Sarchett Wins GS Race, Buffs Third At Utah Invite

Saturday, January 20

Park City, Utah

M-9 AM/W-10:30 AM

Colorado

Giant Slalom

Photo by: Ryan Gallant, Utah Athletics

January 20, 2024 | Skiing

Results

By: Curtis Snyder, Associate AD/Athletic Communications

PARK CITY, Utah – Ryder Sarchett won the men's giant slalom as part of the Utah Invitational Saturday to successfully close four days of alpine racing for the Colorado Buffaloes Ski Team here at Olympic Park. The men's alpine team won today's race and took gold in three of the four races here this week.

Sarchett was able to put two solid runs together, having the fifth fastest first run despite starting 18th and then having the third-fastest second run to get the win. The Buffs dominated the second run, holding the second through fifth fastest runs. Louis Fausa, who has battled some nagging injuries, finally broke through and he had the second-fastest second run to move all the way from 19th to seventh in the final standings.

Filip Wahlqvist had the fifth-fastest second run and finished fourth overall, actually the lowest finish of his young college career that now includes two wins, three podiums and four straight top five finishes. Etienne Mazellier struggled a bit in the first run, sitting in 22nd, but had the fourth-fastest second run to move up to 13th. Sophomore Jack Reich also secured a top 20 finish in 20th, giving CU five of the top 20 finishers.

The Buffs scored 96 team points and briefly moved into second place ahead of Denver. CU was down 19 points to the Pioneers and outscored them 96-58 to move 19 points ahead with the women's race left. The Pioneers somewhat flipped the script on the Buffs in the women's race, however, scoring 94 points and outpacing CU 94-66 to go back into second place by just nine points through all eight races. CU did secure more Day 4 and giant slalom points than any team in the field with 162, 10 ahead of the Pioneers.

Utah won the meet with 657 points followed by the Pioneers (568) and Buffs (559) with Montana State (500) and Alaska Anchorage (465) rounding out the top five.

In the women's race, the Buffs were again paced by Denise Dingsleder and Julia Toiviainen, who each picked up their second straight top 10 GS finish in as many days. Dingsleder finished sixth and Toiviainen eighth, each sitting in those exact positions after the first run and maintaining those positions in the second run. Elena Exenberger was CU's third team scorer in 17th place with Caroline Jones two spots back in 19th, giving CU nine total top 20 finishes in the two races.

UP NEXT: The Utah and Westminster meets are now complete, and the Western Region skiers will take a two week break before visiting Colorado for a pair of meets including CU's Spencer James Nelson Memorial Invitational, set for Steamboat Springs Feb. 1-3, quickly followed by the Denver Invitational Feb. 5-10. In Steamboat, alpine teams will take place in an extra GS qualifier on Feb. 1 followed by a second GS race as part of the team meet on Feb. 2, both at Mt. Werner, and then a night slalom at the iconic Howelsen Hill on Feb. 3. Nordic teams will ski in 7.5K freestyle races Feb. 2 and 20K classic races on Feb. 3 both also at Howelsen Hill. Alpine teams will have one day off before DU hosts two slalom races as part of its invitational at Loveland Ski Area Feb. 5-6 and Nordic teams will head to Maloit Park for the Nordic portion of the Invitational Feb. 9-10.

WHAT IT MEANS: It goes by in a flash. The collegiate ski season is now one-third complete, and the regular season is half over after the conclusion of the Westminster and Utah Invitationals. Looking back at all four segments of the Buffs team, there are common threads with all of them, but the most exciting part is that all four teams have multiple skiers that can win a race on any given day. And while the Utah series was dotted with some injuries and illness and more silver linings than team dominance, the signs are there that this team can compete for a National Championship in March.

