Colorado University Athletics
Saturday, March 9
Stowe, VT
All Day
Colorado
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Slalom
Photo by: Zach Newton, Newton Aerials
Skiers Finish Third At NCAA Championships
March 09, 2019 | Skiing
Freshman Tommy earns second All-America honor
STOWE, Vt. — The University of Colorado ski team couldn't overcome a 65-plus point deficit entering Saturday's final two events here and eventually settled for a third place finish as the 66th annual NCAA Skiing Championships came to a close.
Utah won its second title in three years, skiing mostly conservatively in both slalom races in winning the event with 530½ points. Entering the day with a 65½-point lead over the Buffaloes, all the Utes really needed to do was have all six of their skiers finish in the middle of the pack to secure the victory. Host Vermont overtook the Buffaloes for second place with 476 points, while CU claimed third with 455. Dartmouth (447) and defending champion Denver (409) rounded out the top five.
The third place finish ended a run of three straight runner-up finishes by the Buffaloes, as those followed CU's last title in 2015. Vermont's second place effort this year marked the first time an eastern school cracked the top two since 2014, when UVM placed behind champion Denver; it's just the sixth time in the last 22 championships the west didn't have the top two finishers.
Colorado actually had slipped into fourth after the men's slalom, trailing Dartmouth by 10 points. A strong showing by the Buff women in their slalom, especially by two freshmen, secured third place, the 22nd time in 29 years under head coach Richard Rokos that CU finished in the top three, including eight titles and eight runner-up showings.
CU's highest finisher in the men's slalom was sophomore Joey Young, who finished 13th in a two-run time of 1:43.79, over two seconds behind champion Jeff Seymour of Denver, who won in 1:41.49. Freshman Filip Forejtek was 25th in 1:52.06, the only other skier to score for Buffalo men as they totaled just 24 points. New Mexico won the event as a team with 74.
Senior Max Luukko finished 33rd in 2:16.72; he had some trouble on his first run but still skied hard to finish out his collegiate career.
"It's pretty hard to describe it now, I'm sure I'll have more thoughts later," Luukko said of wrapping up his CU career. "I know I gave it all I had, but unfortunately we didn't get the win today. We had opportunities. But I'm proud to be a Buff, I had a lot of laughs and good times, I'm really happy about my four years. I'd tell others in my shoes that this would be the best decision you'll ever make."
Colorado's freshmen shined in the women's slalom, which was won by Vermont's Laurence St. Germain in 1:47.00. Mikaela Tommy earned a podium finish in capturing third in 1:49.81, also earning first-team All-America honors in the process. She was fourth in Thursday's giant slalom, thus she just missed becoming the ninth skier in CU history to record two podium (top three) finishes in their first NCAA championships.
"I was a little disappointed in the GS not to win, but the slalom was really good for me," Tommy said. "I'm happy to get on the podium, and it was a good team effort, it was fun to race here. Last night, we talked about as a team, we just wanted to go for it, no regrets. We only wanted to win as a team, we didn't want to hold back to just finish second or third. We decided we'd all give it everything we had, that was a good mindset for me. Everybody did that, some of us had mistakes, but in the end, we risked it, I think that's really cool."
"It's pretty stressful to ski on a team in a different way," she added. "You feel the pressure of the team and you want to do well for the team. When you're just an individual, if you mess up, it's just on you, hard to take, when other people are depending on you too, it's harder. But we also have a lot of support for each other, so that's a bonus. We have a bunch of other women back in Boulder coming back from injury, so as long as everybody stays healthy, we'll just keep getting faster as a team, and we'll mesh more as a group and we'll be better next year."
Stef Fleckenstein earned second-team All-America honors with an eighth place finish in 1:51.56; she had placed 19th in the GS, thus all-in-all, a good effort for her as well in her first NCAAs.
"College is a totally different racing scene than anything I've been used to," Fleckenstein aid. "Just getting used to always finishing and the pressure of having the whole team depending on you to finish every race is new to me. I think I got better as the year goes on, hopefully I can bring that attitude in to my other races and end the year well."
"In the GS, I was a little disappointed, it just wasn't my day and there's nothing I can do about that, but this morning, I was really mad after the first run, I knew I had more in me for the second run, I charged it and it went the way I wanted."
Senior Nora Christensen rounded out the CU performers here, finishing her collegiate career with an 18th place effort in 1:53.76. The women scored 70 points, third-best behind Denver (80) and UVM (77).
