Wahlqvist Wins Second Straight Slalom At Utah

Thursday, January 18

Park City, Utah

W-9 AM/M-10:15 AM

Colorado

Slalom

January 18, 2024 | Skiing

Results

By: Curtis Snyder, Associate AD/Athletic Communications

PARK CITY, Utah – Freshman Filip Wahlqvist joined several elite lists in the history of the Colorado Buffaloes Ski Team by winning his second straight race, taking the slalom gold again Thursday here at Olympic Park, this time as part of the Utah Invitational.

The team, however, struggled a bit again for the second straight day with half of CU's skiers not finishing between the men's and women's race. CU slipped from second to third in the team standings and sit just 19 points behind Denver (416-397) while holding off both Montana State (370) and Alaska Anchorage (361). Utah is in the lead with 533 points.

"It's a tough couple of days for the team scores," CU alpine coach Ian Lochhead said. "We've had a bit of an injury bug going around and a few skiers. We will finish out as strong as we can here and then focus on getting healthy before our home meet in early February."

Wahlqvist is just the third men's alpine skier in CU history to win the first two possible races of a season, joining Buddy Werner in 1963 and Spider Sabich in 1967, and both of those two U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Famers were in their senior seasons. The only time both a skier and a freshman won their first two races of the season was John Skajem in 1986. It's believed he did not compete in the season opening Nevada Invitational but in his first two college meets at Montana State and Western State, he swept the GS and slalom races at each, winning his first four races.

Wahlqvist is the 11th known men's alpine skier to win back-to-back slalom races and the list is a who's who of CU, collegiate and US Skiing legends, including Frank Brown, Buddy Werner, Bill Marolt, Mark Ford, Stephen Heinzsch, John Skajem, Toni Standteiner, Scott Wirth, Brad Hogan and David Ketterer in chronological order. Ketterer is the last skier to win the first two slalom races of a season in 2017 and the most recent skier to win the first two races of a season in any gender or discipline was in 2020 when Mikaela Tommy won the first two races that season, both giant slalom contests.

Wahlqvist's path to victory Thursday was almost the opposite of Wednesday when he was ninth after the first run and edged out each of the top eight skiers in the second run for victory. Thursday he had the fastest time in the field after the first run and demolished the competition, not only holding onto his lead with the sixth-fastest second run, but winning by an astonishing 1.95 seconds.

"Great performance today for Filip, really dominant," Lochhead said. "Ryder on the men's side and then Caroline, Elli with her fastest second run and Ashley with the third fastest second run all made a good step forward today with high bibs in tough conditions."

Fellow freshman Ryder Sarchett started way back in 34th place and moved up to 23rd after the first run and then had the fifth-fastest second run to move up 10 more spots to finish 13th. Chase Seymour was CU's other finisher on the men's side in 36th position.

In the women's race, Caroline Jones led the way with a 12th place finish and two spots behind her was Elena Exenberger, who won the second run and moved up 11 spots from 25th to 14th in the final standings. Freshman Ashley Campbell had a similar performance to Exenberger and Sarchett, moving up to 26th after the first run and then she had the third-fastest second run to move into 16th. Denise Dingsleder was CU's other finisher in 26th place.

UP NEXT: CU will not switch gears to giant slalom the next two days, with action shifting back to the Westminster Invitational Friday to close out that meet and then back again to the Utah Invitational Saturday to close out that meet. At that point the season will be approximately one-third complete. CU will be on tap in both alpine and Nordic, hosting the Spencer James Nelson Memorial Invitational Feb. 1-3 in Steamboat Springs, the same site as the NCAA Championships March 6-9, also hosted by the Buffs.

WHAT IT MEANS: Despite the team standings, the Buffs do have all the necessary pieces to make to be a factor in March at the NCAA Championships, and often these regular season meets are more about staying healthy, building confidence, and aiming for better qualification seeding for the NCAA Championships. The Buffs have a freshman sensation in Wahlqvist and while Louis Fausa won the first run Wednesday was aiming for another high finish Thursday, and he has proven his ability to ski among the best skiers in the nation, as has Jacob Dilling. Ryder Sarchett and Etienne Mazellier each proved they're right there, as well, giving CU a deep team. On the women's side, similarly, newcomer graduate transfers Jones, Dingsleder and Julia Toiviainen are all proven racers at the college level, as is Emma Hammergaard. With Exenberger winning the second run and Campbell having the third-fastest second run, all the ingredients are there for a powerful team. When it all comes together on both sides, it will be something to behold.

TEAM STANDINGS: 1. Utah 533; 2. Denver 416; 3. Colorado 397; 4. Montana State 370; 5. Alaska Anchorage 361; 6. Alaska Fairbanks 275; 7. Westminster 140; 8. Wyoming 112; 9. Nevada 79; 10. Colorado Mountain 55.

WOMEN'S SLALOM (31 Collegiate Finishers): 1. Kaja Norbye, UU, 1:32.75; 2. Ainsley Proffit, UAA, 1:33.07; 3. Kristiane Bekkestad, MSU, 1:33.23; 4. Nora Brand, DU, 1:33.54; 5. Evelina Fredricsson, WMC, 1:33.59. CU Finishers: 12. Caroline Jones, 1:36.48; 14. Elena Exenberger, 1:36.59; 16. Ashley Campbell, 1:37.02; 26. Denise Dingsleder, 1:41.30. Did Not Finish First Run: Julia Toiviainen. Did Not Finish Second Run: Emma Hammergaard, Cleo Braun.

MEN'S SLALOM (36 Collegiate Finishers): 1. Filip Wahlqvist, CU, 1:27.52; 2. Gianluca Boehm, MSU, 1:29.47; 3. Jeremie Lagier, WMC, 1:30.03; 4. Christian Soevik, DU, 1:30.04; 5. Oliver Parazette, UU, 1:30.08. Other CU Finishers: 13. Ryder Sarchett, 1:31.02; 36. Chase Seymour, 1:41.00. Did Not Finish First Run: Jacob Dilling, Etienne Mazellier. Did Not Finish Second Run: Louis Fausa, Jack Reich.