Young Wins RMISA Qualifier Slalom At Eldora

ELDORA—Junior Joey Young won his second career race, leading the Buffs to an overall solid day of action here in the RMISA Alpine Qualifier as a part of the Colorado Invitational Friday.

Seven Buffs earned top 15 finishes in the final of three days of racing at Eldora.  The first two days counted toward CU's Spencer James Nelson Invitational. Friday's races, still hosted by CU, were a qualifier, meaning no team scoring but do count for NCAA Qualification, MVP standings, All-RMISA and more.

Young had the fifth-fastest first run but then blazed the field with the fastest second run to get the victory.  His previous victory came last year at the Montana State Invitational on Jan. 18, one day short of a year. He now has three career podiums, including two in the last two days.

Sophomore Teddy Takki also had a solid race, finishing seventh and moving up seven spots in the second run with the third-fastest time in the field.  Freshman Alex Birkner finished 14th and Bobby Ryan 17th as only 19 skiers finished the race. Max Bervy and Filip Forejtek both didn't finish.

On the women's side, senior Mikaela Tommy (second) and sophomore Stef Fleckenstein (fourth) both continued their stellar seasons. Tommy had the third-fastest first run and then beat the entire field on her second run to move up one spot.  Emma Hammergaard finished 11th, Andrea Arnold 12th and Olivia Gerrard 21st while Kaitlyn Harsch didn't finish.

The alpine teams are now two-thirds done with the regular season but the Nordic teams haven't skied yet.  That will change tomorrow with the Nordic portion of the CU Invitational kicking off the season. The women's 5K freestyle will start a 9 a.m. and the men's 10K freestyle race will start at 9:45 a.m. at Howelsen HIll.

MEN'S SLALOM (19 collegiate finishers)—1. Joey Young, CU, 1:32.60; 2. Mikkel Wahl, WMC, 1:32.86; 3. Addison Dvoracek, UU, 1:33.16; 4. Joachim Mjelde, WMC, 1:33.22; 5. Aage Solheim, MSU, 1:33.49; 6. Nick Santaniello, DU, 1:33.82; 7. Teddy Takki, CU, 1:33.92; 8. Michael Soetaert, UAA, 1:33.99; 9. Alexandre Coltier, WMC, 1:34.33; 10. Tomas Birkner de Miguel, UU, 1:34.37.  Other CU Finishers: 14. Alex Birkner, 1:38.59; 17. Bobby Ryan, 1:40.37. Did Not Finish Second Run: Max Bervy.

WOMEN'S SLALOM (29 collegiate finishers)—1. Amelia Smart, DU, 1:29.20; 2. Mikaela Tommy, CU, 1:29.58; 3. Storm Klomhaus, 1:29.86; 4. Stef Fleckenstein, CU, 1:30.49; 5. Andrea Komsic, DU, 1:30.65; 6. Reece Bell, DU & Julia Toivianen, WMC, 1:31.90; 8. Tegan Wold, MSU, 1:32.16; 9. Eleri Smart, DU, 1:32.30; 10. Kaitlyn Vesterstein, 1:32.50.  Other CU Finishers: 11. Emma Hammergaard, 1:32.68; 12. Andrea Arnold, 1:32.73; 21. Olivia Gerrard, 1:35.81. Did Not Finish First Run: Kaitlyn Harsch.

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Players Mentioned

Andrea Arnold

Max Bervy

Alex Birkner

Stef Fleckenstein

Filip Forejtek

Olivia Gerrard

Emma Hammergaard

Kaitlyn Harsch

Bobby Ryan

Teddy Takki

Mikaela Tommy

Joey Young