Buffs Second At RMISA Championships In Close Battle

PARK CITY, Utah – The Colorado Buffaloes Ski Team is just two points out of the lead in second place after the first day of the 2021 RMISA Championships, with men's and women's giant slalom races taking place here at Park City Mountain Resort Thursday.

Stef Fleckenstein finished second in the women's race after holding the first run lead, and both senior Isabelle Fidjeland and sophomore Emma Hammergaard saved the day for the Buffs with tremendous second runs to put the Buffs into contention in the team race. In the men's race, freshman Louis Fausa and junior Filip Forejtek both finished in the top six to put the Buffs near the top of the leaderboard.

Earlier in the day, in a makeup GS race that closed out the RMISA Invitational at Utah, Forejtek took third place to enable the Buffs to pass Alaska Anchorage and finish third in that meet. In all, the Buffs racked up 12 top 20 finishes with five top six and two podium appearances in the three races.

In the RMISA Championships, the Buffs scored 89 points in the women's race and 74 in the men's race for a total of 163 on the day, just two points behind Westminster (165). The standings are tight with Montana State just nine points behind the Buffs with 154 points and host Utah sitting fourth with 146 points, 17 behind the Buffs and 19 out of the lead. Denver is in fifth place with 121 points.

Closing out the RMISA Invitational at Utah, the Buffs passed the Seawolves to finish third. Utah won that meet with 683.5 points followed by Montana State's total of 537 with CU taking third with 524.5, just ahead of UAA's total of 516.5. Denver was fifth with 440.5 points. Behind Forejtek's second place, the Buffs outscored UAA 71-44 in the race to take third. CU has now finished second in both the CU and DU Invitationals and now third in this meet.

The women's team was the story of the day, however, and after Fleckenstein was leading after the first run, the team aspect didn't look as bright with senior Andrea Arnold in 10th and Fidjeland and Hammergaard both well back in 23th and 24th place, counting independent skiers. But Fidjeland put down an amazing second run that ended up being the second fastest in the field and moved up some 18 spots to finish fifth. Hammergaard finished with the third-fastest second run and herself moved up 16 spots to finish eighth. Fleckenstein's second run was the fourth fastest, giving CU the second, third and fourth fastest times in the field, but it wasn't enough to hold off Westminter's Hannah Saethereng, who put the fastest time down by over 1.2 seconds to move up from sixth and edge out Fleckenstein by three-tenths of a second. Arnold had a mistake on her second run and ended up finishing 17th.

Forejtek was also in the lead after the first run of the men's GS that was a part of the RMISA Championships and ended up taking sixth. Fausa was sixth after the first run and used the third-fastest second run to move up to fourth and he missed the podium by just one-tenth of a second. DU's Tobias Kogler won the race on the strength of the fastest second run. He also won the make-up race earlier in the day and has won three straight GS races on the season.

WHAT IT MEANS: It was a fantastic day for the Buffs, even if there were some disappointments individually with racers in position to pick up a win and not quite accomplishing those goals. But in terms of the team aspect of college skiing, the Buffs are two points behind Westminster, which has dominated alpine action for most of the 2021 season. Westminster doesn't field a Nordic team, so if the Buffs can put together another solid day Friday, they can hand the baton off to the Nordic team with a solid lead over Utah, Denver, Montana State and Alaska Anchorage and be in the hunt for a conference championship next week. There's still a long way to go, but it's a solid start for the Buffs.

The other story is qualifying for the NCAA Championships, and every high finish helps in that regard. Fleckenstein was under particular pressure to do just that, as she only had one other GS finish under her belt, and the second place finish ensures that she will have a solid seed at the NCAA Championships in the GS race.

UP NEXT: Slalom races will conclude the alpine portion of the RMISA Championships on Friday, and thus the alpine portion of the season for most of the Buffs team, as a maximum of three skiers in each gender will represent the Buffs at the NCAA Championships in a few weeks. Next week the Nordic teams will race four days, first closing out the final regular season meet, the RMISA Invitational at Westminster/Soldier Hollow and then compete in the RMISA Championships over a span of six days.