"It's still sinking in … I was crying some tears going into the finish," Christensen said. "It's very emotional to be done with skiing. It's been such a good ride, I met so many amazing people and had so much fun. I think that's what makes me so emotional, because I met so many cool people that I'm going to miss so much. To be part of this family of college skiing is such a good experience. When I decided to come four years ago, I didn't know what to expect, it's definitely been one of the best decisions I've ever made and to be part of the Buffs is so cool, and we've always tried to do our best and have fun, in the end that's what matters, it's been a great ride."
"It's always good to get on the podium, but like any other year our goal is to win the title," she added. "It's a little bit of a bummer, in the end you can't do anything more than try your best and sometimes that's not enough. Hopefully they can do it next year, I'll be cheering them on."
"We didn't have anything to lose, we were going out as hard as we could," head coach Richard Rokos said. "We needed to save face a little bit. We couldn't save the championship, being 40-50 points behind is very difficult, not mathematically impossible, but we need everybody else to do really bad and us to do well. In the end, they didn't do bad. Utah had a mistake free race, on all levels, alpine and Nordic, they did great.
"We didn't come here for third place, but we had great effort from everybody," he continued. "We had some misfortune from the guys especially, we'll have to think about how we've done and how we could be better. On Max's side, it was pure bad luck. I think he was in a good position to put a good time in and his ski fell off. Filip, in some cases it's just the lack of understanding of the whole concept, this is just a different scenario, it's down every mistake counting against you."
Of his four-year seniors, Rokos beamed about their careers.
"Max and Nora, they are dream athletes for college skiing. You always hope you have somebody like this, it doesn't happen too often. In their case, they have been fantastic, the same with Christina on the Nordic side. They came, they've been here before, they've produced throughout their whole four years, that's a fantastic scenario."
"For Stef, I don't think she expected to make an impact in her first year as a freshman," Rokos noted. "Even Mikaela is a freshman as well, but with more experience. I think for both of them, they like the format and it's good to have them. They're good souls for the team and that bodes well for the future.."
NOTES: Utah's win was the 517th NCAA championship by Pac-12 member school in 2018-19, and the fourth in 2018-19; the Buffaloes won the women's cross country title in November … CU and Utah also had one individual title here, the Pac-12 count now stands at 2,336 … A real rarity: only one skier, Dartmouth's Drew Duffy, finished in the top 10 in both the giant slalom (fourth) and slalom (eighth) on the men's side (whereas with the women, seven skiers finished in both top 10's, including the same five among the top six) … This was just the eighth time in the 37 years since skiing went coed that the slalom races will finish off the NCAA's; it's almost always the longer cross country events. The last time had been in 2015 … This now marks the eighth straight year where the defending champion did not repeat (since Denver claimed three straight from 2008-10) … Dartmouth remains the last eastern school to win in the east, doing so in 2007; since, Denver (2009), CU (2011, 2013, 2015) and Utah (2017, 2019) have won the titles held on eastern turf.
Men's Slalom (33 finishers)— 1. Jeff Seymour, DU 1:41.49; 2. Liam Wallace, UAA 1:42.16; 3. Vegard Busengdal, UNM 1:42.33; 4. Guilaume Grand, St. Michaels 1:42.50; 5. Max Roeisland, UVM 1:42.66; 6. Aage Solheim, MSU 1:42.69; 7. Louis Muhlen-Schulte, MSU 1:42.93; 8. Drew Duffy, Dart.,, 1:42.97; 9. Mark Engel, UU, 1:43.00; 10. Alex Barounos, UNM, 1:43.14. CU Finishers: 13. Joey Young, 1:43.79; 25. Filip Forejtek, 1:52.06; 33. Max Luukko, 2:16.72.
Women's Slalom (32 finishers)—1. Laurence St. Germain, UVM 1:47.00; 2. Roni Remme, Utah 1:49.58; 3. Mikaela Tommy, CU 1:49.81; 4. Amelia Smart, DU 1:50.01; 5. Paula Moltzan, UVM 1:50.09; 6. Andrea Komsic, DU 1:50.17; 7. Jocelyn McCarthy, MSU 1:50.51; 8. Stef Fleckenstein, CU 1:51.56; 9. Tuva Norbye, DU 1:51.79; 10. Emma Woodhouse, UNH 1:51.80. Other CU Finisher: 18. Nora Christensen, 1:53.76.
