Saturday, January 11
Aspen, Colo.
All Day
Colorado
vs
Giant Slalom
Photo by: Scott Arnold, ProMotion Ltd.
Tommy Wins Second Straight GS, Buffs Second At DU Invite
January 11, 2020 | Skiing
ASPEN—Senior Mikaela Tommy won her second straight race to open the 2020 season and the Colorado Ski Team sits in second place after the first day of the Denver Invitational here Saturday at Aspen Highlands Ski Resort.
Behind Tommy's win and sophomore Stef Fleckenstein taking fifth place, a big story of the day was Bobby Ryan finishing sixth on the men's side, a career-best finish for the newcomer from the east. The Buffs won the women's race, edging Utah 85-83 and then the Utes then won the men's race to take the meet lead with 176 points to CU's 153.
Tommy's win is her fifth career GS win, which ranks tied for second in CU history and third-most in CU history for most wins by a women's alpine skier. Fleckenstein's fifth place finish is the second-best of her career behind her second-place finish on Friday in the RMISA Qualifier GS race. All six women finished in the top 20 with Andrea Arnold (15th), Emma Hammergaard (16th), Olivia Gerrard (19th) and Kaitlyn Harsch (20th) finishing within six spots of each other.
"The women did well and skied to their potential," CU coach Richard Rokos said. "In many ways we were spread all over the field and I think we can get in a little more of a bundle a little higher up. Between Mikaela and Stef, another outstanding result. It was a consistent performance. This was a difficult and demanding hill, but the snow was perfect so that helped us generally ski well. It was good to see Bobby coming and presenting himself immediately as a factor in the game. He contributed to our happiness on the men's side."
Ryan led the men's team, taking sixth place, the best finish of his career after transferring from Boston College and joining the Buffs last week. Junior Joey Young earned a ninth place finish while Filip Forejtek took 12th. Those three stood in sixth, seventh and eighth place after the first run but then separated a little in the second run.
"On the second run I wanted to light the fire, so I did that and it turned out pretty good," Tommy said. "It was a lot of fun to race that hard and I ended up winning so that was good. Bobby finishing fifth was really cool to see."
The alpine teams will conclude the Denver Invitational Sunday with the slalom races here at Aspen Highlands.
TEAM: The Buffs won the women's race with 85 points and took fourth in the men's race with 68 points to sit in second place with 153 total points, 23 points behind Utah's score of 176. Utah was just two points back of the Buffs in the women's race and then won the men's race with 93 points. Montana State sits third with 145 points followed by Westminster (134) and host Denver (129) to round out the top five while Alaska Anchorage (100) and Colorado Mountain (71) round out the team scoring.
ALPINE WOMEN: Tommy had the third-fastest first run in the field and then moved up by winning the second run. She won the second run by over a half-second, leading her to a victory by more than a second with a two-run time of 2:04.02. Montana State's Haley Cutler was second at 2:05.10. Fleckenstein's two-run time was 2:05.41. She was in the lead after the first run and then slipped a little, taking 11th in the second run to slip to fifth. Senior Andrea Arnold was the Buffs third finisher in 15th place in a time of 2:07.85, just six-hundredths ahead of freshman Emma Hammergaard's 16th place time of 2:07.91. Olivia Gerrard (2:08.53) took 19th edging out Harsch by 12-hundredths of a second (2:08.65).
ALPINE MEN: Ryan, a sophomore transfer from Boston College, had his first career top 10 finish in a two-run time of 2:09.74. He was sixth after the first run, impressive given his starting placement of 21st, and held onto that spot in the second run. Young's ninth-place time of 2:10.10 is his 15th career top 10 finish. Filip Forejtek finished 12th in a time of 2:10.55 as the third team scorer. Teddy Takki took 17th in 2:11.30, followed by Alex Birkner in 22nd in 2:11.93 and Max Bervy in 30th in 2:15.03.
WHAT IT MEANS: It was a good day for the Buffs, but the good news is that the potential is there to be even better. Tommy continues to show her dominance on the women's side and Ryan looks like a solid addition to the team on the men's side. All 12 Buffs finished both runs, which was a bit of a thorn in the side of the men's team last season.
