Wednesday, March 6
Stowe, VT
All Day
Colorado
vs
Freestyle (5/10K-I)
Photo by: Brett Wilhelm, NCAA Photos
Buffalo Skiers In Third After First Day Of NCAA Championships
March 06, 2019 | Skiing
Freshman Erik Dengerud Wins Freestyle Race
STOWE, Vt. — A good showing by the men's Nordic performers, including the third win by a freshman in school history, propelled the University of Colorado ski team into third place after the first two events of the 66th annual NCAA Skiing Championships, held at the Trapp Family Lodge here Wednesday.
Utah holds a slim 1-point lead over host Vermont after the freestyle races, the Utes outpointing the Catamounts by 142-141. The Buffs are comfortable in third place with 120 points, with Northern Michigan fourth (117) and defending champion Denver rounding out the top five (92), one point ahead of Dartmouth, the next school from the east.
The one-point margin after two events matches the closest in the 37 years since the sport went coed in 1983; in 1991, Vermont led eventual champion Colorado by a single point. In 2006, New Hampshire held a 1½-point lead over Denver through two races.
While sunny, it was as cold and blustery as in recent memory for any NCAA race, with temperatures hovering around 9 to 11 degrees with wind chills around minus-15, almost similar to conditions two years ago to the day in Jackson, N.H.
"I hate to be leading on the first day and then to be chased, to be honest," head coach Richard Rokos said. "I like the scenario where we're doing the chasing. I think we're in perfect position right now, in third place and not too far out of the lead. Judging by the way our people practiced today on the alpine hill, they skied fast and we're confident going into the giant slalom tomorrow, but you still have to go day-by-day.
Wednesday's races featured a staggered start at 30 second intervals, with the men opening these championships with their 10-kilometer event. It was apparent from the beginning that CU freshman Erik Dengerud would compete for the title, which he won in runaway fashion in a time of 24:25.5, almost 20 seconds ahead of New Mexico's Kornelius Groev, who took second in 24:45.1.
Dengerud had the second-fastest times after the 2- and 3-kilometer splits, and then recorded the fastest times through 5-, 7- and 8-kilometer measurements, his lead over the field growing to 10 seconds with two kilometers remaining. He would later say he "saved a little something" for the finish, skiing the last two kilometers in 5 minutes and 45.7 seconds on his way to the win as well as first-team All-America honors.
"I felt good – it feels good to get a win," Dengerud said. "I knew I had the potential to do it, but I was really nervous before the race and especially last night. But I had good skis and I just got it done. I tried to save some energy for the last lap, to have some power toward the end. The first lap I was just focusing on my technique, on the second lap, I got some split times from the coaches, they were good, I knew I was fighting for the win so I pushed all out for the win."
"I think it's almost the last 2K of the course is all uphill," he continued. "You can't go too fast in the beginning, you have to keep pushing so you're really tired at the end. Alvar had a pretty good race until about 8K, he was only 10 seconds behind me, and I had a 20 second win, so he could've been really up there. He'll do really well in the classic. It's always fun to do a mass start. It's tighter, you have to fight for your position all the time."
Dengerud is the seventh Buffalo to claim the NCAA freestyle title, the third to do so as a freshman, joining Vegard Kjoelhamar in 2009 and Mads Stroem in 2014. He is also the 10th Buffalo to win their first-ever NCAA race, the sixth to do it as a freshman and the fifth to accomplish it in a Nordic competition. He joins Katka Hanusova (2000) as the only pair to win their first title in the freestyle.
It was his fourth top five finish in 11 races this winter, but his second win – he also claimed the 10k freestyle title at the RMISA Championships/NCAA West Regional.
