Four Buffs Pick Up Top 10s In RMISA Qualifier

COPPER MOUNTAIN, Colo.—Led by a fourth-place finish from Filip Forejtek, four Colorado Buffaloes picked up top 10 finishes Thursday in giant slalom races as part of an RMISA Alpine Qualifier ahead of the Denver Invitational here at Copper Mountain Resort.

Along with Forejtek, sophomore Louis Fausa finished sixth and Jacob Dilling ninth in the men's race and Emma Hammergaard had the fastest second run on the women's side to finish eighth. Two more Buffs finished in the top 20 with Elena Exenberger on the women's side and Alex Birkner on the men's side both finishing 16th.

The races as part of the Denver Invitational were originally scheduled to take place in Aspen Jan. 18-20 but were relocated to Copper Mountain and Keystone. Friday's GS races will be a part of the team standings for the DU Invitational, which will wrap up Monday at Keystone with slalom races. There were no team results for Thursday's races.

The teams will then head straight to Steamboat Springs where alpine action will continue Wednesday with the RMISA Championships, which also comprise both the NCAA West Regional and the Spencer James Nelson Memorial Invitational.

WHAT IT MEANS: The final stretch run for the alpine teams has begun as the alpine skiers have races seven of the next 10 days through the RMISA Championships. It was especially good to see Fausa return to action after suffering an injury in Park City. The short-handed women's team will be even more so as Cleo Braun suffered an injury and will miss Friday's GS races. The women's team is still missing Katie Fleckenstein, who has missed the last three races, and Magdalena Luczak, who is still in Beijing competing in the Winter Olympics.

UP NEXT: Another GS race awaits the alpine teams Friday with the races counting toward team scoring for the DU Invitational, and alpine only meet this season. After a weekend off, the DU meet will conclude Monday in Keystone before teams head to Steamboat Springs for four days of alpine action starting Wednesday.

MEN'S INDIVIDUAL NOTES:

Filip Forejtek finished fourth, his third straight top five, and 22nd straight top 10 finish dating back to the 2020 season. He now has 23 top-five finishes in his career out of 31 finished races. His 23 top-five finishes ranks tied for 17th in CU history, tied for ninth for men's skiing, and tied for No. 2 in men's alpine in CU history. Niklas Scherrer also had 23 top-five finishes in alpine races and only Frank Brown (1957-59) has more with 27.
Louis Fausa finished sixth, his third finish in the top six this season. He now has a fifth and sixth place GS finish and one fifth place slalom finish. He now has eight top 10 finishes in 12 finished races in his career.
Jacob Dilling finished ninth and has finished each of his first seven collegiate races with six top 10 finishes, including five straight.
Alex Birkner finished 16th, his best finish of the season and second straight top 20 GS performance. It's the 12th top 20 finish of his career in 25 career finished races.
Bobby Ryan finished 29th, Chase Seymour 31st and both Joey Young and Max Bervy didn't finish.

WOMEN'S INDIVIDUAL NOTES:

Emma Hammergaard finished eighth, matching her best finish of the season and getting her best GS finish of the season. She's finished in the top 10 in four straight finished races, taking eighth in two of them and 10th in the other two. She now has one eighth and one 10th place finish in both disciplines.
Elena Exenberger finished 16th and has now finished in the top 20 in each of her five collegiate finishes.
Kaitlyn Harsch finished 26th and Cleo Braun didn't start her second run and will not ski Friday.

WOMEN'S GIANT SLALOM (29 collegiate finishers): 1. Ainsley Profitt, CMC, 1:44.98; 2. Julia Toiviainen, WMC, 1:44.99; 3. Kaja Norbye, UU, 1:45.27; 4. Nellie Talbot, MSU, 1:45.47; 5. Eveline Fredricsson, WMC, 1:45.52; 6. Galena Wardle, DU, 1:45.58; 7. Giulia Tintorri, WMC, 1:45.59; 8. Emma Hammergaard, CU, 1:45.64; 9. Denise Dingsleder, WMC, 1:45.67; 10. Hannah Saethereng, WMC, 1:45.68. Other CU Finishers: 16. Elena Exenberger, 1:47.04; 26. Kaitlyn Harsch, 1:51.18. Did Not Start Second Run: Cleo Braun.

MEN'S GIANT SLALOM (37 collegiate finishers): 1. Joachim Lein, UU, 1:42.78; 2. Tobias Kogler, DU, 1:42.81; 3. Mikkel Solbakken, WMC, 1:42.98; 4. Filip Forejtek, CU, 1:43.07; 5. Francesco Gori, WMC, 1:43.11; 6. Louis Fausa, CU, 1:43.50; 7. Wilhelm Normannseth, UU & Gustav Vollo, UU, 1:43.55; 9. Jacob Dilling, CU, 1:43.63; 10. Cooper Cornelius, DU, 1:44.04. Other CU Finishers: 16. Alex Birkner, 1:45.07; 29. Bobby Ryan, 1:47.43. Did Not Finish Second Run: Max Bervy, Joey Young.

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Players Mentioned

Max Bervy

Alex Birkner

Cleo Braun

Jacob Dilling

Elena Exenberger

Louis Fausa

Katie Fleckenstein

Filip Forejtek

Emma Hammergaard

Kaitlyn Harsch

Magdalena Luczak

Bobby Ryan

Chase Seymour

Joey Young