Colorado
Women's Slalom & Dual Slalom
Buffs Move Up To Fourth After Women’s Slalom
January 11, 2019 | Skiing
NEDERLAND, Colo.—Senior Nora Christensen finished fifth and the University of Colorado ski team moved up one spot to fourth after the women's slalom race here Friday at Eldora Mountain Resort.
The women's slalom race ran to completion but the men's slalom race was postponed due to poor racing conditions. The make-up men's slalom will take place January 19 at Bridger Bowl in Bozeman, Mont., after the conclusion of the Montana State Invitational.
TEAM: Denver (271 points) extended its lead in the meet to 30 points over Utah (241) and those two teams are over 50 points ahead of the rest of the field. Montana State sits in third with 186 points and the Buffs are fourth with 178 points. The Buffs passed New Mexico (169), who is now fifth with Alaska Anchorage (158), Westminster (138) and Colorado Mountain College (38) round out the team scoring.
ALPINE WOMEN: Christensen started in the top seed with bib No. 3 and had the sixth-fastest first run and then used the eighth-fastest second run to finish fifth in a time of 1:50.33. Sophomore Andrea Arnold finished 15th in a time of 1:55.17 after holding a starting position of 41st. She had the 23rd fastest first run and then the 15th fastest second run to continue to move up the board. Freshman Kaitlyn Harsch was the third Buffs scorer, taking 20th in a time of 2:01.20. She started 30th and hiked on her first run but rebounded to move into the top 20. .
Freshman Mikaela Tommy did not finish her first run in her first career action and freshman Stef Fleckenstein had a solid first run and was in 12th place but didn't finish her second run. Freshman Olivia Gerrard hiked on her first run and then didn't start the second run. Juniors Isabelle Fidjeland and Megan McGrew are still sidelined with injuries.
WHAT IT MEANS: Only 23 of the 36 college skiers finished the race, with three of those 13 being the Buffs. The Buffs reverted back to two days ago with a case of the DNF's, but in the end the Buffs scored three skiers and moved into fourth place.
NOTEWORTHY: Christensen had her 13th career top 5 finish in slalom action in 22 career slalom races. The men's slalom race is the first postponed race at the CU Invitational since 2012 when the slalom races were cancelled and moved to Breckenridge, possible because the Denver Invitational followed the CU Invitational that season. Arnold recorded her career best finish in a slalom race, taking 15th. Her previous best was 19th at the 2017 RMISA Championships. She also set her career best GS finish Wednesday, also taking 15th. Harsch got a top 20 finish in her first career slalom race.
UP NEXT: The Buffs host a dual slalom race Friday night at Eldora, an exhibition that will not count toward the team scoring. The Nordic teams now take center stage in Steamboat Springs, kicking off their season Saturday with freestyle races followed by Classic races on Sunday. Teams will then head to Montana for the MSU Invitational with racing starting Wednesday with an RMISA Qualifier and concluding Saturday with the make-up of today's men's slalom race.
SPENCER JAMES NELSON MEMORIAL INVITATIONAL TEAM RESULTS (through 3 of 8 events)—1. Denver 271; 2. Utah 241; 3. Montana State 186; 4. Colorado 178; 5. New Mexico 169; 6. Alaska Anchorage 158; 7. Westminster 138; 8. Colorado Mountain 38.
WOMEN'S GIANT SLALOM (23 collegiate finishers)—1. Roni Remme, UU, 1:48.90; 2. Tuva Norbye, DU, 1:49.28; 3. Amelia Smart, DU, 1:49.56; 4. Andrea Komsic, DU, 1:49.62; 5. Nora Christensen, CU, 1:50.33; 6. Eirin Engeset, UU, 1:51.05; 7. Katie Hensien, DU, 1:51.07; 8. Stephanie Gartner, MSU, 1:51.62; 9. Petra Smaldore, WMC, 1:52.68; 10. Anika Angriman, WMC, 1:53.60; 11. Alix Wells, UAA, 1:53.99; 12. Li Djurestaal, UAA, 1:54.44; 13. Mia Henry, MSU, 1:54.51; 14. Sona Moravcikova, UNM, 1:54.61; 15. Andrea Arnold, CU, 1:55.17; 16. Madison Ostergren, WMC, 1:55.92; 17. Julie Mohagen, UU, 1:57.11; 18. Kaitlyn Vesterstein, UU, 1:57.23; 19. Katharine Irwin, UNM, 2:00.65; 20. Kaitlyn Harsch, CU, 2:01.20; 21. Beatrix Lever, MSU, 2:02.14; 22. Chloe Margue, UNM, 2:03.10; 23. Madison Muxworthy, CMC, 2:10.02. Did Not Finish (First Run): Rebecca Fiegl, UNM; Juliette Gauthier, WMC; Mikaela Tommy, CU; Kristina Natalenko, UAA; Soleil Patterson, UAA. Did Not Start (Second Run): Olivia Gerrard, CU. Did Not Finish (Second Run): Jocelyn McCarthy, MSU; Georgia Burgess, UAA; Kathryn Parker, UU; Haley Cutler, UNM; Stef Fleckenstein, CU; Storm Klomhaus, DU; Antonia Wearmouth, UNM.
Players Mentioned
