Comeback Gives Buffs DU Meet Title, RMISA Championship

MINTURN, Colo. – The Colorado Buffaloes Ski Team polished off a comeback for the ages Saturday and on the strength of five top six finishes, not only came back to win the Denver Invitational, but also took home the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association Regular Season Championship in the process with the 5K freestyle races here at Maloit Park.

Entering the day, in the DU Invitational standings, the Buffs had moved ahead of Utah but remained 24 points behind the Pioneers after Friday's Classic races. Saturday, the Buffs did what they needed to do as Weronika Kaleta (fourth), Hanna Abrahamsson (fifth) and Karolina Kaleta (sixth) brought home top six finishes in the women's race and Hugo Hinckfuss (fourth) and Johannes Flaaten (fifth) did the same in the men's race. Alexander Maurer finished 11th as the final CU team scorer.

Montana State won both the men's and women's races, but the Buffs finished second in both and well ahead of both the Utes and Pioneers to win the meet. CU scored 87 points in the women's race and 81 in the men's, outscoring Utah 168-97 on the day and Denver 168-133.

Meanwhile the regular season also concluded, and the regular season championships standings have never been this close. Utah took a commanding lead through the first two meets, but both DU and the Buffs closed the gap significantly after last week's Colorado Invitational. Utah and Denver extended leads over the Buffs in the alpine portion of the DU Invitational before CU's performance Friday brought the Buffs back into the picture.

Even so, entering Saturday's final day of the regular season, with 30 of 32 races complete, Utah continued to hold a 61-point lead over the Buffs with DU 28.5 points ahead. CU beat Utah by 71 and DU by 35 Saturday claim the regular season championship, easily the closest in RMSIA history with just 10 points separating the three teams after all 32 races were calculated. It's the Buffs first regular season championship in six years and seventh overall since the RMISA began being awarded a regular season title in 2006. Utah had won the previous five and seven of the previous eight regular season titles.

Overall, it's the 35th conference championship in the ski team's history, the most of any team in the RMISA.

The Buffs actually took the meet lead after the women's race, as the Kaleta sister's and Abrahamsson's 87-point performance pushed the Buffs past Denver by five points, 545-540. After that race, the regular season standings stood at Utah 2,312.5, Colorado 2,300.5 and Denver 2,300.

The men's race, with the shorthanded Buffs having just three skiers in the race, saw the Buffs hold off Denver despite the Pioneer's Andreas Kirkeng winning the race, and outscored the Pioneers by six points and more importantly, topped Utah by 22 points to turn a 12-point deficit into a 10-point lead in the final of 32 regular season races.

UP NEXT: The Buffs' regular season is nearly complete. All team meets have been completed, but there will be one giant slalom qualifier ahead of the RMISA Championships in Bozeman in late February. That race will take place Feb. 22 followed by the championship meet Feb. 23-25. CU then hosts NCAA Championships in Steamboat Springs March 6-9.

WHAT IT MEANS: Obviously winning any championship is an amazing accomplishment, and the dramatic fashion in which the Buffs came back to win the RMISA Regular Season Championship is special. The goals, however, remain the same, and two bigger championships are on the horizon, especially the NCAA Championships in early March. And while most will point to Utah being shorthanded with several skiers in world-level competition, the Buffs are in a similar position with several top skiers globetrotting in World Cup and World Championship races, both for the DU meet and also earlier in the season. If nothing else, the last two weeks put the collegiate ski world on notice that the Buffs should be a contender in a month's time at the NCAA Championships.

TEAM NOTES:

The Buffs won the DU Invitational for the 13th time in program history, second in the meet's history behind only DU's 21 wins. The Buffs won the meet for the first time since 2018 and dating back to 2009, only the Buffs and Utah have won the DU Invitational, with Utah taking seven titles and the Buffs six in that timeframe.
Having also won the CU Invitational last week, this marks the first time the Buffs have won back-to-back regular season meets since the 2018 season, at that time taking the New Mexico and Denver Invitationals over a similar span of time, from Feb. 3-11.
For the Buffs, this is the program's 113th regular season meet victory in program history and 70th in the coed era dating back to 1983.
Magdalena Luczak won the first women's slalom race earlier in the week, the 53rd race win in the DU Invitational in program history and the 35th in the coed era, and it's the 18th women's race win in the meet's history and she's the sixth skier to win a women's slalom race at the DU Invitational, the first since Stef Fleckenstein did so in 2020.
The Buffs won the RMISA Regular Season Championship for the first time since the 2018 season. CU has won it seven times now, also winning in 2006, 2008, 2009, 2013 and 2015.
- The Buffs finished with 2,381.5 points, just 5.5 ahead of Denver (2,375) and 10 up on Utah (2,371.5). It's the closest regular season standings between first and second and the top three in RMISA history.
- The previous closest regular season championships came in 2008, when Colorado edged Denver by 14.5 points, 2,240-2,225.5, and another close race came in 2016, when Utah topped the Buffs by 21 points, 2,525-2,504.
- The previous closest margin between first and third place, however, is much larger, having never been under 100 points, much less this year's total margin of 10 points. In 2017 Utah won with 2,482.5 points with Denver second with 2,409 and the Buffs third with 2,373, a margin of 109.5 points among the top three.
The Buffs also scored the most Nordic points in the four regular season meets with 1,262, 67 over Denver and 81 over Utah with Montana State also impressive with 1,100, 162 back of the Buffs. It's the first time CU has led the league in Nordic points since 2018 and the ninth time overall since 2006 when regular season standings began being tracked. CU broke a tie with Utah for the most times leading the league as both were tied at eight after 2023.
Even more impressive about the Buffs regular season win are the amount the Utes have dominated the standings the past few years. Utah had won five straight regular season titles, but the last three since the 2021 season have been dominant, winning by over 400 points each season and by an astounding 601 points just last season.