CU NCAA MEN'S FREESTYLE CHAMPIONS
1989 Per Kare Jakobsen
1991 Bjorn Svensson
2006 Kit Richmond
2009 Vegard Kjoelhamar
2014 Mads Stroem
2016 Mads Stroem
2019 Erik Dengerud
CU / TITLES WON IN FIRST NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP EVENT
Kristen Petty, 1985 (Soph., Nordic)
Per Kare Jakobsen, 1988 (Soph., Nordic)
Ian Witter, 1989 (Fr., Alpine, giant slalom)
Toni Standteiner, 1991 (Fr., Alpine, giant slalom)
Sean Ramsden, 1993 (Soph, Alpine, giant slalom)
Line Selnes, 1998 (Sr., Nordic, classical)
Katka Hanusova, 2000 (Fr., Nordic, freestyle)
Adam Zika, 2012 (Fr., Alpine, giant slalom)
David Ketterer, 2017 (Fr., Alpine, giant slalom)
Erik Dengerud, 2019 (Fr., Nordic, freestyle)
Senior Alvar Alev was in the hunt much of the way, as he was second after the 5-, 7- and 8-kilometer splits, but the last stretch of the course got to him. He still finished sixth in 25:07.03 to earn second-team All-American honors.
"I'm a little disappointed, I lost between 20-30 seconds on the last hill into the finish," Alev said. "That's how it's gone for me this year in skate races. But I'm super happy for Erik and it's still my best freestyle finish this season. I just wish we could've gone 1-2, we were close. But I was also a little lucky I was only a few seconds ahead of a group of guys right behind me, so I also could've finished 13th."
Sophomore Sondre Bollum rounded out the CU men's contingent, as he finished 21st in a time of 25:24.6. He was wedged in a group where 20 seconds separated the 12th through 24th finishers. In the end, Colorado won the men's race as a team, scoring 77 points to Northern Michigan's 70.
"The guys did really well," CU Nordic coach Jana Weinberger said. "Erik winning is great. Alvar getting sixth from where he started is really good. Sondre had a good race, but was just on the wrong side of the 10-second cluster of skiers. If he had another 10 seconds, he would've been in a much different spot. The splits I was seeing, Alvar was in third place headed into the final part of the race, so he lost a little, but he still had a good race, it was still is best skate finish of the season."
"Christina raced well," she added. "I'm happy with top 10, but she could've pushed top five in a skate race. Hedda and Anne Siri, both are better in classic, and Anne Siri, it's just way to short of a race for her, she's better in longer races."
In the women's 5-kilometer race, the Buffs were led by senior Christina Rolandsen, who finished eighth in 13:51.4 in earning second-team All-America accolades. She had the fifth-fastest times for the 2- and 3-kilometer splits before settling for eighth.
Utah's Julia Richter claimed the title with a 13:28.3 time, one second ahead of Denver's Jasmi Joensuu (13:29.3); she was one-tenth of a second ahead of third-place finisher, Vermont's Evelina Sutro (13:29.4).
Sophomore Hedda Baangman finished 14th in her first-ever NCAA race, clocking in at 14:07.0, while junior Anne Siri Lervik finished 28th in 14:37.6, still good enough earn the Buffs three team points. Utah won the women's team scoring with 82 points, head of UVM (81); CU was sixth with 43.
NOTES: Dengerud claimed CU's 95th individual NCAA ski title, the first since the Buffs won four in 2017 … It's the 43rd by a Buffalo under Rokos, who has had at least one individual champion in 19 of his 29 seasons as head coach … The CU men won the freestyle title for the first time since 2008 and for the sixth time since the sport went coed in 1983 … The first day leader last won in 2015, when Colorado claimed the crown in Lake Placid, N.Y.; the last schools to lead wire-to-wire were CU (in 2011, when four events were run on Day 1) and Denver (in 2010) … CU and Utah are chasing the 517th NCAA championship by Pac-12 member schools and the fourth in 2018-19; the Buffaloes won the women's cross country title in November … CU is also pursuing two national titles in the same year for the fourth time (football/skiing 1990-91; men's & women's cross country 2004-05; men's cross country and skiing, 2014-15) … This is the last championship in the East this decade: CU won in 2011, 2013 and 2015 while Utah grabbed the crown in 2017 … The giant slalom races are up next on Thursday, with the women's first run at 7:00 a.m. MST, followed by the men's first run at 8:15; the second runs will commence at 10:45 a.m. (women) and Noon (men) … The classical races are set for Friday, March 8, with the women's 15-kilometer event at 8:00 a.m. MST and the men's 20-kilometer race at 10:00 a.m. … The slalom races will finish off the NCAA meet on Saturday, March 9: the men are first with their first run at 7 a.m. MST, with the women's first run at 8 a.m.; the men's second run is set for 10 a.m. and the women's second run at 11 a.m.