TEAM NOTES:

The Buffs are in second place and just two points behind Westminster after the first day of the RMISA Championships with 163 points. The Buffs scored 89 points in the women's GS race, second to Westminster's 105, and 74 in the men's GS race, fourth behind Montana State (91), Utah (78) and Denver (76). Westminster scored 60 in the men's race for its total of 165.
With Westminster not fielding a Nordic team, the Buffs are essentially in the lead and have a nine point lead over Montana State, 17 over Utah and 42 over Denver.
Scorers for the women's GS were Fleckenstein (37), FIdjeland (29) and Hammergaard (23) and Fausa (31), Forejtek (27) and Bervy (16) in the men's GS.
The morning men's GS race was a make-up race to close out the RMISA Invitational at Utah. The Buffs came into that race in fourth place in the standings and moved past Alaska Anchorage to finish third with 524.5 points behind Utah (683.5) and Montana State (537). The Buffs haven't come in behind UAA since the 2014 season and are now 207-9 all-time in meet standings.
Team scorers for the morning men's GS race were Forejtek (34), Young (19) and Ryan (18).

WOMEN'S INDIVIDUAL NOTES:

Fleckenstein's second place finish was huge for her NCAA Qualification. Since she missed races early in the season due to injury, each result is that much more important. With her finish, she moved up into the top five for GS, which means she will have a better starting position at the NCAA Championships. It's her best finish of the year in either discipline and first podium, and it's her third top five finish of the season. She now has seven podiums in her career and 13 top five finishes in 32 career races. All seven podiums have come in the last two years and 17 races, as have 12 of her 13 top five finishes.
Fidjeland's fifth place finish is her career best for either discipline and first career top five finish in 36 career races. She now has six top 10 finishes. It's also her third top 10 finish of the season.
Hammergaard matched her career best finish of eighth, a mark she's hit for the sixth time, and fourth time this season. She's finished eighth in three GS races this season, four overall, and in four GS races in her career, six overall.
Arnold has finished in the top 17 in each of the seven races she's finished this season, out of nine overall. She has 31 career top 20 finishes in 47 career races and 37 career races finished.
Olivia Gerrard finished her first GS races of the season in 23rd place. She missed the first series in Colorado and has now finished 16 of 29 career races.
Kaitlyn Harsch finished 27th after a mishap on her first run. She did improve by over four seconds from her first run to her second, the largest margin in the field.

MEN'S INDIVIDUAL NOTES:

Forejtek finished third in the morning GS and sixth in the afternoon. His second place finish gave him 13 straight top five finishes, the longest stretch for a men's alpine skier in almost 40 years since Niklas Scherrer in 1980-81. His streak of top six finishes now sits at 14 after both on Thursday. The afternoon race is the first time he's finished between sixth and 10th in his career, and he now has 17 career top 10 finishes and 16 career top fives with 11 podium appearances. In the last 16 races dating back to last February, he's finished 14 of them and been in the top six every time with 13 top fives, 10 podiums and one race win.
Fausa finished 19th in the morning race and then rebounded to finish fourth in the afternoon, his career best and first career top five finish. It's also his fifth top 10 and was key in NCAA Qualification, improving his seed by a few spots.
Young finished 12th in the morning race and 23rd in the afternoon. His 12th place finish moved him up dramatically on the NCAA Qualification lists, as it was just his second GS finish of the season after returning from an early season injury. He now has three top 20 finishes this season and in 48 career races, he has 33 top 20 performances.
Bobby Ryan finished 13th in the morning and 24th in the afternoon. His 13th place finish is the best of the season and second best of his career. He now has six top 20 finishes this season and 10 in his CU career.
Max Bervy finished 22nd in the morning race and 18th in the afternoon. He now has six top 20 finishes this season and 11 in his career, giving him more top 20s this season than in his first two years combined.
Chase Seymour finished 32nd in the morning race and 30th in the afternoon. He has now finished five of nine races on the season with three top 30 finishes.
Alex Birkner finished 33rd in both races. He has now finished seven of nine races on the season and has four top 20 performances.
Sky Kelsey finished 37th in the morning and improved to 31st in the afternoon. He has now finished seven of nine races on the season and has three top 20 finishes. He's finished 19 of 23 races in his career including the 2019 season at Alaska Anchorage.