WOMEN'S NORDIC NOTES

Weronika Kaleta finished fourth, her second-best finish of the season and best freestyle finish. She now has nine top five finishes in her career and four in freestyle races. She has 14 straight top 10 finishes dating back to the 2022 season and now has 25 career top 10 finishes in 31 career finished races.
Abrahamsson finished fifth, her 21st career top five finish and third straight, and she also has five straight top 10 finishes and 27 in her career out of 31 races started.
Karolina Kaleta finished sixth, her best finish of the season, first top 10, and matching the second-best freestyle finish of her career. She now has eight career top 10 finishes and five in freestyle races.
Elena Grissom finished 17th, her 11th career top 20 and sixth in 10 career freestyle races. She has three straight top 20s and it's her best freestyle finish of the season.
Kili Lemhkuhl finished 19th, her 10th career top 20 and fifth in 15 freestyle races.

MEN'S NORDIC NOTES

Hinckfuss continued his hot streak, finishing fourth in Saturday's freestyle race after taking third in the classic race. He has now had his three best collegiate finishes in the last two weeks, with two third place podiums and Saturday's fourth place. He now has five career top five finishes and three in freestyle races.
Flaaten finished fifth for the second straight race, his first two top five finishes early in his career. He has continually improved throughout his freshman season with five straight top 10s and two straight top five finishes.
Maurer finished 11th, picking up his 19th career top 20 finish and eighth in 12 freestyle races, and it's his career best freestyle finish, topping a 14th place finish last week at the CU Invitational.

TEAM STANDINGS (FINAL): 1. Colorado 626; 2. Denver 615; 3. Utah 549; 4. Montana State 520.5; 5. Alaska Anchorage 495; 6. Westminster 241.5; 7. Alaska Fairbanks 204; 8. Nevada 118; 9. Colorado Mountain 116; 10. Wyoming 112.

WOMEN'S 5K FREESTYLE (30 Collegiate Finishers): 1. Tilde Baangman, MSU, 13:30.7; 2. Kate Oldham, MSU, 13:46.5; 3. Astrid Stav, UAA, 13:58.1; 4. Weronika Kaleta, CU, 13:59.4; 5. Hanna Abrahamsson, CU, 14:13.1. Other CU Finishers: 6. Karolina Kaleta, 14:15.4; 17. Elena Grissom, 14:39.7; 19. Kili Lehmkuhl, 14:42.6; 27. Sophie Spalding, 15:33.7. Did Not Start: Anna-Maria Dietze.

MEN'S 5K FREESTYLE (26 Collegiate Finishers): 1. Andreas Kirkeng, DU, 11:25.7; 2. Tom Mancini, UU, 11:35.5; 3. Fredrik Nilsen, MSU, 11:41.5; 4. Hugo Hinckfuss, CU, 11:47.3; 5. Johannes Flaaten, CU, 11:57.2. Other CU Finisher: 11. Alexander Maurer, 12:18.2. Did Not Start: Magnus Boee.

Comeback Gives Buffs DU Meet Title, RMISA Championship

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Hanna Abrahamsson

Magnus Boee

Anna-Maria Dietze

Johannes Flaaten

Elena Grissom

Hugo Hinckfuss

Karolina Kaleta

Weronika Kaleta

Kili Lehmkuhl

Magdalena Luczak

Alexander Maurer

Fredrik Nilsen

Sophie Spalding

Players Mentioned

Hanna Abrahamsson

Magnus Boee

Anna-Maria Dietze

Johannes Flaaten

Elena Grissom

Hugo Hinckfuss

Karolina Kaleta

Weronika Kaleta

Kili Lehmkuhl

Magdalena Luczak

Alexander Maurer

Fredrik Nilsen

Sophie Spalding

Comeback Gives Buffs DU Meet Title, RMISA Championship

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Next Event

Players Mentioned

Hanna Abrahamsson

Magnus Boee

Anna-Maria Dietze

Johannes Flaaten

Elena Grissom

Hugo Hinckfuss

Karolina Kaleta

Weronika Kaleta

Kili Lehmkuhl

Magdalena Luczak

Alexander Maurer

Fredrik Nilsen

Sophie Spalding

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Players Mentioned

Hanna Abrahamsson

Magnus Boee

Anna-Maria Dietze

Johannes Flaaten

Elena Grissom

Hugo Hinckfuss

Karolina Kaleta

Weronika Kaleta

Kili Lehmkuhl

Magdalena Luczak

Alexander Maurer

Fredrik Nilsen

Sophie Spalding

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