NOTEWORTHY:
QUOTEWORTHY:
Richard Rokos: "The women did well and skied to their potential. In many ways we were spread all over the field and I think we can get in a little more of a bundle a little higher up. Between Mikaela and Stef, another outstanding result. Yesterday was even better, but they keep charting. Emma is catching up with her environment and the snow we have here, and my expectations for her are really high. The rest of the women's team had a little misfortune and they can ski better on any given day."
"On the men's side, after the first run we had a lot of guys bunched together in the top 10, and that's a very good result. It was good to see Bobby coming and presenting himself immediately as a factor in the game. He contributed to our happiness on the men's side. It was a consistent performance. We emphasize that in college to finish every race, it doesn't happen every time. This was a difficult and demanding hill, but the snow was perfect so that helped us generally ski well."
"I know Bobby's most recent coach from Killington, I know his philosophy, he's not taking things lightly and he gave me a good background. Where he was last year I think he was missing an element of competition which we create internally and now he's skiing against good guys every day and with his potential the sky's the limit."
"I'm looking forward to the slalom. We're not seeded as well in slalom as GS, but slalom in the last few years has been our stronger event, so we'll see how we do against these other top teams."
Mikaela Tommy: "On the men's side, there were a few surprises, Bobby Ryan finishing sixth was really cool to see. Second run I wanted to light the fire, so I did that and it turned out pretty good, it was a lot of fun to race that hard and I ended up winning so that was good."
Bobby Ryan: "Today was awesome, after the first run we had three guys, six, seven, eight, we were all pretty close. We had a little trouble in the second run. I was able to hold on, Joey was right behind me, Filip fell back a little but overall it was a good day. The women did awesome, Mikaela won, Stef got fifth and it was fun to be a part of that."
UP NEXT: The alpine teams will close out the DU Invitational with the first set of slalom races Saturday. Teams will then only have two days off before commencing CU's own Spencer James Nelson Memorial Invitational, with alpine action in that meet taking place Wednesday-Friday at Eldora Mountain Resort. The Nordic teams will then open the season Saturday and Sunday in the CU meet in Steamboat Springs.
TEAM—1. Utah 176; 2. Colorado 153; 3. Montana State 145; 4. Westminster 134; 5. Denver 129; 6. Alaska Anchorage 100; 7. Colorado Mountain 71.
WOMEN'S GIANT SLALOM (27 collegiate finishers)—1. Mikaela Tommy, CU, 2:04.02; 2. Haley Cutler, MSU, 2:05.10; 3. Eirin Engeset, UU, 2:05.32; 4. Andrea Komsic, DU, 2:05.40; 5. Stef Fleckenstein, CU, 2:05.41; 6. Sona Moravcikova, UU, 2:05.63; 7. Julia Toiviainen, WMC, 2:05.79; 8. Nellie Talbot, MSU, 2:05.94; 9. Kathryn Parker, UU, 2:06.00; 10. Rebecca Fiegl, UAA, 2:06.07. Other CU Finishers: 15. Andrea Arnold, 2:07.85; 16. Emma Hammergaard, 2:07.91; 19. Olivia Gerrard, 2:08.53; 20. Kaitlyn Harsch, 2:08.65.
MEN'S GIANT SLALOM (31 collegiate finishers)—1. Tobias Kogler, DU, 2:07.87; 2. Addison Dvoracek, UU, 2:07.95; 3. Aage Solheim, MSU, 2:08.11; 4. Joachim Lien, UU, 2:08.18; 5. Mikkel Solbakken, WMC, 2:08.56; 6. Bobby Ryan, CU, 2:09.74; 7. Gustav Vollo, UU, 2:09.87; 8. Alexandre Colter, WMC, 2:09.93; 10. Louis Muhlen-Schulte, MSU, 2:10.40. Other CU Finisher: 12. Filip Forejtek, 2:10.55; 17. Teddy Takki, 2:11.30; 22. Alex Birkner, 2:11.93; 30. Max Bervy, 2:15.03.
Behind Tommy's win and sophomore Stef Fleckenstein taking fifth place, a big story of the day was Bobby Ryan finishing sixth on the men's side, a career-best finish for the newcomer from the east. The Buffs won the women's race, edging Utah 85-83 and then the Utes then won the men's race to take the meet lead with 176 points to CU's 153.
