Forejtek Wins GS Race To Open Alpine Season; Buffs Move Up To Third

BOULDER, Colo.–Senior Filip Forejtek won his first career giant slalom race and the men's team placed three in the top eight to move the Colorado Buffaloes Ski Team into third place and just 10 points out of second place after the first alpine races of the season Tuesday here at Bridger Bowl in the Montana State Invitational.

Forejtek had the fourth-fastest time in both the first and second runs from the collegiate racers and it was enough to pull out a victory by just 12-hundredths of a second. Sophomore Louis Fausa had the second-best finish of his young career taking fifth place and the top mover of the day was freshman Jacob Dilling, who started in 33rd, had the 17th-fastest first run and then used the third-fastest second run to move into the top 10 in his collegiate debut. The trio racked up 92 points for the Buffs to win the race as a team.

"The day went pretty much as expected," CU coach Andy LeRoy said. "We had some big successes, particularly some of the guys, they proved they're some of the best skiers on the circuit. Filip has been our best, most consistent skier over the past few years, and it's great to see him get a win, it's huge not only for the team but for NCAA Qualification. Jacob started pretty far back in his first college race, he moved way up the field. And Louis is one of the fastest skiers on the circuit, and he was out there proving it today and he has a lot more in him."

In the team standings, the Buffs moved from fourth to third and now sit just 10 points behind Denver for second place. Both the Pioneers and Buffs passed Alaska Fairbanks, who doesn't have an alpine team, and the Buffs closed the gap on the Pioneers from 14 points down to 10 with just slalom races left in the first meet of the season. Utah continues to lead with 558 points followed by Denver (412) and Colorado (402) with Montana State (385.5) and Alaska Anchorage (320) rounding out the top five.

Forejtek has been near the top plenty in his career, as this is his 14th career podium performance, including his eighth in GS. He's finished as the runner up in four GS races in his career, including the 2020 NCAA Championships. This is his second career win, including a win in a slalom race at the CU Invitational last year. He becomes just the 15th men's alpine skier and 20th alpine skier overall to win a race in both slalom and GS in a career, joining such greats as Buddy Werner, Bill Marolt, John Skajem, Stephan Heinzsch and David Ketterer, among many other notable Buffs.

In women's action, the Buffs were led by freshman Elena Exenberger, who had a day similar to that of Dilling. She started 30th and moved up to 16th after the first run and then ended up finishing 12th in her first collegiate race. Junior Emma Hammergaard finished 18th. She started 10th, had a bit of trouble on the first run but then had the third-fastest second run to move back into the top 20. Freshman Cleo Braun finished 29th in her first collegiate race.

"Elena, because she wasn't here last year, with the college seeding she started pretty far back," LeRoy said. "She had two solid runs. It's going to take some time for her to learn the college hills, the surface is not the same as she's used to. She justifiably isn't quite comfortable with all the variables, and most of these skiers have experience in college and even on this hill, which hosted the 2020 NCAA Championships in similar conditions. All in all a positive day for her.

"Emma is still progressing," LeRoy added. "She's still learning how to compete on this circuit. Her first run had some mistakes, and that cost her, but the third fastest second run, she should still have scored some start list points to have a good bib in Utah. I'm sure it was disappointing for her to look at her overall placing, but she's skiing at a high level and will put it all together."

The women were hampered a bit by the absence of freshman Magdalena Luczak, who Tuesday was named to the Polish National Team Alpine Olympic Team. She has been in Europe competing in World Cup races and will remain in Europe through the Olympics due to COVID protocols.

WHAT IT MEANS: The men's team opened the season on a strong note, showing the teams across the RMISA they'll be a squad to be reckoned with throughout the season. Winning the first race both individually and as a team should give the Buffs some confidence as the season gets underway. The women's team, without the services of Magdalena Luczak and Katilyn Harsch here in Montana, had some bright spots with Exenberger moving up and Hammergaard's second run.

UP NEXT: The Buffs remain at Bridger Bowl Wednesday and Thursday but the action shifts to slalom racing. Wednesday's slalom races will close out the Montana State Invitational and the first meet will be in the books and Thursday's slalom races will count toward the RMISA Invitational, a collection of races being put together for team scoring purposes.

TEAM NOTES:

The Buffs scored 144 points on the day, winning the men's race with 92 points and coming in fifth in the women's race with 52 points. The 144 points is the third most for alpine on the day and just 15 points out of first place.
Forejtek scored a perfect 40 points for the men's team while Fausa (29) and Dilling (23) also put up good scores to give the Buffs 92 as a team, enough to win the race by 15 points over Westminster (77).
Exenberger scored 21 points to lead the women while Hammergaard (17) and Braun (14) also got on the board for the Buffs.
Colorado slipped another 10 points behind Utah and trail the Utes 558-402. Colorado did pass Alaska Fairbanks and outscored Denver 144-140 to close the gap to 10 points in the race for second place, 412-402, with the Pioneers.

WOMEN'S INDIVIDUAL NOTES:

Elena Exenberger finished 12th in her first collegiate race. She started 30th and had a solid first run, moving up to 16th place, then she shaved another four spots off in the second run to close in on a top 10 performance in her first action as a Buff.
Emma Hammergaard finished 18th. She started 10th and dropped to 29th after the first run, but then used the third-fastest second run to move back into the top 20 in 18th. She has now finished better against the field in her second run in 10 straight finished races dating back to her freshman season and in 15 times in 20 career finished races. Hammergaard has finished in the top 20 a total of 19 times in 20 career races finished.
Cleo Braun finished 29th in her first career race for the Buffs and Katie Fleckenstein didn't finish her second run in her first collegiate race.

