Buffs Finish Third At Denver Invitational

KEYSTONE, Colo.—Four members of the Colorado Buffaloes Ski Team finished in the top 10 of the slalom races Monday here at Keystone, including a career-best sixth place for Emma Hammergaard, but it wasn't quite enough to keep the Buffs from slipping into third place as the alpine-only Denver Invitational came to a close.

Junior Emma Hammergaard led the women's team with a sixth-place finish, the best of her career, on the strength of the third-fastest second run in the field to open the day. Senior Kaitlyn Harsch (13th) and freshman Elena Exenberger (14th) couldn't quite pull in top 10 finishes, but both were within a second of the accomplishment. The women finished fourth, scoring 64 points, 11 more than in the GS races Friday.

On the men's side, the Buffs placed three in the top 10 with freshman Jacob Dilling finishing sixth, sophomore Louis Fausa seventh, and senior Filip Forejtek ninth. The Buffs had their chances to push for a meet title as the three all sat in the top six after the first run which included Fausa having the third-fastest first run in the field. But each of the three slipped a spot or two in their second runs and the Buffs finished third in the race as a team with 74 points.

The Buffs finished the meet with 288 points, 44 behind Utah's total of 332 while Westminster finished with 313. Behind the was the host Denver Pioneers in fourth with 266 points while Montana State rounded out the top five with 240 points.

WHAT IT MEANS: The Buffs never strive to finish third in a meet, but being an alpine-only meet and being short-handed on the women's side, coming within 44 points of Utah is not unsurmountable. The Buffs have already proven they can hand with Utah on the Nordic side by winning the UAF Nanook Invitational earlier in February. Whether the Buffs win the RMISA or NCAA Championships or not, at the end of the regular season they are a threat to do just that, and that's about all you can ask for in college skiing.

UP NEXT: The postseason is upon the college skiing world with the RMISA Championships on deck. The Buffs will host the races Feb. 23-26 in Steamboat Springs, making the meet both the Spencer James Nelson Memorial Invitational as well as the NCAA Western Regional. Alpine events will take place all four days, with the RMISA Championship GS races taking place Wednesday, slalom races Thursday, an extra slalom qualifier Friday, and a parallel slalom exhibition Saturday. On the Nordic side, the classic races will take place Friday and the freestyle races Saturday. All RMISA Championship races will be live-streamed by CU on both YouTube and Facebook.

TEAM NOTES:

The Buffs scored 64 points in the women's race and 74 points in the men's race to finish the day with 138 points and finish the meet with 150.
The men finished third in the slalom race as a team but still had the most points amongst all the men's teams over the two races with 171, edging out Denver (161) and Utah (166).
The men's team scored 74 points on the strength of Dilling (27), Fausa (25), and Forejtek (22).
The women's team scored 64 points with Hammergaard scoring 27, Harsch 19, and Exenberger 18.

MEN'S INDIVIDUAL NOTES:

Jacob Dilling finished sixth, extending his streak of top 10 finishes to seven straight dating back to his second collegiate race. He now has eight top 10 finishes in nine college races with four in the top six.
Louis Fausa finished seventh and now has five top 10 finishes in as many finished races this season. He missed two races and didn't finish two others earlier in the season, but now has three straight finishes, all in the top seven. He got his all-important second top 10 finish in slalom racing this season, critical for NCAA Qualifying.
Filip Forejtek finished ninth, his eighth top 10 finish in as many finished races this season. He has, in fact, finished in the top 10 in every race he's finished dating back to Jan. 2020, a streak of 25 straight. In his career, he has 28 top 10 finishes in 33 finished races out of 43 starts. His 28 top 10 finishes move him into seventh place among men's alpine skiers in CU history, breaking a tie at 27 with Gabriel Rivas (2009-11) and Ola Johansen (2016-18). He's now three behind assistant coach Chad Wolk's total of 31 from 1998-2001, which ranks fifth place all-time at CU.
Joey Young placed 13th in his 57th career race, the most in CU history for men's alpine skiers. He has finished in the top 15 in each of his four slalom races this season with finishes ranging from 11th to 14th. In his 57 career starts, he's finished 47 of them with 38 in the top 20.
Alex Birkner placed 17th, his best slalom performance of the season, and within three spots of his career-best slalom performance. He now has three top 20 finishes on the season and 13 in his career, just under half of his 27 finished races.
Bobby Ryan placed 23rd and Max Bervy 24th, giving the Buffs seven skiers in the top 24. Chase Seymour didn't finish his first run.

WOMEN'S INDIVIDUAL NOTES:

Emma Hammergaard finished sixth, the best finish of her career after finishing eighth eight times in her career, including twice this season. Hammergaard had the third-fastest second run to move up from 10th to sixth. She now has two top-eight slalom finishes this season, helpful for NCAA Qualifying. She has five top 10 finishes this season and 13 in her career.
Kaitlyn Harsch finished 13th, the second-best finish of her season behind an eighth-place showing in her last slalom race in Utah. It marked her 20th career top 20 finish.
Elena Exenberger finished 14th and she has finished between 12th and 17th in six of her seven collegiate finishes, and in the top 20 in all seven to open her career. It marked her best slalom finish of the season, one ahead of her 15th place finish in Montana at the RMISA Invitational.
Cleo Braun didn't start her second run.

DENVER INVITATIONAL TEAM SCORING (Final): 1. Utah 332; 2. Westminster 313; 3. Colorado 288; 4. Denver 266; 5. Montana State 240; 6. Colorado Mountain 190; 7. Alaska Anchorage 146.

WOMEN'S SLALOM (27 collegiate finishers): 1. Denise Dingsleder, WMC, 1:52.13; 2. Kristiane Bekkestad, MSU, 1:52.91; 3. Eveline Fredricsson, WMC, 1:53.72; 4. Sona Moravcikova, UU, 1:53.96; 5. Katie Vesterstein, UU, 1:53.96; 6. Emma Hammergaard, CU, 1:54.02; 7. Eleri Smart, DU, 1:54.06; 8. Galena Wardle, DU, 1:54.11; 9. Hannah Saethereng, WMC, 1:54.32; 10. Kaja Norbye, UU, 1:54.54. Other CU Finishers: 13. Kaitlyn Harsch, 1:54.90; 14. Elena Exenberger, 1:55.39. Did Not Start Second Run: Cleo Braun.

MEN'S SLALOM (35 collegiate finishers): 1. Wilhelm Normannseth, UU, 1:55.93; 2. Francesco Gori, WMC, 1:56.08; 3. Simon Fournier, DU, 1:56.57; 4. Jeremy Mathers, UU, 1:56.84; 5. Cole Puckett, DU, 1:56.87; 6. Jacob Dilling, CU, 1:56.91; 7. Louis Fausa, CU, 1:56.96; 8. Tobias Kogler, DU, 1:57.11; 9. Filip Forejtek, CU, 1:57.14; 10. Gustav Vollo, UU, 1:57.16. Other CU Finishers: 13. Joey Young, 1:58.56; 17. Alex Birkener, 1:58.85; 23. Bobby Ryan, 1:59.83; 24. Max Bervy, 1:59.84. Did Not Finish First Run: Chase Seymour.

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Players Mentioned

Max Bervy

Alex Birkner

Cleo Braun

Jacob Dilling

Elena Exenberger

Louis Fausa

Filip Forejtek

Emma Hammergaard

Kaitlyn Harsch

Bobby Ryan

Chase Seymour

Joey Young