TEAM NOTES:

CU came into Saturday in a duel with Denver. CU was ahead of the Utes before Thursday's slalom races but came into Saturday 19 points behind the Utes. CU moved 19 points ahead after dominating the men's race but then fell nine points back after the Pioneer had an impressive performance in the women's race.
In the Utah meet, CU finished third overall with 559 points, second in Nordic with 289 points and fifth in alpine, but that's a little misleading. The Nordic team was 92 points behind Utah, who had the most Nordic points with 382, but in alpine despite finishing fifth were just 19 points behind Westminster, who led all teams with 289.
The CU men scored the second most points in the field with 300 and the women had the third-most points with 259. CU essentially had two great days, winning the GS day with 162 points and finishing second on the Classic day with 146, while taking fourth on the freestyle day with 143 points and sixth on the slalom day with 108.
CU has had three different skiers win races early in the season with a total of four race wins, second most in both categories to Utah, who has had five skiers win six races to date. DU has three different skiers win one race. Walhqvist is the only alpine racer with multiple wins this season and one of just three in the RMSIA joining Kendall Kramer (UAF) and Karianne Dengerud (Utah), both women's Nordic skiers.

MEN'S ALPINE NOTES

Sarchett gets the first win of his young career, and he has three straight solid finishes after not finishing his first race on Wednesday. He now has three top 15 performances including two top 10 GS finishes with one podium and win.
Walhqvist finished fourth and now has four top four finishes to open his career that already includes two wins and three podium appearances.
Mazellier finished 13th and now has two finishes in the teens, one in each discipline, to open his career.
Fausa has been battling some nagging injuries but finally broke through after three DNF"s to start the season and finished seventh in the GS race. It's his 12th top 10 career finish in 20 career starts and 14 career finishes. Overall, it's his 20th career top 10 finish in 41 starts and 28 finishes.
Reich broke through for his first career top 10 on Friday, taking eighth in the GS race that day, bettering his career best performance by 11 places. He finished 20th Saturday, matching his second best career GS finish.

WOMEN'S ALPINE NOTES

Toiviainen has three top eight finishes to start her CU career, and in doing so now has 32 career top 10 finishes. Her two top 10s in the last two GS races gives her 17 top 10 finishes in 22 GS starts and 19 finishes.
Jones has now finished all four races this season, all in the top 20 and two in the top 10. She now has 29 career top 20 finishes in 39 starts and 37 finishes, and it's her 10th and 11th top 20 finish in GS races in her career.
Dingsleder has finished the last three races after a DNF in her first race this season, and she has two top six GS finishes the past two days, with one top five. She has finished 17 of 20 career GS races with 11 top 10 and four top five performances.
Campbell had one finish in the teens in each discipline, finishing 17th in the second slalom race and 15th in the first GS race Friday.
Exenberger finished 17th, her 21st career top 20 finish in 29 starts and 22 finishes. She has two top 20s in three finished races this season and she now has 11 top 20 GS finishes in 12 races finished out of 14.

TEAM STANDINGS (Final): 1. Utah 657; 2. Denver 568; 3. Colorado 559; 4. Montana State 500; 5. Alaska Anchorage 465; 6. Westminster 289; 7. Alaska Fairbanks 275; 8. Nevada 128; 9. Colorado Mountain 117; 10. Wyoming 112.

MEN'S GIANT SLALOM (39 collegiate finishers): 1. Ryder Sarchett, CU, 2:03.51; 2. Leon Nikic, UAA, 2:04.10; 3. Gianluca Boehm, MSU, 2:04.29; 4. Filip Wahlqvist, CU, 2:04.32; 5. Jeremie Lagier, WMC, 2:04.44. Other CU Finishers: 7. Louis Fausa, 2:04.58; 13. Etienne Mazellier, 2:05.19; 20. Jack Reich, 2:05.84. Did Not Finish Second Run: Chase Seymour.

WOMEN'S GIANT SLALOM (28 collegiate finishers): 1. Liv Moritz, DU, 2:09.20; 2. Hannah Saethereng, WMC, 2:09.54; 3. Evelina Fredriccson, WMC, 2:09.96; 4. Kaja Norbye, UU, 2:10.34; 5. Sara Rask, DU, 2:0.47. CU FINISHERS: 6. Denise Dingsleder, 2:10.72; 8. Julia Toiviainen, 2:10.98; 17. Elena Exenberger, 2:12.63; 19. Caroline Jones, 2:12.63. Did Not Start Second Run: Emma Hammergaard. Did Not Finish First Run: Ashley Campbell.