NCAA Skiing Championship Team Scores (Through 2 of 8 events)— 1. Utah 142; 2. Vermont 141; 3. Colorado 120; 4. Northern Michigan 117; 5. Denver 92; 6. Dartmouth 91; 7. New Mexico 74; 8. Alaska-Anchorage 60; 9. Montana State 37; 10. Middlebury 35; 11. Alaska-Fairbanks 32; 12. Colby 25; 13 (tie). Bowdoin and Michigan Tech 13; 14. Williams 5; 15. Bates 1; 16 (tie). Harvard, St. Lawrence, St. Scholastica and Wisconsin-Green Bay 0.
Men's 10-Kilometer Freestyle (40 finishers)— 1. Erik Dengerud, CU, 24:25.5; 2. Kornelius Groev, UNM, 24:45.1; 3. Ian Torchia, NMU, 24:45.4; 4. Ricardo Izquierdo-Bernier, UNM, 24:49.3; 5. Bill Harmeyer, UVM, 25:06.2; 6. Alvar Alev, CU, 25:07.3; 7. Zane Fields, Colby, 25:09.1; 8. Bie Maximilian, Utah, 25:10.0; 9. Finn O'Connell, UVM, 25:10.6; 10. Zak Ketterson, NMU, 25:11.3. Other CU Finisher: 21. Sondre Bollum, CU, 25:24.6.
Women's 5-Kilometer Freestyle (40 finishers)— 1. Julia Richter, Utah, 13:28.3; 2. Jasmi Joensuu, DU, 13:29.3; 3. Evelina Sutro, UVM, 13:29.4; 4. Katharine Ogden, Dart., 13:34.5; 5. Guro Jordheim, Utah, 13:37.6; 6. Anna Bizyukova, UVM, 13:46.3; 7. Abigail Jarzin, NMU, 13:50.0; 8. Christina Rolandsen, CU, 13:51.4; 9. Nicole Schneider, NMU, 13:55.7; 10. Casey Wright, UAA, 13:58.7. Other CU Finishers: 14. Hedda Baangman, 14:07.0; 28. Anne Siri Lervik, 14:37.6.
Utah holds a slim 1-point lead over host Vermont after the freestyle races, the Utes outpointing the Catamounts by 142-141. The Buffs are comfortable in third place with 120 points, with Northern Michigan fourth (117) and defending champion Denver rounding out the top five (92), one point ahead of Dartmouth, the next school from the east.
The one-point margin after two events matches the closest in the 37 years since the sport went coed in 1983; in 1991, Vermont led eventual champion Colorado by a single point. In 2006, New Hampshire held a 1½-point lead over Denver through two races.
While sunny, it was as cold and blustery as in recent memory for any NCAA race, with temperatures hovering around 9 to 11 degrees with wind chills around minus-15, almost similar to conditions two years ago to the day in Jackson, N.H.
"I hate to be leading on the first day and then to be chased, to be honest," head coach Richard Rokos said. "I like the scenario where we're doing the chasing. I think we're in perfect position right now, in third place and not too far out of the lead. Judging by the way our people practiced today on the alpine hill, they skied fast and we're confident going into the giant slalom tomorrow, but you still have to go day-by-day.
Wednesday's races featured a staggered start at 30 second intervals, with the men opening these championships with their 10-kilometer event. It was apparent from the beginning that CU freshman Erik Dengerud would compete for the title, which he won in runaway fashion in a time of 24:25.5, almost 20 seconds ahead of New Mexico's Kornelius Groev, who took second in 24:45.1.
Dengerud had the second-fastest times after the 2- and 3-kilometer splits, and then recorded the fastest times through 5-, 7- and 8-kilometer measurements, his lead over the field growing to 10 seconds with two kilometers remaining. He would later say he "saved a little something" for the finish, skiing the last two kilometers in 5 minutes and 45.7 seconds on his way to the win as well as first-team All-America honors.
