women's alpine team next season. That trio joins Andrea Arnold, Nora Christensen, Isabella Fidjeland and Megan McGrew on what looks to be an extremely deep, albeit bit by injuries, women's alpine team in 2019 for the Buffaloes.

Gerrard, Harsch and Tommy join five other newcomers to the 2019 team. Previously announced were men's alpine skiers Max Bervy, Filip Forejtek and Teddy Takki and men's Nordic skiers Erik Dengerud and Wyatt Gebhardt.

Tommy and the rest of the Buffs will report for the start of the fall semester later in August to begin dryland training. The 2019 season will kick off with the CU Spencer James Nelson Memorial Invitational with alpine action starting Jan. 9 at Eldora and Nordic action at Steamboat Springs starting Jan. 12. Due to extenuating circumstances that include hosting the NCAA Championships two of the last three years, the alpine squads will race for the first time at Eldora since the 2015 season, the Buffs most recent NCAA Championship.

Players Mentioned

Andrea Arnold

Max Bervy

Nora Christensen

Erik Dengerud

Isabelle Fidjeland

Filip Forejtek

Wyatt Gebhardt

Olivia Gerrard

Kaitlyn Harsch

Megan McGrew

Teddy Takki