(Assistant AD Curtis Snyder contributed to this report.)
Utah won its second title in three years, skiing mostly conservatively in both slalom races in winning the event with 530½ points. Entering the day with a 65½-point lead over the Buffaloes, all the Utes really needed to do was have all six of their skiers finish in the middle of the pack to secure the victory. Host Vermont overtook the Buffaloes for second place with 476 points, while CU claimed third with 455. Dartmouth (447) and defending champion Denver (409) rounded out the top five.
The third place finish ended a run of three straight runner-up finishes by the Buffaloes, as those followed CU's last title in 2015. Vermont's second place effort this year marked the first time an eastern school cracked the top two since 2014, when UVM placed behind champion Denver; it's just the sixth time in the last 22 championships the west didn't have the top two finishers.
Colorado actually had slipped into fourth after the men's slalom, trailing Dartmouth by 10 points. A strong showing by the Buff women in their slalom, especially by two freshmen, secured third place, the 22nd time in 29 years under head coach Richard Rokos that CU finished in the top three, including eight titles and eight runner-up showings.
CU's highest finisher in the men's slalom was sophomore Joey Young, who finished 13th in a two-run time of 1:43.79, over two seconds behind champion Jeff Seymour of Denver, who won in 1:41.49. Freshman Filip Forejtek was 25th in 1:52.06, the only other skier to score for Buffalo men as they totaled just 24 points. New Mexico won the event as a team with 74.
Senior Max Luukko finished 33rd in 2:16.72; he had some trouble on his first run but still skied hard to finish out his collegiate career.
"It's pretty hard to describe it now, I'm sure I'll have more thoughts later," Luukko said of wrapping up his CU career. "I know I gave it all I had, but unfortunately we didn't get the win today. We had opportunities. But I'm proud to be a Buff, I had a lot of laughs and good times, I'm really happy about my four years. I'd tell others in my shoes that this would be the best decision you'll ever make."
Colorado's freshmen shined in the women's slalom, which was won by Vermont's Laurence St. Germain in 1:47.00. Mikaela Tommy earned a podium finish in capturing third in 1:49.81, also earning first-team All-America honors in the process. She was fourth in Thursday's giant slalom, thus she just missed becoming the ninth skier in CU history to record two podium (top three) finishes in their first NCAA championships.
"I was a little disappointed in the GS not to win, but the slalom was really good for me," Tommy said. "I'm happy to get on the podium, and it was a good team effort, it was fun to race here. Last night, we talked about as a team, we just wanted to go for it, no regrets. We only wanted to win as a team, we didn't want to hold back to just finish second or third. We decided we'd all give it everything we had, that was a good mindset for me. Everybody did that, some of us had mistakes, but in the end, we risked it, I think that's really cool."
"It's pretty stressful to ski on a team in a different way," she added. "You feel the pressure of the team and you want to do well for the team. When you're just an individual, if you mess up, it's just on you, hard to take, when other people are depending on you too, it's harder. But we also have a lot of support for each other, so that's a bonus. We have a bunch of other women back in Boulder coming back from injury, so as long as everybody stays healthy, we'll just keep getting faster as a team, and we'll mesh more as a group and we'll be better next year."
Stef Fleckenstein earned second-team All-America honors with an eighth place finish in 1:51.56; she had placed 19th in the GS, thus all-in-all, a good effort for her as well in her first NCAAs.
"College is a totally different racing scene than anything I've been used to," Fleckenstein aid. "Just getting used to always finishing and the pressure of having the whole team depending on you to finish every race is new to me. I think I got better as the year goes on, hopefully I can bring that attitude in to my other races and end the year well."
"In the GS, I was a little disappointed, it just wasn't my day and there's nothing I can do about that, but this morning, I was really mad after the first run, I knew I had more in me for the second run, I charged it and it went the way I wanted."
Senior Nora Christensen rounded out the CU performers here, finishing her collegiate career with an 18th place effort in 1:53.76. The women scored 70 points, third-best behind Denver (80) and UVM (77).