"I felt good – it feels good to get a win," Dengerud said. "I knew I had the potential to do it, but I was really nervous before the race and especially last night. But I had good skis and I just got it done. I tried to save some energy for the last lap, to have some power toward the end. The first lap I was just focusing on my technique, on the second lap, I got some split times from the coaches, they were good, I knew I was fighting for the win so I pushed all out for the win."
"I think it's almost the last 2K of the course is all uphill," he continued. "You can't go too fast in the beginning, you have to keep pushing so you're really tired at the end. Alvar had a pretty good race until about 8K, he was only 10 seconds behind me, and I had a 20 second win, so he could've been really up there. He'll do really well in the classic. It's always fun to do a mass start. It's tighter, you have to fight for your position all the time."
Dengerud is the seventh Buffalo to claim the NCAA freestyle title, the third to do so as a freshman, joining Vegard Kjoelhamar in 2009 and Mads Stroem in 2014. He is also the 10th Buffalo to win their first-ever NCAA race, the sixth to do it as a freshman and the fifth to accomplish it in a Nordic competition. He joins Katka Hanusova (2000) as the only pair to win their first title in the freestyle.
It was his fourth top five finish in 11 races this winter, but his second win – he also claimed the 10k freestyle title at the RMISA Championships/NCAA West Regional.
CU NCAA MEN'S FREESTYLE CHAMPIONS
1989 Per Kare Jakobsen
1991 Bjorn Svensson
2006 Kit Richmond
2009 Vegard Kjoelhamar
2014 Mads Stroem
2016 Mads Stroem
2019 Erik Dengerud
CU / TITLES WON IN FIRST NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP EVENT
Kristen Petty, 1985 (Soph., Nordic)
Per Kare Jakobsen, 1988 (Soph., Nordic)
Ian Witter, 1989 (Fr., Alpine, giant slalom)
Toni Standteiner, 1991 (Fr., Alpine, giant slalom)
Sean Ramsden, 1993 (Soph, Alpine, giant slalom)
Line Selnes, 1998 (Sr., Nordic, classical)
Katka Hanusova, 2000 (Fr., Nordic, freestyle)
Adam Zika, 2012 (Fr., Alpine, giant slalom)
David Ketterer, 2017 (Fr., Alpine, giant slalom)
Erik Dengerud, 2019 (Fr., Nordic, freestyle)
Senior Alvar Alev was in the hunt much of the way, as he was second after the 5-, 7- and 8-kilometer splits, but the last stretch of the course got to him. He still finished sixth in 25:07.03 to earn second-team All-American honors.
"I'm a little disappointed, I lost between 20-30 seconds on the last hill into the finish," Alev said. "That's how it's gone for me this year in skate races. But I'm super happy for Erik and it's still my best freestyle finish this season. I just wish we could've gone 1-2, we were close. But I was also a little lucky I was only a few seconds ahead of a group of guys right behind me, so I also could've finished 13th."
Sophomore Sondre Bollum rounded out the CU men's contingent, as he finished 21st in a time of 25:24.6. He was wedged in a group where 20 seconds separated the 12th through 24th finishers. In the end, Colorado won the men's race as a team, scoring 77 points to Northern Michigan's 70.
"The guys did really well," CU Nordic coach Jana Weinberger said. "Erik winning is great. Alvar getting sixth from where he started is really good. Sondre had a good race, but was just on the wrong side of the 10-second cluster of skiers. If he had another 10 seconds, he would've been in a much different spot. The splits I was seeing, Alvar was in third place headed into the final part of the race, so he lost a little, but he still had a good race, it was still is best skate finish of the season."
"Christina raced well," she added. "I'm happy with top 10, but she could've pushed top five in a skate race. Hedda and Anne Siri, both are better in classic, and Anne Siri, it's just way to short of a race for her, she's better in longer races."
In the women's 5-kilometer race, the Buffs were led by senior Christina Rolandsen, who finished eighth in 13:51.4 in earning second-team All-America accolades. She had the fifth-fastest times for the 2- and 3-kilometer splits before settling for eighth.
Utah's Julia Richter claimed the title with a 13:28.3 time, one second ahead of Denver's Jasmi Joensuu (13:29.3); she was one-tenth of a second ahead of third-place finisher, Vermont's Evelina Sutro (13:29.4).
