Skiers Successfully Close Out Non-Collegiate Ski Season

BOULDER—Members of the Colorado Ski Team took full advantage of their respective opportunities to continue to ski after the conclusion of the collegiate ski season, with many Buffs traveling the world to compete.

After the Buffs finished third at the NCAA Championships the second week of March in Stowe, Vt., several Buffs remained east to compete in Nor-Am Cup races, which are generally regarded as one step below World Cup level races.

Freshman Mikaela Tommy took full advantage of that opportunity by winning one GS race and taking second in another in those Nor-Am races, which were important to her to keep her FIS points as low as possible. A skier's FIS points is an international ranking system for skiing. Tommy's two races were her two best point totals of the 2018-19 season, thus constitute her points for 2019-20.

Tommy and most of the team also skied in a FIS series in early April in Aspen. There she won two races and finished second in another in five total races. Her wins included one Super G and one giant slalom race and her second place was also a Super G race.

In women's alpine action, freshman Stef Fleckenstein stayed in Vermont after NCAAs, as well, taking 13th place in one GS race and seventh in a slalom race, DNF'ing in the other two races. She stayed east for the U.S. National Championships, earning two top 10s in NorAm Cup races immediately preceding the U.S. Championships, including eighth place in the downhill and fifth place in the Super G. At U.S. Nationals, she took sixth place in the giant slalom race.

She finished her season on a tear, earning five podium appearances in five races in Aspen, including wins in a Super G and slalom race and second place in both GS races. Her final race was a third place Super G performance.

While Fleckenstein and Tommy skied at the NCAA Championships with the Buffs, a few skiers skied in a FIS series in Vail. Andrea Arnold was among those skiers, taking sixth in a slalom and fifth in a GS race that week. She then headed east for the Nor-Am Cup races at Stowe, earning a 19th place finish in GS.

Arnold stayed east at Waterville over Spring Break to take part in the Junior National Championships, where she finished seventh in the GS race. She then took part in the Aspen series, earning two top 20s in GS races.

Nora Christensen, concluding her competitive skiing career, skied in the GS and slalom races at Aspen, taking sixth in one GS race and in her final race, she hit the podium in third place in the slalom race.

Kaitlyn Harsch also skied at Vail and was at her best, winning one slalom race and taking second in the other and in two GS races, earning a second and fourth place. She participated in the US National Championships, earning top 30 finishes in both GS and slalom, and taking 20th in the National Junior Championship race at Mittersill. In Aspen, she ended her season on another solid note, taking sixth in the slalom, the same race Fleckenstein one and Christensen took third.

Gerrard also skied at both Vail and Aspen. At Vail, she had back-to-back podiums in the GS races, finishing third in both. She had DNF's in her other five races in both locations.

In men's alpine action, freshman Filip Forejtek had a busy March and April. He stayed east after NCAAs and took part in Nor Am Cup races at Burke Mountain, finishing both GS races. On to Sugarloaf, he took 25th in the downhill at the US National Championships and stayed there for some NorAm Cup races, taking 23rd in a Super G race. In Aspen, he had four top 11 finishes, including fifth place finishes in both Super G and Giant Slalom races.

Joey Young also took part in the Aspen series, earning three top 15 finishes, including one top 10 each in GS (10th) and slalom (6th) action.

While those skiers skied at NCAAs, freshman Max Bervy also skied at Vail like some of the women's skiers, and there he won a giant slalom race and took ninth in another GS race. He skied both at the National Championships and National Junior Championships, taking 20th in the GS in the junior race. At Aspen, he finished one GS and one slalom race.

Also at Vail, freshman Teddy Takki took second place in a GS race there, not finishing either slalom race. He then went east to the National Championships, although he didn't earn a finish there. Later in March, he traveled home to Finland to take place in those National Championships, finishing 11th in the GS and fifth place in the slalom. At Aspen, he hit the podium in one GS race, taking third, and took ninth in the other GS race.

Luukko took the NorAm Cup races off after the NCAA Championships and finished his skiing career at Aspen, taking 10th in one Super G race and 14th in the GS race on April 8, his last competitive race.

On the Nordic side, the Buffs decided against competing at the US Super Tour finals in Maine. Alvar Alev took part in World Cup races in Quebec, Canada, placing 63rd overall with a 55th place finish in the freestyle sprint races and 60th in the 15K classic race.

On April 7, Erik Dengerud, Wyatt Gebhardt and Tyler Terranova took part in the Rabbit Ears Marathon in Steamboat Springs. In the men's 17K race, Terranova took second in a time of 52:30.4 and Gebhardt third just seven seconds back at 52:37.1.

In the men's 34K race, Erik Dengerud took fifth in 55:21.5. Dan Weinberger, former Buff, assistant Nordic coach and husband of current Nordic coach Jana Weinberger, took third in 53:35.5.

Skiers Successfully Close Out Non-Collegiate Ski Season

Players Mentioned

Alvar Alev

Andrea Arnold

Max Bervy

Nora Christensen

Erik Dengerud

Stef Fleckenstein

Filip Forejtek

Wyatt Gebhardt

Kaitlyn Harsch

Teddy Takki

Tyler Terranova

Mikaela Tommy

Joey Young

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