Buffs Finish Third At Utah Invitational

PARK CITY, Utah--Sophomore Stef Fleckenstein and senior Mikaela Tommy finished 2-3 in the women's slalom race, sophomore Filip Forejtek took fourth in the men's race and the Colorado Ski Team finished third in the Utah Invitational here Saturday at Park City Moutain Resort.

Fleckenstein and Tommy continue their dominant 2020 season, as both have finished seven of eight races and neither has finished lower than fifth. Fleckenstein hit the podium for the fourth time and Tommy for the seventh. Forejtek, meanwhile, continued his solid weekend, his fourth-place finish a career-best in slalom, his first top-five and top 10 finish in the discipline.

The Buffs scored 89 points in the women's race and 65 in the men's race to finish the Utah Invitational with 584.5 points. The Buffs finished behind host Utah (743) and Denver (599.5) and head of Alaska Anchorage (523) and Montana State (433).

Freshman Emma Hammergaard was the third team scorer on the women's side, finishing in 15th place while sophomore Olivia Gerrard (20th), senior Andrea Arnold (24th) and sophomore Kaitlyn Harsch (27th) all finished the race.

On the men's side, sophomore Max Bervy (15th) and sophomore Alex Birkner (17th) both scored for the team while sophomore Teddy Takki (24th) also finished. Joey Young, who hiked on the first run, didn't start the second and Bobby Run didn't finish the second run.

The action continues Monday with a second set of slalom races, this time RMISA Qualifiers that don't count toward team scoring but do count toward NCAA Qualification and postseason individual accolades.

WHAT IT MEANS: Stef Fleckenstein and Mikaela Tommy continue to have brilliant seasons, but perhaps the most important result Sunday was Filip Forejtek, who's fourth place in slalom will help his NCAA qualification, seeding and start list points tremendously. The Buffs need a good day of slalom Monday before heading to Bozeman for three more races, the final three before the NCAA Championships.

TEAM NOTES:

The Buffs finished second in the women's race with 89 points and score more points in women's alpine than any other team.
The Buffs finished third in the men's race with 65 points, scoring 154 on the day and 584.5 overall.
The Buffs slipped behind Denver, who finished with 599.5 points after scoring a meet-best 181 points on the day.

MEN'S ALPINE NOTES:

Forejtek's fourth-place finish is his career-best, bettering a 12th place showing on a couple of occassions. He now has five top-five finishes in his career, four in GS and one in slalom.

WOMEN'S ALPINE NOTES:

Fleckenstein's second-place finish gives her a first and second-place finish in terms of NCAA Qualification. She hasn't finished lower than fifth this season and now has a first, second and fourth-place finish in three slalom races. She now has four podium appearances on the season, two each in GS and slalom.
Tommy's third-place finish gives her seven podiums in seven races this season. She has four wins, all in GS, and now has one second and two third-place finishes in slalom. She now has 11 career podiums in 15 finished races.

UP NEXT: Teams will remain in Park City Monday's for an extra qualifier race for individual accolades and NCAA Championship qualification. It will be a quick turn-around as the teams will head straight from Park City to Bozeman where the RMISA Championships will take place Thursday through Sunday.

TEAM STANDINGS (FINAL): 1. Utah 742; 2. Denver 599.5; 3. Colorado 584.5; 4. Alaska Anchorage 523; 5. Montana State 433; 6. Westminster 233; 7. Alaska Fairbanks 195; 8. Colorado Mountain 137; 9. Wyoming 132.

WOMEN'S SLALOM (27 collegiate finishers)—1. Amelia Smart, DU, 1:48.92; 2. Stef Fleckenstein, CU, 1:51.00; 3. Mikaela Tommy, CU, 1:51.73; 4. Storm Klomhaus, DU, 1:51.79; 5. Kathryn Parker, UU, 1:52.54; 6. Andrea Komsic, 1:52.87; 7. Julia Toivanien, WMC, 1:53.33; 8. Sona Moravcikova, UU, 1:53.44; 9. Katie Hensein, DU, 1:53.41; 10. Kaitlyn Vesterstein, UU, 1:53.60. Other CU Finishers: 15. Emma Hammergaard, 1:55.30; 20. Olivia Gerrard, 2:01.92; 24. Andrea Arnold, 2:05.37; 27. Kaitlyn Harsch, 2:08.35.

MEN'S SLALOM (24 collegiate finishers)—1. Joachim Lein, UU, 1:54.83; 2. Louis Muhlen-Schulte, MSU, 1:55.79; 3. Colby Lane, DU, 1:56.00; 4. Filip Forejtek, CU, 1:56.15; 5. Mikkel Wahl, WMC, 1:56.51; 6. Simon Fournier, DU, 1:56.57; 7. Gustav Voello, UU, 1:57.00; 8. Mikkel Solbakken, WMC, 1:57.09; 9. Tobias Kogler, DU, 1:57.21; 10. Olav Sanderberg, UAA, 1:57.88. Other CU Finishers: 15. Max Bervy, 1:59.50; 17. Alex Birkner, 2:00.22; 24. Teddy Takki, 2:36.62. Did Not Start Second Run: Joey Young. Did Not Finish Second Run: Bobby Ryan.

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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