Dilling, Forejtek Podium In Slalom Races At WMC

SNOWBIRD, Utah—Jacob Dilling and Fillip Forejtek both finished in third place in two slalom races as the Colorado Buffaloes Ski Team finished fourth Friday here at the conclusion of the Westminster Invitational.

Dilling had three solid runs on the day, and after he had the fourth-fastest first run, he moved up one spot to hit the podium in the morning race. He then had the third-fastest first run in the next race and looked good until the end of the second run but ran out of gas and had to hike, which moved him down to 37th place.

Forejtek had one solid run in both races, and put together like would've produced a win. In the first run, he was 15th after the first run but then had the fastest run in the field to move all the way up to seventh place. In the second race, he sat in fourth after the first run and still moved up despite having the 16th fastest second run.

"Conditions were touch today," Alpine Coach Chad Wolk said. "Overall I though we did well fighting through them. It was a long day, but Jacob and Filip especially skied well today."

Louis Fausa and Alex Birkner were both consistent throughout the day with Fausa finishing 14th in the morning and 13th in the afternoon and Birkner taking 25th in the morning and 22nd in the afternoon.

The Buffs moved up two spots in the final team rankings to take fourth. After the morning race during which the Buffs finished second with 78 points, they moved up from sixth to third, but then slipped one spot after Westminster won the afternoon race as a team.

Utah finished as the meet winner with 365 points, followed by Denver (302) and Westminster (268) ahead of the Buffs total of 251. The Buffs passed both Montana State (237) and Alaska Anchorage (220) with Nevada (125) and Colorado Mountain College (107) rounding out the scoring.

sUtah's Wilhelm Normannseth won both races with Westminster's Mikkel Solbakken and Utah's Oliver Parazette taking second with the Buffs rounding out the podium in both races.

WHAT IT MEANS

The men's alpine team is deep, and Forejtek and Dilling are both off to fast starts and both can win a race on any given day. Both had minor missteps but they made it known the Buffs have two valid threats. Expect Louis Fausa and Alex Birkner to move up, as well. Fausa has proven in the past he's a consistent top 10 threat and Birkner had a fantastic preseason and showed signs of moving to the next level, as well.

UP NEXT

The Buffs will have three days off before the next meet, closing out the Montana State Invitational next Tuesday and Wednesday with giant slalom races on both days. The races were moved back a day due to extreme cold temperatures expected in the area on Monday, with forecast lows around -35 degrees. Then the Buffs will host the Spencer James Nelson Memorial Colorado Invitational with Nordic races next Friday and Saturday at Steamboat Springs and alpine races Feb. 9-10 at Eldora.

TEAM NOTES

The Buffs scored 142 points in the two races, 78 in the first and 64 in the second. The Buffs finished third among men's teams.

MEN'S ALPINE NOTES

• Forejtek finished seventh and then third in the two races, He has now skied in 49 career races with 32 top 10, 26 top five and 19 podium appearances.
- Forejtek's 19 podium appearances ties him for 16th place in CU history, tied for 10th among men's skiers and tied for third among men's alpine skiers.
- It is his eighth podium in slalom races in his career, tied for sixth most in CU history.
- His 26 top five finishes rank tied for 15th in CU history, ninth for men's skiers and he has the second most top five finishes in men's alpine in CU history, needing just one more to match the record set 64 seasons ago by Frank Brown.
- His 32 top 10 finishes ranks 27th in CU history, 19th for men and fifth for men's alpine.
- He tied and then passed his coach, Chad Wolk, on the career top 10 list for men's alpine. Forejtek entered the day with 30 and Wolk had 31.
Dilling finished third and then was looking for a double podium before having to hike and finish 37th in the second race. Last season he was the only skier in the RMISA to finish all 14 races on the season and he kept that streak alive. Dilling now has 12 top 10, four top five and this was his second career podium.
Fausa finished 14th and 13th in his two slalom races on the day, giving him 18 career top 20 finishes.
Birkner finished 25th and then 22nd.
Jack Reich finished 40th and 28th in his first two races for the Buffs.
Sebastian Kohlhofer took 41st in the first race and didn't finish the second.
Chase Seymour finished 46th and 33rd for the Buffaloes.

WESTMINSTER INVITATIONAL TEAM SCORES (FINAL)—1. Utah 365; 2. Denver 308; 3. Westminster 268; 4. Colorado 251; 5. Montana State 237; 6. Alaska Anchorage 220; 7. Nevada 125; 8. Colorado Mountain 107.

MEN'S SLALOM #1 (46 collegiate finishers)—1. Wilhelm Normannseth, UU, 1:27.74; 2. Oliver Parazette, UU, 1:29.27; 3. Jacob Dilling, CU, 1:29.45; 4. Jeremy Mathers, UU, 1:29.51; 5. Jack Bowers, DU, 1:29.57; 6. Mikkel Solbakken, WMC, 1:29.58; 7. Filip Forejtek, CU, 1:29.77; 8. Henry Heaydon, MSU, 1:29.84; 9. Ralpael Lessard, UU & Joachim Mjelde, WMC, 1:30.18. Other CU Finishers: 14. Louis Fausa, 1:30.50; 25. Alex Birkner, 1:31.98; 40. Jack Reich, 1:35.47; 41. Sebastain Kohlhofer, 1:35.58; 46. Chase Seymour, 1:48.21.

MEN'S SLALOM #2 (38 collegiate finishers)—1. Wilhelm Normannseth, UU, 1:33.53; Mikkel Solbakken, WMC, 1:34.46; 3. Filip Forejtek, CU, 1:35.30; 4. Gianluca Boehm, MSU, 1:35.34; 5. Jack Bowers, DU, 1:35.40; 6. Loic Chabel, WMC, 1:35.44; 7. Iver Naess, UN, 1:36.07; 8. Joachim Mjelde, WMC, 1:36.16; 9. Filip Krota, CMC, 1:36.28; 10. Jeremy Mathers, UU, 1:36.30. Other CU Finishers: 13. Louis Fausa, 1:36.50; 22. Alex Birkner, 1:38.42; 28. Jack Reich, 1:41.56; 33. Chase Seymour, 1:45.18; 37. Jacob Dilling, 2:00.67. Did Not Finish First Run: Sebastian Kohlhofer.

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Players Mentioned

Alex Birkner

Jacob Dilling

Louis Fausa

Filip Forejtek

Sebastian Kohlhofer

Jack Reich

Chase Seymour