RMISA INVITATIONAL AT UTAH TEAM STANDINGS (FINAL): 1. Utah 683.5; 2. Montana State 537; 3. Colorado 524.5; 4. Alaska Anchorage 516.5; 5. Denver 440.5; 6. Westminster 367; 7. Alaska Fairbanks 218; 8. Colorado Mountain 122.

MEN'S GIANT SLALOM #2 (38 collegiate finishers)—1. Tobias Kogler, DU, 1:53.74; 2. Gustav Vollo, UU, 1:54.64; 3. Filip Forejtek, CU, 1:54.66; 4. Mikkel Solbakken, WMC, 1:54.87; 5. Joachim Lein, UU, 1:54.93; 6. Wilhelm Normannseth, UU, 1:55.53; 7. Aage Solheim, MSU, 1:55.57; 8. Joachim Mjelde, WMC, 1:55.70; 9. Riley Seger, MSU, 1:55.73; 10. Didrik Nilsen, UAA, 1:56.20. Other CU Finishers: 12. Joey Young, 1:56.74; 13. Bobby Ryan, 1:56.78; 19. Louis Fausa, 1:57.61; 22. Max Bervy, 1:58.04; 32. Chase Seymour, 2:00.07; 33. Alex Birkner, 2:00.14; 37. Sky Kelsey, 2:02.23.

RMISA CHAMPIONSHIPS TEAM STANDINGS (Through 2 of 8 Races): 1. Westminster 165; 2. Colorado 163; 3. Montana State 154; 4. Utah 146; 5. Denver 121; 6. Alaska Anchorage 88; 7. Colorado Mountain 71.

WOMEN'S GIANT SLALOM (31 collegiate finishers)—1. Hannah Saethereng, WMC, 1:57.01; 2. Stef Fleckenstein, CU, 1:57.44; 3. Julia Toiviainen, WMC, 1:58.21; 4. Lana Zbasnik, WMC, 1:58.28; 5. Isabelle Fidjeland, CU, 1:58.42; 6. Kristiane Bekkestad, MSU, 1:58.61; 7. Katie Parker, UU, 1:58.65; 8. Emma Hammergaard, CU, 1:58.68; 9. Sona Moravcikova, UU, 1:58.71; 10. Claire Timmermann, UU, 1:58.90. Other CU Finishers: 17. Andrea Arnold, 2:00.18; 23. Olivia Gerrard, 2:01.43; 27. Kaitlyn Harsch, 2:07.50.

MEN'S GIANT SLALOM (40 collegiate finishers)—1. Tobias Kogler, DU, 1:53.93; 2. Louis Muhlen-Schulte, MSU, 1:54.11; 3. Huston Philp, 1:54.59; 4. Louis Fausa, CU, 1:54.69; 5. Riley Seger, MSU, 1:54.72; 6. Filip Forejtek, CU, 1:54.84; 7. Aage Solheim, MSU, 1:55.05; 8. Gustav Vollo, 1:55.18; 9. Mikkel Solbakken, WMC, 1:55.24; 10. Wilhelm Normannseth, UU, 1:55.60. Other CU Finishers: 18. Max Bervy, 1:56.85; 23. Joey Young, 1:57.57; 24. Bobby Ryan, 1:57.66; 31. Sky Kelsey, 1:58.49; 33. Alex Birkner, 1:59.18; 35. Chase Seymour, 2:00.22.

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Players Mentioned

Andrea Arnold

Max Bervy

Alex Birkner

Louis Fausa

Isabelle Fidjeland

Stef Fleckenstein

Filip Forejtek

Olivia Gerrard

Emma Hammergaard

Kaitlyn Harsch

Sky Kelsey

Bobby Ryan

Chase Seymour

Joey Young