"It's still sinking in … I was crying some tears going into the finish," Christensen said. "It's very emotional to be done with skiing. It's been such a good ride, I met so many amazing people and had so much fun. I think that's what makes me so emotional, because I met so many cool people that I'm going to miss so much. To be part of this family of college skiing is such a good experience. When I decided to come four years ago, I didn't know what to expect, it's definitely been one of the best decisions I've ever made and to be part of the Buffs is so cool, and we've always tried to do our best and have fun, in the end that's what matters, it's been a great ride."
"It's always good to get on the podium, but like any other year our goal is to win the title," she added. "It's a little bit of a bummer, in the end you can't do anything more than try your best and sometimes that's not enough. Hopefully they can do it next year, I'll be cheering them on."
"We didn't have anything to lose, we were going out as hard as we could," head coach Richard Rokos said. "We needed to save face a little bit. We couldn't save the championship, being 40-50 points behind is very difficult, not mathematically impossible, but we need everybody else to do really bad and us to do well. In the end, they didn't do bad. Utah had a mistake free race, on all levels, alpine and Nordic, they did great.
"We didn't come here for third place, but we had great effort from everybody," he continued. "We had some misfortune from the guys especially, we'll have to think about how we've done and how we could be better. On Max's side, it was pure bad luck. I think he was in a good position to put a good time in and his ski fell off. Filip, in some cases it's just the lack of understanding of the whole concept, this is just a different scenario, it's down every mistake counting against you."
Of his four-year seniors, Rokos beamed about their careers.
"Max and Nora, they are dream athletes for college skiing. You always hope you have somebody like this, it doesn't happen too often. In their case, they have been fantastic, the same with Christina on the Nordic side. They came, they've been here before, they've produced throughout their whole four years, that's a fantastic scenario."
"For Stef, I don't think she expected to make an impact in her first year as a freshman," Rokos noted. "Even Mikaela is a freshman as well, but with more experience. I think for both of them, they like the format and it's good to have them. They're good souls for the team and that bodes well for the future.."
NOTES: Utah's win was the 517th NCAA championship by Pac-12 member school in 2018-19, and the fourth in 2018-19; the Buffaloes won the women's cross country title in November … CU and Utah also had one individual title here, the Pac-12 count now stands at 2,336 … A real rarity: only one skier, Dartmouth's Drew Duffy, finished in the top 10 in both the giant slalom (fourth) and slalom (eighth) on the men's side (whereas with the women, seven skiers finished in both top 10's, including the same five among the top six) … This was just the eighth time in the 37 years since skiing went coed that the slalom races will finish off the NCAA's; it's almost always the longer cross country events. The last time had been in 2015 … This now marks the eighth straight year where the defending champion did not repeat (since Denver claimed three straight from 2008-10) … Dartmouth remains the last eastern school to win in the east, doing so in 2007; since, Denver (2009), CU (2011, 2013, 2015) and Utah (2017, 2019) have won the titles held on eastern turf.
NCAA Skiing Championship Team Scores (Final)— 1. Utah 530½; 2. Vermont 476; 3. Colorado 455; 4. Dartmouth 447; 5. Denver 409; 6. New Mexico 330; 7. Northern Michigan 206; 8. Alaska-Anchorage 204; 9. Montana State 184½; 10. Middlebury 150; 11. New Hampshire 131; 12. Colby 83; 13. St. Michaels 72; 14. Westminster 70; 15. Alaska-Fairbanks 57; 16. Michigan Tech 55; 17. Bowdoin 39; 18. St. Lawrence 33; 19. Williams 20; 20. Bates 11; 21. Plymouth State 10; 22. Harvard 6; 23. St. Scholastica 3; 24. Wisconsin-Green Bay 0.
Men's Slalom (33 finishers)— 1. Jeff Seymour, DU 1:41.49; 2. Liam Wallace, UAA 1:42.16; 3. Vegard Busengdal, UNM 1:42.33; 4. Guilaume Grand, St. Michaels 1:42.50; 5. Max Roeisland, UVM 1:42.66; 6. Aage Solheim, MSU 1:42.69; 7. Louis Muhlen-Schulte, MSU 1:42.93; 8. Drew Duffy, Dart.,, 1:42.97; 9. Mark Engel, UU, 1:43.00; 10. Alex Barounos, UNM, 1:43.14. CU Finishers: 13. Joey Young, 1:43.79; 25. Filip Forejtek, 1:52.06; 33. Max Luukko, 2:16.72.
