Hammergaard Gets Two Top 10s At Westminster

SNOWBIRD, Utah—Senior Emma Hammergaard picked up a pair of top 10 finishes as the women's alpine team got its 2023 season underway for the Colorado Buffaloes Ski Team here Thursday at the Westminster Invitational.

With two slalom races on the docket, Hammergaard finished eighth in both races and was joined by graduate student Kaitlyn Harsch the top 10 of the first race when she finished seventh.

"Snowbird did a good job of getting the course ready," Alpine coach Chad Wolk said. "They watered the course over the past few days and then got 10 inches of snow that we had to push around, but it held up really well."

In the first race Elena Exenberger was CU's third finisher in 20th place before she broke her pole in the final run of the day to pick up a DNF in the second race. Harsch had three solid runs but had to hike on her first run of the second race to finish 26th. Cleo Braun finished 25th in the first race and 23rd in the second.

The Buffs picked up 62 team points in the first race and 47 in the second to finish the day with 109 points in sixth place. Utah and Denver battled it out in the two races and finished one point apart at the top of the standings with the Utes taking a 182-181 lead over the Pioneers. Montana State is third with 129 followed by Alaska Anchorage (127) and host Westminster (111).

WHAT IT MEANS

With just four healthy skiers on the women's alpine team, days like this can happen especially when student-athletes are asked to ski two races, four full runs, in one day. The men's team has more depth and should be able to rebound and climb the standings a bit on Friday. Next week in Montana State the GS races will play more to the Buffs strength.

UP NEXT

The Westminster Invitational will conclude Friday with two men's slalom races. Teams will then head to Bozeman for a pair of Giant Slalom races early next week.

TEAM NOTES

The Buffs scored 109 points, 62 in the first race and 47 in the second.

WOMEN'S ALPINE NOTES

Hammergaard finished eighth in both races. She now has 41 race starts in her career, finishing 33 with 31 top 20 and 17 top 10 performances.
Harsch finished seventh in the first race and 26th in the second race. She has now started 46 career races with 38 finishes, 25 in the op 20 and five in the top 10, all in slalom.
Exenberger finished 20th in the first race and did not finish the second race. She's finished 10 of 13 career races, all in the top 20.
Braun competed in her ninth and 10th career race and after finishing just one slalom race as a freshman, she finished both Thursday, taking 25th in the first race and 23rd in the second.

MONTANA STATE INVITATIONAL TEAM SCORES (Thru 2 of 4 races)—1. Utah 182; 2. Denver 181; 3. Montana State 129; 4. Alaska Anchorage 127; 5. Westminster 111; 6. Colorado 109; 7. Nevada 58; 8. Colorado Mountain 29.

WOMEN'S SLALOM #1 (34 collegiate finishers)—1. Madison Hoffman, UU, 1:37.83; 2. Sara Rask, DU, 1:37.99; 3. Michelle Kerven, UU, 1:38.19; 4. Nora Brand, DU, 1:39.48; 5. Ella Bronee, UAA, 1:39.55; 6. Evelina Fredricsson, WMC, 1:39.81; 7. Kaitlyn Harsch, CU, 1:39.82; 8. Emma Hammergaard, CU, 1:39.92; 9. Kristiane Bekkestad, MSU, 1:40.14; 10. Eleri Smart, DU, 1:40.16. Other CU Finishers: 20. Elena Exenberger, 1:42.22; 25. Cleo Braun, 1:43.47.

WOMEN'S SLALOM #2 (31 collegiate finishers)—1.Sara Rask, DU, 1:34.49; 2. Madison Hoffman, 1:35.92; 3. Michelle Kerven, UU, 1:36.00; 4. Nora Brand, DU, 1:36.43; 5. Justine LaMontagne, MSU, 1:37.43; 6. Ella Bronee, UAA, 1:38.26; 7. Kristine Bekkestad, MSU, 1:38.71; 8. Emma Hammergaard, CU, 1:39.20; 9. Ylva Falksete, 1:39.69; 10. Galena Wardle, DU, 1:39.97. Other CU Finishers: 23. Cleo Braun, 1:42.07; 26. Kaitlyn Harsch, 1:46.17. Did Not Finish Second Run: Elena Exenberger.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Cleo Braun

Elena Exenberger

Emma Hammergaard

Kaitlyn Harsch