Buffs Finish Third At UAA Invitational

ANCHORAGE, Alaska—Louis Fausa hit the podium for the second straight day and Kaitlyn Harsch and Elena Exenberger both had top 10 finishes in slalom races to close out the Alaska Anchorage Invitational here Thursday at Alyeska Resort.

Those three skiers also moved up the NCAA Qualification lists in impressive fashion, each moving up multiple spots to strengthen the Buffs overall chances for the NCAA Championships.

Fausa's third place finish matches his third in the GS race Wednesday and sets a new career best finish in slalom and moved him to within a point of earning a top seed at the NCAA Championships, which would be starting in the top 10. Harsch's eighth place gives her two top 10 performances on the season and solidifies her spot for the Championships and puts her within striking distance of moving up even higher with another solid performance Friday.

Exenberger's performance was perhaps the most clutch, as she finished ninth, her best finish by seven spots, and while she is still sitting as the first skier out in the qualification list, she got one solid result under her belt and set herself up for potentially moving into the final spot on Friday with another good performance.

In the team standings, the Buffs remained in third place, where they were firmly entrenched after the GS races on Tuesday. The Buffs finished the final regular season meet with 521 points, 22 behind Denver (543) while Utah (671) ran away with the meet. Behind CU were Montana State (468) and Alaska Anchorage (449) in the top five.

Harsch began in 18th position and put down the ninth-fastest first run and moved up one more position in the second run for her all-important eighth place. Exenberger started 24th and threw down the 10th fastest first run and she also moved up one more position into ninth.

Cleo Braun also had an impressive race, starting 25th and moving up to 13th after the first run before finishing 17th, picking up her first top 20 of the season and fourth of her career. Emma Hammergaard did not finish her second run.

Behind Fausa on the men's side were Alex Birkner, who finished 18th with Chase Seymour being the Buffs third scorer in 30th. Filip Forejtek and Sebastian Kohlhofer did not finish the first run and Jack Reich didn't finish the second.

WHAT IT MEANS:

The individual performances continue to impress for the Buffaloes as they make a strong push toward their primary goals of the week of improving qualifying positions and making a push to qualify a full team. Those goals are all still on the table with one day of alpine and the entire Nordic competition left for the RMISA Championships.

UP NEXT:

The alpine teams have one more day of slalom Friday, which will conclude four straight days of racing. Nordic teams will pick up after a few days off to open up competition in the RMISA Championship with the women's 5K and men's 10K freestyle races at Government Peak.

QUALIFICATION NOTES:

Fausa's podium performance improved his slalom qualification by 12 points and moved him into the No. 6 spot. He is one point out of fifth place, which would ensure him a top 10 finish at NCAA Championships.
Forejtek's DNF was a little costly, as he fell from sixth to eighth, but with another top six performance, he can easily move back up and into contention for the top seed and a strong starting position at the championships.
Exenberger's ninth place dramatically improved her position as she picked up 11 points and is now super close to securing the final spot and giving the Buffs a full squad for the NCAA Championships with another good performance Friday.
Harsch secured her second top 10 of the season and improved her position by five points, putting her qualification spot in a solid position.
Emma Hammergaard did not finish but is still solidly qualified. With a top five or podium performance, she could move up quite a bit on Friday, as well.

TEAM NOTES:

The Buffs finished the UAA Invitational with 521 points, third behind Utah and Denver.
CU compiled the most points by women in the meet, combining alpine and Nordic, with 292 points, finishing second behind Utah in women's Nordic and fourth in women's alpine.
The Buffs finished second in Nordic for the meet and have finished first or second in Nordic points in three straight meets headed into the RMISA Championships.

UAA INVITATIONAL TEAM RESULTS (FINAL)—1. Utah 671; 2. Denver 543; 3. Colorado 521; 4. Montana State 468; 5. Alaska Anchorage 449; 6. Westminster 333; 7. Alaska Fairbanks 273; 8. Nevada 149; 9. Colorado Mountain 144.

WOMEN'S SLALOM (28 collegiate finishers)—1. Nora Brand, DU, 1:29.13; 2. Evelina Fredricsson, WMC, 1:29.72; 3. Sara Rask, DU, 1:30.02; 4. Michelle Kerven, UU, 1:30.12; 5. Kristinae Bekkestad, MSU, 1:30.24; 6. Denise Dingsleder, 1:31.36; 7. Ainsley Profitt, UAA, 1:31.65; 8. Kaitlyn Harsch, CU, 1:31.67; 9. Elena Exenberger, CU, 1:32.04; 10. Katie Parker, UU, 1:32.12. Other CU Finisher: 17. Cleo Braun, 1:32.81.

MEN'S SLALOM (34 collegiate finishers)—1. Wilheln Normannseth, UU, 1:26.62; 2. Bjorn Brudevoll, UU, 1:26.28; 3. Louis Fausa, CU, 1:26.39; 4. Jeremy Mathers, UU, 1:26.74; 5. Jeremie Lagier, WMC, 1:27.42; 6. Gustav Dalmalm, WMC, 1:27.44; 7. Oliver Parazette, UU, 1:27.74; 8. Henry Heaydon, MSU, 1:27.75; 9. Gustav Vollo, UU, 1:27.78; 10. Enzo Cenerelli, WMC, 1:27.99. Other CU Finishers: 18. Alex Birkner, 1:29.12; 30. Chase Seymour, 1:34.27. Did Not Finish First Run: Filip Forejtek, Sebastian Kohlhofer. Did Not Finish Second Run: Jack Reich.

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Players Mentioned

Alex Birkner

Cleo Braun

Elena Exenberger

Louis Fausa

Filip Forejtek

Emma Hammergaard

Kaitlyn Harsch

Sebastian Kohlhofer

Jack Reich

Chase Seymour