Tommy's win is her fifth career GS win, which ranks tied for second in CU history and third-most in CU history for most wins by a women's alpine skier. Fleckenstein's fifth place finish is the second-best of her career behind her second-place finish on Friday in the RMISA Qualifier GS race. All six women finished in the top 20 with Andrea Arnold (15th), Emma Hammergaard (16th), Olivia Gerrard (19th) and Kaitlyn Harsch (20th) finishing within six spots of each other.
"The women did well and skied to their potential," CU coach Richard Rokos said. "In many ways we were spread all over the field and I think we can get in a little more of a bundle a little higher up. Between Mikaela and Stef, another outstanding result. It was a consistent performance. This was a difficult and demanding hill, but the snow was perfect so that helped us generally ski well. It was good to see Bobby coming and presenting himself immediately as a factor in the game. He contributed to our happiness on the men's side."
Ryan led the men's team, taking sixth place, the best finish of his career after transferring from Boston College and joining the Buffs last week. Junior Joey Young earned a ninth place finish while Filip Forejtek took 12th. Those three stood in sixth, seventh and eighth place after the first run but then separated a little in the second run.
"On the second run I wanted to light the fire, so I did that and it turned out pretty good," Tommy said. "It was a lot of fun to race that hard and I ended up winning so that was good. Bobby finishing fifth was really cool to see."
The alpine teams will conclude the Denver Invitational Sunday with the slalom races here at Aspen Highlands.
TEAM: The Buffs won the women's race with 85 points and took fourth in the men's race with 68 points to sit in second place with 153 total points, 23 points behind Utah's score of 176. Utah was just two points back of the Buffs in the women's race and then won the men's race with 93 points. Montana State sits third with 145 points followed by Westminster (134) and host Denver (129) to round out the top five while Alaska Anchorage (100) and Colorado Mountain (71) round out the team scoring.
ALPINE WOMEN: Tommy had the third-fastest first run in the field and then moved up by winning the second run. She won the second run by over a half-second, leading her to a victory by more than a second with a two-run time of 2:04.02. Montana State's Haley Cutler was second at 2:05.10. Fleckenstein's two-run time was 2:05.41. She was in the lead after the first run and then slipped a little, taking 11th in the second run to slip to fifth. Senior Andrea Arnold was the Buffs third finisher in 15th place in a time of 2:07.85, just six-hundredths ahead of freshman Emma Hammergaard's 16th place time of 2:07.91. Olivia Gerrard (2:08.53) took 19th edging out Harsch by 12-hundredths of a second (2:08.65).
ALPINE MEN: Ryan, a sophomore transfer from Boston College, had his first career top 10 finish in a two-run time of 2:09.74. He was sixth after the first run, impressive given his starting placement of 21st, and held onto that spot in the second run. Young's ninth-place time of 2:10.10 is his 15th career top 10 finish. Filip Forejtek finished 12th in a time of 2:10.55 as the third team scorer. Teddy Takki took 17th in 2:11.30, followed by Alex Birkner in 22nd in 2:11.93 and Max Bervy in 30th in 2:15.03.
WHAT IT MEANS: It was a good day for the Buffs, but the good news is that the potential is there to be even better. Tommy continues to show her dominance on the women's side and Ryan looks like a solid addition to the team on the men's side. All 12 Buffs finished both runs, which was a bit of a thorn in the side of the men's team last season.
NOTEWORTHY:
- For Tommy, it's her fifth career win, all coming in GS races, and she now has five wins in seven career GS starts. Her five GS wins ranks tied for second-most in CU history and she's ranked tied for third most in CU history overall with her five wins.
- Fleckenstein's fifth place finish was her second-best career finish in either discipline behind her runner-up performance on Friday. She now has 10 top 10 finishes in 13 finished races in her career.
- CU's other four women's skiers all placed in the top 20. It was Hammergaard's second top 20 in as many races, Harsch's seventh career and second top 20 of the season, Gerrard's fifth career top 20 and Arnold's 15th career top 20 finish.