Women's Slalom (32 finishers)—1. Laurence St. Germain, UVM 1:47.00; 2. Roni Remme, Utah 1:49.58; 3. Mikaela Tommy, CU 1:49.81; 4. Amelia Smart, DU 1:50.01; 5. Paula Moltzan, UVM 1:50.09; 6. Andrea Komsic, DU 1:50.17; 7. Jocelyn McCarthy, MSU 1:50.51; 8. Stef Fleckenstein, CU 1:51.56; 9. Tuva Norbye, DU 1:51.79; 10. Emma Woodhouse, UNH 1:51.80. Other CU Finisher: 18. Nora Christensen, 1:53.76.
CU SKIING / 2019 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP NOTES
IN-THE-END: Listed below is how the 2019 championship broke down; five schools dominated the women's scoring with over 200 points (and just six over 100), while the men's was much more spread out (nine over 100). The Buffaloes were second in overall men's scoring (just edged by Utah) and second in Nordic scoring:
MEN'S TEAM SCORING: Utah 222½, Colorado 218, New Mexico 216, Denver 186, Dartmouth 178, Vermont 178, Northern Michigan 142.
WOMEN'S TEAM SCORING: Utah 308, Vermont 298, Dartmouth 269, Colorado 237, Denver 223, New Mexico 114, Alaska-Anchorage 90.
ALPINE POINT LEADERS: Denver 273, Dartmouth 256, Vermont 230, Utah 214½, Colorado 192, New Mexico 189, New Hampshire 131.
Men's Leader: Dartmouth 141 (2nd—Denver 136). Women's Leader: Vermont 146 (2nd—Denver 137)).
NORDIC POINT LEADERS: Utah 316, Colorado 263, Vermont 246, Northern Michigan 206, Dartmouth 191, New Mexico 141.
Men's Leader: Colorado 147 (2nd—Northern Michigan 142). Women's Leader: Utah 175 (2nd—Dartmouth 152).
CRACKING THE TOP: NCAA West schools have won 23 of the last 25 championships, as the skiing elite fraternity remains hard to crack; only seven different schools have claimed the title since the sport went coed in 1983: Utah (11 titles), Denver (10), Colorado (8), Vermont (5), Dartmouth (1), New Mexico (1) and Wyoming (1). But since the '67 title meet, Colorado (26 first or second place finishes, including 17 wins), Utah (24; 12, 12), Vermont (22; 6, 16) and Denver (20; 14, 6) have dominated college skiing over these 53 seasons. Only three other schools, Wyoming (two wins and four seconds), Dartmouth (two wins, two seconds) and New Mexico (one title and two seconds) have been able to crack the top two in this span (note: adds to 54 titles since CU and Dartmouth shared '76 crown).
CU ALL-TIME: The Buffaloes have won 20 national championships in skiing: 11 men's (1959-60-72-73-74-75-76-77-78-79-82), eight coed (1991-95-98-99-2006-11-13-15) and one women's (1982, AIAW). The 19 NCAA titles by Colorado trail Denver by five, as the Pioneers (24) caught and passed CU by winning three straight to open the 21st century and extended their lead with three more from 2008-10 and with titles now in 2014, 2016 and 2018. After DU and CU (43 combined in NCAA competition), Utah has won 12, Vermont 6, Dartmouth 3, Wyoming 2 and New Mexico 1 (CU and Dartmouth tied for the '76 crown).
INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONS: The Buffs had one individual champion this year (Erik Dengerud in the freestyle. The eight individual champions came from six different schools: Dartmouth (2), Vermont (2), Colorado, Denver, New Mexico and Utah. Colorado leads all-time with 95 individual NCAA titles, topping Denver (91), Utah (76), Vermont (66), Dartmouth (42), Wyoming (19), New Mexico (18) and Middlebury (11). The Buffs have had two or more individual champions 31 times (three or more 14 times), including five occasions when CU skiers topped the podium four times: 1960, John Dendahl (skimeister, Nordic, cross country) and Dave Butts (downhill); in 1963, Buddy Werner (alpine combined, downhill), Bill Marolt (downhill) and Jimmie Heuga (slalom); in 2006, Jana Rehemaa (classical, freestyle), Kit Richmond (freestyle) and Lucie Zikova (downhill); in 2008, Maria Grevsgaard (freestyle, classical) and Lucie Zikova (giant slalom, slalom) and last winter Petra Hyncicova (freestyle, classical) and David Ketterer (giant slalom, slalom). CU has had at least one individual NCAA champion in 29 of the last 38 years.