MEN'S INDIVIDUAL NOTES:

Filip Forejtek won the first GS race of his career to get his senior year started on the right path. Forejtek had started 35 career races and finished 26 (22 of 26 dating back to his freshman season) with two wins, 14 podium appearances, 19 top 5 and 21 top 10 performances.
- In GS races, this is his first win, eighth carere podium, 11th top five and 13th top 10 finish in 15 races finished. He has seven podiums in his last 10 GS races dating back to the midpoint of his sophomore season. He has finished as a runner up in four GS races in his career.
- Forejtek is the 15th men's alpine and 20th overall alpine athlete to win at least one slalom and one GS race in a career at Colorado. He joins such past CU greats as Buddy Werner, Bill Marolt, John Skajem, Niklas Scherrer, Stephan Heinzsch, Gabriel Rivas and David Ketterer, among others. The most recent men's alpine skier to accomplish the feat was Ola Johansen from 2016-18.
Louis Fausa finished fifth, his second career top five finish and second-best finish of his career, just behind a fourth place finish in the RMISA Championships last season in the GS race. He's now finished 10 of 13 career races with two top five, six top 10 and nine top 20 performances.
Jacob Dilling finished eighth in his collegiate debut, the best for a men's alpine skier since David Ketterer finished sixth to open up the 2017 season, also in a GS race.
Max Bervy finished 19th in his 35th career race. He's finished 26 of those races and this is his 13th top 20.
Joey Young started his 50th career race to kickoff his fifth season of competition. He is just the seventh men's alpine skier since 1989 to start 50 races for the Buffs and he's within six of Andreas Haug's total of 56 that leads the way since that time. He's the 13th alpine skier to hit the 50-race mark in that time with Nora Christiansen and Thea Grosvold joining in at the 56-mark for the lead.
Alex Birkner finished 29th in his 23rd career race for the Buffs. He's finished 20 of them for CU.
Chase Seymour finished 37th in his 11th career race, of which he has now finished six of them.
Bobby Ryan finished 38th in his 23rd career start. He's now finished 20 career races for the Buffs.

MONTANA STATE INVITATIONAL TEAM STANDINGS (Thru 6 of 8 Events): 1. Utah 558; 2. Denver 412; 3. Colorado 402; 4. Montana State 358.5; 5. Alaska Anchorage 320; 6. Alaska Fairbanks 281; 7. Westminster 150; 8. Wyoming 101; 9. Colorado Mountain 91.5.

WOMEN'S GIANT SLALOM (32 collegiate finishers)—1. Nellie Talbot, MSU, 1:37.12; 2. Julie Toiviainen, WMC, 1:37.45; 3. Madison Hoffman, UU, 1:37.50; 4. Katie Parker, UU, 1:37.55; 5. Katie Hensien, DU, 1:37.89; 6. Galena Wardle, DU, 1:38.11; 7. Hannah Saethereng, WMC, 1:38.15; 8. Claire Timmermann, UU, 1:38.28; 9. Kristiane Bekkestad, MSU, 1:38.40; 10. Kaja Norbye, UU, 1:38.66. CU Finishers: 12. Elena Exenberger, 1:39.18; 18. Emma Hammergaard, 1:39.89; 29. Cleo Braun, 1:44.54. Did Not Finish: Katie Fleckenstein.

MEN'S GIANT SLALOM (38 collegiate finishers)—1. Filip Forejtek, CU, 1:34.62; 2. Cornelius Cooper, DU, 1:34.74; 3. Riley Seger, MSU, 1:34.82; 4. Mikkel Solbakken, WMC, 1:34.92; 5. Louis Fausa, CU, 1:35.39; 6. Francesco Gori, WMC, 1:35.72; 7. Gustav Vollo, UU, 1:35.82; 8. Jacob Dilling, CU, 1:35.84; 9. Sergi Piguillem, CMC, 1:35.97; 10. Joachim Lein, UU & Bjorn Brudevoll, UU, 1:35.98. Other CU Finishers: 19. Max Bervy, 1:36.72; 22. Joey Young, 1:37.20; 29. Alex Birkner, 1:38.78; 37. Chase Seymour, 1:40.65; 38. Bobby Ryan, 1:43.24.

Forejtek Wins GS Race To Open Alpine Season; Buffs Move Up To Third

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Players Mentioned

Max Bervy

Alex Birkner

Cleo Braun

Jacob Dilling

Elena Exenberger

Louis Fausa

Katie Fleckenstein

Filip Forejtek

Emma Hammergaard

Magdalena Luczak

Bobby Ryan

Chase Seymour

Joey Young

Forejtek Wins GS Race To Open Alpine Season; Buffs Move Up To Third

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Players Mentioned

Max Bervy

Alex Birkner

Cleo Braun

Jacob Dilling

Elena Exenberger

Louis Fausa

Katie Fleckenstein

Filip Forejtek

Emma Hammergaard

Magdalena Luczak

Bobby Ryan

Chase Seymour

Joey Young

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