Buffs Open 2021 Season In Fifth At DU Invitational

ASPEN, Colo. – Senior Andrea Arnold picked up a pair of top 10 finishes but a short-handed women's alpine team put the Colorado Buffaloes Ski Team in fifth place after the first day of the 2021 Denver Invitational here Sunday at Aspen Highlands.

With the COVID-19 pandemic forcing changes to normal procedure in 2021, the women's alpine team had two GS races Sunday to open the season. The men will follow with a pair of GS races Monday to close out the alpine portion of the DU Invitational.

Arnold's top 10 finishes included a career-best finish of sixth in the second race of the day. Her ninth place finish in the first race was the third-best GS finish of her career. They are the seventh and eighth career top 10 finishes for Arnold.

With just four of the eight members of the women's alpine team in action, the Buffs struggled. Just two Buffs finished the second race, hurting the team scoring aspect as each team can count up to three skiers for team scoring in each race. The Buffs scored 112 points in the two races and are 88 points behind the leader Westminster College, who had 100 points in both races for 200 on the day. Montana State (148), Utah (129) and Alaska Anchorage (113) are also ahead of the Buffs while Colorado Mountain College (80) and host Denver (20) closed out the team scoring.

Junior Kaitlyn Harsch was the only other CU skier to finish both races, taking 13th place in both races, both marking the best GS finishes of her career. Sophomore Emma Hammergaard led the Buffs in the first race with a career-best-tying eighth place finish and senior Isabelle Fidjeland took 11th in that same race, but neither finished the first run of the second race. For Fiejeland, it's her highest GS finish since the 2017 season.

WHAT IT MEANS: While the Buffs are not accustomed to being in the lower half of the team standings, there are encouraging signs for the Buffs. By February when Stef Fleckenstein is expected to return to action and newcomers Cassidy Gray and Katie Fleckenstein exected to debut, along with Olivia Gerrard also returning, the Buffs could be the deepest women's alpine team in the nation. All four Buffs who did compete Sunday finished at or near their career best, which bodes well for the Buffs once the team is at full strength.

TEAM NOTES:

The Buffs scored 112 points on the day, 66 in the first race and 46 in the second race.
The Buffs turned in three top 10 finishes on the day, two from Arnold and one from Hammergaard, and all six finishes were in the top 13.

INDIVIDUAL:

Arnold finished ninth in the first race and sixth in the second. Her sixth place finish is the best of her career and both top 10s give her eight in her career.
Hammergaard led the Buffs in the first race with an eighth place finish, matching the best finish of her career. She was eighth in her first race as a freshman, also in Aspen in an RMISA Qualifier race. She also had an eighth place slalom finish near the end of the season in February. It's her fourth career top 10 finish.
Fiejeland skied in the first race of the year for just the second time in her five-year career and first time since 2018. Her 11th place finish is the best she's had since taking ninth in a slalom race on Feb. 4, 2018 and it's her best GS finish since she took 10th at the 2017 RMISA Championships on Feb. 24, 2017.
Harsch's 13th place finishes are the best GS finishes of her career and second-highest overall behind a 10th place slalom finish here in Aspen last year at the Denver Invitational.

UP NEXT: The men will begin the 2021 season Monday with a pair of GS races to close out the alpine portion of the Denver Invitational. The women will travel to Nederland, Colo., and Eldora Mountain Resort, for the Buffs' Spencer James Nelson Memorial Invitational and participate in two slalom races on Tuesday. The men will then compete in two slalom races at Eldora on Wednesday.

TEAM STANDINGS (Thru 2 of 8 events): 1. Westminster 200; 2. Montana State 148; 3. Utah 129; 4. Alaska Anchorage 113; 5. Colorado 112; 6. Colorado Mountain 80; 7. Denver 20.

WOMEN'S GIANT SLALOM #1 (19 collegiate finishers)—1. Julie Toiviainen, WMC, 2:14.40; 2. Nellie Talbot, MSU, 2:15.99; 3. Katie Parker, UU, 2:16.29; 4. Lana Zbasnik, WMC, 2:16.38; 5. Hannah Saethereng, WMC, 2:16.53; 6. Georgia Burgess, 2:16.73; 7. Rebecca Fiegl, UAA, 2:17.02; 8. Emma Hammergaard, CU, 2:17.53; 9. Andrea Arnold, CU, 2:17.69; 10. Henriette Resen, WMC, 2:17.88. Other CU Finishers: 11. Isabelle Fidjeland, 2:18.20; 13. Kaitlyn Harsch, 2:19.63.

WOMEN'S GIANT SLALOM #2 (21 collegiate finishers)—1. Julie Toiviainen, WMC, 2:13.79; 2. Madison Hoffman, UU, 2:14.61; 3. Nellie Talbot, 2:14.81; 4. Lana Zbasnik, WMC, 2:14.87; 5. Hannah Saethereng, WMC, 2:16.07; 6. Andrea Arnold, CU, 2:16.74; 7. Sona Moravcikova, UU, 2:17.15; 8. Rebecca Fiegl, UAA, 2:17.70; 9. Brynne Hitchcock, MSU, 2:17.71; 10. Tegan Wold, MSU, 2:17.85. Other CU Finishers: 13. Kaitlyn Harsch, 2:18.70. Did Not Finish First Run: Emma Hammergaard, Isabelle Fidjeland.

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Players Mentioned

Andrea Arnold

Isabelle Fidjeland

Katie Fleckenstein

Stef Fleckenstein

Olivia Gerrard

Cassidy Gray

Emma Hammergaard

Kaitlyn Harsch