LEARFIELD DIRECTORS' CUP: Colorado picked up 85 points in the Learfield Director's Cup Standings, jumping from 20th place into ninth with 290 total points; skiing was the first NCAA winter championship completed. Utah made a significant jump, from 85th into 30th (185 points) with its win. Stanford leads with 541 points, with Michigan (380.5), Penn State (337), Wisconsin (320) and BYU (315) rounding out the top five; there are five Pac-12 schools in the top 20 overall. The indoor track and rifle championships will be included in the next official release of the standings on March 22.
HEAD COACH RICHARD ROKOS: Rokos wrapped up his 29th season as head coach of the Buffaloes (he is just the fifth person to coach a quarter century or longer in any sport at Colorado). He has guided CU to national championships in 1991 (his first season), 1995, 1998, 1999, 2006, 2011, 2013 and 2015, as well as to eight second place finishes and five third place efforts. Under Rokos, Colorado has won 73 of 177 ski meets, including 65 of 148 in the west (with 14 RMISA Championships/NCAA West Regionals titles). In his tenure, CU has had 144 first-team All-Americans and 236 first- or second-team performers (Alpine and Nordic), all adding to exactly 342 top 10 finishes in NCAA championship competition, including 11 this winter.
On if he is considering retirement: "I am not making any decisions until I make a decision. I have a good reason to step up and say that's it, but I also look around and have good reasons to stay. It's a balance between those two things."
ALL-AMERICANS: Seven of the 12 Buffaloes here earned All-America honors in the meet, four netting first-team status: Alvar Alev (classic), Hedda Baangman (classic), Erik Dengerud (classic) and Mikaela Tommy (giant slalom and slalom). Three others earned second-team nods: Stef Fleckenstein (slalom), Max Luukko (giant slalom) and Christina Rolandsen (freestyle and classic). Alev (freestyle) and Dengerud (classic) also earned second-team honors in those other disciplines. Top five finishes earn skiers the first-team accolade, while finishing sixth through 10th nets a second-team honor.
LOOKING AHEAD: Eight of the 12 student-athletes who competed for the Buffaloes in the 2019 championships are scheduled to return for the 2020 season; the only exceptions being three four-year letterwinners, Nora Christensen and Max Luukko (alpine) and Christina Rolandsen (Nordic), along with two-time letterman Alvar Alev (Nordic). There were no other seniors on this winter's roster.
FUTURE SITES: The 2020 meet will return to the west with the Montana State University set to host; Middlebury will host the 2021 event.
MEN'S TEAM SCORING: Utah 222½, Colorado 218, New Mexico 216, Denver 186, Dartmouth 178, Vermont 178, Northern Michigan 142.
WOMEN'S TEAM SCORING: Utah 308, Vermont 298, Dartmouth 269, Colorado 237, Denver 223, New Mexico 114, Alaska-Anchorage 90.
ALPINE POINT LEADERS: Denver 273, Dartmouth 256, Vermont 230, Utah 214½, Colorado 192, New Mexico 189, New Hampshire 131.
Men's Leader: Dartmouth 141 (2nd—Denver 136). Women's Leader: Vermont 146 (2nd—Denver 137)).
NORDIC POINT LEADERS: Utah 316, Colorado 263, Vermont 246, Northern Michigan 206, Dartmouth 191, New Mexico 141.
Men's Leader: Colorado 147 (2nd—Northern Michigan 142). Women's Leader: Utah 175 (2nd—Dartmouth 152).
CRACKING THE TOP: NCAA West schools have won 23 of the last 25 championships, as the skiing elite fraternity remains hard to crack; only seven different schools have claimed the title since the sport went coed in 1983: Utah (11 titles), Denver (10), Colorado (8), Vermont (5), Dartmouth (1), New Mexico (1) and Wyoming (1). But since the '67 title meet, Colorado (26 first or second place finishes, including 17 wins), Utah (24; 12, 12), Vermont (22; 6, 16) and Denver (20; 14, 6) have dominated college skiing over these 53 seasons. Only three other schools, Wyoming (two wins and four seconds), Dartmouth (two wins, two seconds) and New Mexico (one title and two seconds) have been able to crack the top two in this span (note: adds to 54 titles since CU and Dartmouth shared '76 crown).
