Forejtek, Fausa Impressive At RMISA Invitational

PARK CITY, Utah – Junior Filip Forejtek and freshman Louis Fausa finished fifth and sixth respectively in the first of two giant slalom races here Friday at the RMISA Invitational at Utah. The second race of the day was postponed, leaving the Colorado Buffaloes Ski Team in fourth place with seven of eight races completed in the meet.

Forejtek continued his streak of top five finishes, giving him six straight this season and 12 straight in races he's finished dating back to the middle of the 2020 season. Fausa, meanwhile, earned the best GS finish of his season and matched his overall best finish and now has four top 10 finishes on the season, two in each discipline.

The Buffs, who on Thursday moved up to second before falling to fourth with the women's giant slalom action, remained in fourth as the standings tightened. The Buffs are less than 20 points out of second place. Utah leads with 590.5 points with Montana State (473) and Alaska Anchorage (472.5) just ahead of the Buffs total of 453.5. Denver is fifth with 369.5.

Weather and course conditions forced the afternoon race to be cancelled. Coaches will attempt to make up the race between now and the start of RMISA Championships, set to start next Thursday. Other options are also being discussed to both complete the meet and fulfill NCAA Qualification requirements.

Junior Bobby Ryan was the Buffs third scorer, finishing in a three-way tie for 16th. Sky Kelsey finished 29th, Chase Seymour 30th and Alex Birkner 31st, while both Joey Young and Max Bervy did not finish the race.

WHAT IT MEANS: Forejtek and Fausa both improved their NCAA Qualification numbers, Fausa especially with his best GS finish of the season. The Buffs are in fourth but just 20 points out of second, meaning the team race is up in the air if the last race is made up in the next week. It's possible a result could also be doubled to either finish the meet or for NCAA Qualification purposes. Either way, the regular season is that much closer to being done for the alpine racers in the RMISA and the Championships will start next Thursday.

UP NEXT: Barring the rescheduling of the second GS race ahead of the RMISA Championships, the Buffs will be off until Thursday's start of the postseason.

TEAM NOTES:

With two skiers in the top six, the Buffs scored 71.5 points as the top four teams in the first race were within 10.5 points of each other. Westminster scored 82, Montana State 81 and Denver 72.5 ahead of the Buffs. MSU passed Alaska Anchorage by a half-point into second and the Buffs closed the gap on UAA by 40 points.
Second through fourth place are within 20 points of each other with MSU at 473, UAA at 472.5 and Colorado 453.5.
Scoring for the Buffs were Forejtek (29 points), Fausa (27) and Ryan (15.5).

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

Forejtek finished fifth and extended his streak of top five finishes in races he's finished to six on the year and 12 dating back to the middle of the 2020 season. He matches similar top five streaks from David Ketterer (2017), Tony Standteiner (1991) and John Sakjem (1986-87) and those are the longest streak since Niklas Scherrer had 18 straight from 1981-82.
Fausa now had four top 10 finishes in seven career races and has identical sixth and ninth place finishes in both slalom and GS.
Ryan had his second straight top 20 finish and fifth in seven races and six finishes on the season. It's his ninth top 20 in his career and sixth in GS.

TEAM STANDINGS (Through 7 of 8 Races): 1. Utah 590.5; 2. Montana State 473; 3. Alaska Anchorage 472.5; 4. Colorado 453.5; 5. Denver 369.5; 6. Westminster 293; 7. Alaska Fairbanks 218; 8. Colorado Mountain 85.

MEN'S GIANT SLALOM #1 (31 collegiate finishers)—1. Tobias Kogler, DU, 1:59.64; 2. Joachim Mjelde, WMC, 2:00.80; 3. Louis Muhlen-Schulte, MSU, 2:00.86; 4. Mikkel Solbakken, WMC, 2:00.91; 5. Filip Forejtek, CU, 2:00.94; 6. Louis Fausa, CU, 2:01.12; 7. Aage Solheim, MSU, 2:01.33; 8. Wilhelm Normannseth, UU, 2:01.34; 10. Joachim Lein, UU, 2:01.72. Other CU Finishers: 16. Bobby Ryan, 2:04.58; 29. Sky Kelsey, 2:09.29; 30. Chase Seymour, 2:09.95; 31. Alex Birkner, 2:10.71. Did Not Finish First Run: Max Bervy. Did Not Finish Second Run: Joey Young.

Players Mentioned

Max Bervy

Alex Birkner

Louis Fausa

Filip Forejtek

Sky Kelsey

Bobby Ryan

Chase Seymour

Joey Young

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