Sophomore Hedda Baangman finished 14th in her first-ever NCAA race, clocking in at 14:07.0, while junior Anne Siri Lervik finished 28th in 14:37.6, still good enough earn the Buffs three team points. Utah won the women's team scoring with 82 points, head of UVM (81); CU was sixth with 43.
NOTES: Dengerud claimed CU's 95th individual NCAA ski title, the first since the Buffs won four in 2017 … It's the 43rd by a Buffalo under Rokos, who has had at least one individual champion in 19 of his 29 seasons as head coach … The CU men won the freestyle title for the first time since 2008 and for the sixth time since the sport went coed in 1983 … The first day leader last won in 2015, when Colorado claimed the crown in Lake Placid, N.Y.; the last schools to lead wire-to-wire were CU (in 2011, when four events were run on Day 1) and Denver (in 2010) … CU and Utah are chasing the 517th NCAA championship by Pac-12 member schools and the fourth in 2018-19; the Buffaloes won the women's cross country title in November … CU is also pursuing two national titles in the same year for the fourth time (football/skiing 1990-91; men's & women's cross country 2004-05; men's cross country and skiing, 2014-15) … This is the last championship in the East this decade: CU won in 2011, 2013 and 2015 while Utah grabbed the crown in 2017 … The giant slalom races are up next on Thursday, with the women's first run at 7:00 a.m. MST, followed by the men's first run at 8:15; the second runs will commence at 10:45 a.m. (women) and Noon (men) … The classical races are set for Friday, March 8, with the women's 15-kilometer event at 8:00 a.m. MST and the men's 20-kilometer race at 10:00 a.m. … The slalom races will finish off the NCAA meet on Saturday, March 9: the men are first with their first run at 7 a.m. MST, with the women's first run at 8 a.m.; the men's second run is set for 10 a.m. and the women's second run at 11 a.m.
NCAA Skiing Championship Team Scores (Through 2 of 8 events)— 1. Utah 142; 2. Vermont 141; 3. Colorado 120; 4. Northern Michigan 117; 5. Denver 92; 6. Dartmouth 91; 7. New Mexico 74; 8. Alaska-Anchorage 60; 9. Montana State 37; 10. Middlebury 35; 11. Alaska-Fairbanks 32; 12. Colby 25; 13 (tie). Bowdoin and Michigan Tech 13; 14. Williams 5; 15. Bates 1; 16 (tie). Harvard, St. Lawrence, St. Scholastica and Wisconsin-Green Bay 0.
Men's 10-Kilometer Freestyle (40 finishers)— 1. Erik Dengerud, CU, 24:25.5; 2. Kornelius Groev, UNM, 24:45.1; 3. Ian Torchia, NMU, 24:45.4; 4. Ricardo Izquierdo-Bernier, UNM, 24:49.3; 5. Bill Harmeyer, UVM, 25:06.2; 6. Alvar Alev, CU, 25:07.3; 7. Zane Fields, Colby, 25:09.1; 8. Bie Maximilian, Utah, 25:10.0; 9. Finn O'Connell, UVM, 25:10.6; 10. Zak Ketterson, NMU, 25:11.3. Other CU Finisher: 21. Sondre Bollum, CU, 25:24.6.
Women's 5-Kilometer Freestyle (40 finishers)— 1. Julia Richter, Utah, 13:28.3; 2. Jasmi Joensuu, DU, 13:29.3; 3. Evelina Sutro, UVM, 13:29.4; 4. Katharine Ogden, Dart., 13:34.5; 5. Guro Jordheim, Utah, 13:37.6; 6. Anna Bizyukova, UVM, 13:46.3; 7. Abigail Jarzin, NMU, 13:50.0; 8. Christina Rolandsen, CU, 13:51.4; 9. Nicole Schneider, NMU, 13:55.7; 10. Casey Wright, UAA, 13:58.7. Other CU Finishers: 14. Hedda Baangman, 14:07.0; 28. Anne Siri Lervik, 14:37.6.
Players Mentioned
Nordic
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NORDIC
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NORDIC
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NORDIC
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ALPINE
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NORDIC
/ Skiing
NORDIC
/ Skiing
NORDIC
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