CU ALL-TIME: The Buffaloes have won 20 national championships in skiing: 11 men's (1959-60-72-73-74-75-76-77-78-79-82), eight coed (1991-95-98-99-2006-11-13-15) and one women's (1982, AIAW). The 19 NCAA titles by Colorado trail Denver by five, as the Pioneers (24) caught and passed CU by winning three straight to open the 21st century and extended their lead with three more from 2008-10 and with titles now in 2014, 2016 and 2018. After DU and CU (43 combined in NCAA competition), Utah has won 12, Vermont 6, Dartmouth 3, Wyoming 2 and New Mexico 1 (CU and Dartmouth tied for the '76 crown).
INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONS: The Buffs had one individual champion this year (Erik Dengerud in the freestyle. The eight individual champions came from six different schools: Dartmouth (2), Vermont (2), Colorado, Denver, New Mexico and Utah. Colorado leads all-time with 95 individual NCAA titles, topping Denver (91), Utah (76), Vermont (66), Dartmouth (42), Wyoming (19), New Mexico (18) and Middlebury (11). The Buffs have had two or more individual champions 31 times (three or more 14 times), including five occasions when CU skiers topped the podium four times: 1960, John Dendahl (skimeister, Nordic, cross country) and Dave Butts (downhill); in 1963, Buddy Werner (alpine combined, downhill), Bill Marolt (downhill) and Jimmie Heuga (slalom); in 2006, Jana Rehemaa (classical, freestyle), Kit Richmond (freestyle) and Lucie Zikova (downhill); in 2008, Maria Grevsgaard (freestyle, classical) and Lucie Zikova (giant slalom, slalom) and last winter Petra Hyncicova (freestyle, classical) and David Ketterer (giant slalom, slalom). CU has had at least one individual NCAA champion in 29 of the last 38 years.
LEARFIELD DIRECTORS' CUP: Colorado picked up 85 points in the Learfield Director's Cup Standings, jumping from 20th place into ninth with 290 total points; skiing was the first NCAA winter championship completed. Utah made a significant jump, from 85th into 30th (185 points) with its win. Stanford leads with 541 points, with Michigan (380.5), Penn State (337), Wisconsin (320) and BYU (315) rounding out the top five; there are five Pac-12 schools in the top 20 overall. The indoor track and rifle championships will be included in the next official release of the standings on March 22.
HEAD COACH RICHARD ROKOS: Rokos wrapped up his 29th season as head coach of the Buffaloes (he is just the fifth person to coach a quarter century or longer in any sport at Colorado). He has guided CU to national championships in 1991 (his first season), 1995, 1998, 1999, 2006, 2011, 2013 and 2015, as well as to eight second place finishes and five third place efforts. Under Rokos, Colorado has won 73 of 177 ski meets, including 65 of 148 in the west (with 14 RMISA Championships/NCAA West Regionals titles). In his tenure, CU has had 144 first-team All-Americans and 236 first- or second-team performers (Alpine and Nordic), all adding to exactly 342 top 10 finishes in NCAA championship competition, including 11 this winter.
On if he is considering retirement: "I am not making any decisions until I make a decision. I have a good reason to step up and say that's it, but I also look around and have good reasons to stay. It's a balance between those two things."
ALL-AMERICANS: Seven of the 12 Buffaloes here earned All-America honors in the meet, four netting first-team status: Alvar Alev (classic), Hedda Baangman (classic), Erik Dengerud (classic) and Mikaela Tommy (giant slalom and slalom). Three others earned second-team nods: Stef Fleckenstein (slalom), Max Luukko (giant slalom) and Christina Rolandsen (freestyle and classic). Alev (freestyle) and Dengerud (classic) also earned second-team honors in those other disciplines. Top five finishes earn skiers the first-team accolade, while finishing sixth through 10th nets a second-team honor.
LOOKING AHEAD: Eight of the 12 student-athletes who competed for the Buffaloes in the 2019 championships are scheduled to return for the 2020 season; the only exceptions being three four-year letterwinners, Nora Christensen and Max Luukko (alpine) and Christina Rolandsen (Nordic), along with two-time letterman Alvar Alev (Nordic). There were no other seniors on this winter's roster.
FUTURE SITES: The 2020 meet will return to the west with the Montana State University set to host; Middlebury will host the 2021 event.
(Assistant AD Curtis Snyder contributed to this report.)
Players Mentioned
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