- Ryan took sixth place, his career-best finish. His top college finish previously was 15th place last season for Boston College.
- Young had the 15th top 10 finish of his career and 10th in his last 16 races since the start of the 2019 season.
QUOTEWORTHY:
Richard Rokos: "The women did well and skied to their potential. In many ways we were spread all over the field and I think we can get in a little more of a bundle a little higher up. Between Mikaela and Stef, another outstanding result. Yesterday was even better, but they keep charting. Emma is catching up with her environment and the snow we have here, and my expectations for her are really high. The rest of the women's team had a little misfortune and they can ski better on any given day."
"On the men's side, after the first run we had a lot of guys bunched together in the top 10, and that's a very good result. It was good to see Bobby coming and presenting himself immediately as a factor in the game. He contributed to our happiness on the men's side. It was a consistent performance. We emphasize that in college to finish every race, it doesn't happen every time. This was a difficult and demanding hill, but the snow was perfect so that helped us generally ski well."
"I know Bobby's most recent coach from Killington, I know his philosophy, he's not taking things lightly and he gave me a good background. Where he was last year I think he was missing an element of competition which we create internally and now he's skiing against good guys every day and with his potential the sky's the limit."
"I'm looking forward to the slalom. We're not seeded as well in slalom as GS, but slalom in the last few years has been our stronger event, so we'll see how we do against these other top teams."
Mikaela Tommy: "On the men's side, there were a few surprises, Bobby Ryan finishing sixth was really cool to see. Second run I wanted to light the fire, so I did that and it turned out pretty good, it was a lot of fun to race that hard and I ended up winning so that was good."
Bobby Ryan: "Today was awesome, after the first run we had three guys, six, seven, eight, we were all pretty close. We had a little trouble in the second run. I was able to hold on, Joey was right behind me, Filip fell back a little but overall it was a good day. The women did awesome, Mikaela won, Stef got fifth and it was fun to be a part of that."
UP NEXT: The alpine teams will close out the DU Invitational with the first set of slalom races Saturday. Teams will then only have two days off before commencing CU's own Spencer James Nelson Memorial Invitational, with alpine action in that meet taking place Wednesday-Friday at Eldora Mountain Resort. The Nordic teams will then open the season Saturday and Sunday in the CU meet in Steamboat Springs.
TEAM—1. Utah 176; 2. Colorado 153; 3. Montana State 145; 4. Westminster 134; 5. Denver 129; 6. Alaska Anchorage 100; 7. Colorado Mountain 71.
WOMEN'S GIANT SLALOM (27 collegiate finishers)—1. Mikaela Tommy, CU, 2:04.02; 2. Haley Cutler, MSU, 2:05.10; 3. Eirin Engeset, UU, 2:05.32; 4. Andrea Komsic, DU, 2:05.40; 5. Stef Fleckenstein, CU, 2:05.41; 6. Sona Moravcikova, UU, 2:05.63; 7. Julia Toiviainen, WMC, 2:05.79; 8. Nellie Talbot, MSU, 2:05.94; 9. Kathryn Parker, UU, 2:06.00; 10. Rebecca Fiegl, UAA, 2:06.07. Other CU Finishers: 15. Andrea Arnold, 2:07.85; 16. Emma Hammergaard, 2:07.91; 19. Olivia Gerrard, 2:08.53; 20. Kaitlyn Harsch, 2:08.65.
MEN'S GIANT SLALOM (31 collegiate finishers)—1. Tobias Kogler, DU, 2:07.87; 2. Addison Dvoracek, UU, 2:07.95; 3. Aage Solheim, MSU, 2:08.11; 4. Joachim Lien, UU, 2:08.18; 5. Mikkel Solbakken, WMC, 2:08.56; 6. Bobby Ryan, CU, 2:09.74; 7. Gustav Vollo, UU, 2:09.87; 8. Alexandre Colter, WMC, 2:09.93; 10. Louis Muhlen-Schulte, MSU, 2:10.40. Other CU Finisher: 12. Filip Forejtek, 2:10.55; 17. Teddy Takki, 2:11.30; 22. Alex Birkner, 2:11.93; 30. Max Bervy, 2:15.03.
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