Colorado University Athletics
Saturday, February 3
Steamboat Springs, Colo.
1st Run W-1:30 PM/M-2:30 PM / 2nd Run W-6 PM/M-7 PM
Colorado
vs
Slalom
The women's Nordic trio of Weronika Kaleta (left), Anna-Maria Dietze (center) and Hanna Abrahamsson (right) combined for two wins, three podiums and six top 10s at the CU Invitational
Photo by: Matan Coll, CU Athletics
Abrahamsson Wins, Buffs Take Own Invitational
February 04, 2024 | Skiing
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. – Hanna Abrahamsson took gold in the women's classic race and a herd of Buffaloes stampeded on Howelsen Hill Saturday as the Colorado Buffaloes Ski Team won its own Spencer James Nelson Memorial Invitational, the first full meet victory for CU in five years.
The Buffs have knocked on the door a few times the past five years including taking second at the 2023 NCAA Championships, and took a Nordic-only meet at Alaska Fairbanks in 2022, but this is the first full team, alpine and Nordic, victory since the 2019 Montana State Invitational. Additionally, it's CU's first win in its SJN Memorial since the Buffs perfect season in 2015.
Colorado brought a 22.5 point lead over Denver into the day at the midpoint of the meet and threw the hammer down in the morning's Nordic races, as Abrahamsson picked up her second college victory and Anna-Maria Dietze her second straight podium, quickly extending its lead over Denver to 60.5 points. The Pioneers charged back in the men's Nordic race, but the Buffs kept pace with Magnus Boee taking second and Will Koch third, and the two tied with 94 points each and the baton was handed off to the alpine teams with that 60.5 point lead.
The women's alpine team dominated the second run under the lights, as CU had the first, second, fourth, seventh, eighth and 12th fastest times in the second run. Magdalena Luczak hit the podium in second place despite starting in 34th and Julia Toiviainen finished ninth with six Buffs taking the top 17 spots. Always strong in alpine, DU outscored the Buffs by two points in the race to make the margin 58.5 points with just the men's slalom remaining.
The men's team had a bit of bad luck with Chase Seymour not able to start, Louis Fausa skiing out in the first run and Filip Wahlqvist, who had gold on his mind after having the second fasted first run, skiing out about two-thirds down the course in the second run. Still, Etienne Mazellier took eighth and Jacob Dilling 10th while Jack Reich did well to finish despite having a high bib to secure the victory for the Buffaloes.
As a team, the Buffs scored 671.5 points, scoring 90 or more in half races and 78 or more in seven of the eight races in the meet. It's the most points the Buffs have scored since the 2017 RMISA Championships (672) and the fourth most under the current scoring system. The Buffs held off Denver (635, 36.5 points back) and beat third place Utah (586.5) by 85 points. Montana State (495) and Alaska Anchorage (428) round out the top five teams.
With snow falling overnight, it affected both disciplines Saturday, as the women's 20K classic race took over 67 minutes to complete. Abrhamsson pushed the pack the first two laps, broke away near the end of the third lap and held of MSU's Tilde Baangman on the final lap, winning by 15.6 seconds. Dietze was another 12.3 seconds back in third place, giving the Buffs two podiums in the race and Weronika Kaleta finished ninth as the third team scorer.
The men were up next, and the Buffs again placed two in the top three with Magnus Boee taking second and Will Koch third, the two just three-tenths of a second apart. Johannes Flaaten finished eighth also near the lead pack, just over 12 seconds behind Boee and Koch.
Due to the field sizes, the first runs of both slalom races were held mid afternoon and then after about a three-hour break, the skiers came back for the second runs under the lights at the storied racing hill. Magdalena Luczak was able to throw down the ninth fastest first run despite starting 34th in extremely difficult conditions. She then moved up to finish second after the second run. The women's team dominated the second run, with six of the top 12 times overall, including Ashley Campbell's top time in the second run, helping her move up from 28th to 14th place. Luczak had the second fastest second run while Emma Hammergaard had the fourth-fastest to move up from 24th to 17th. Caroline Jones had the seventh fastest second run, moving up six spots to 16th, and Elena Exenberger had the eighth fastest second run to move up three spots to 13th. Julia Toiviainen had the 12th fastest time in both runs and finished ninth.
The men's race saw Louis Fausa not finish the first run and after throwing down the second fastest first run, Filip Wahlqvist skied out in the second run with a third straight slalom win on his mind. Still, the men placed two in the top 10 led by Etienne Mazellier in eighth and Jacob Dilling in 10th. Chase Seymour didn't start the race and Jack Reich was the Buffs third scorer, finishing 29th despite starting 51st. The Buffs were also without freshman phenom Ryder Sarchett, who won a GS world title earlier in the day in France at the FIS Junior World Championships.
UP NEXT: It's no rest for the weary in college skiing, and teams will remain in Colorado for the Denver Invitational, set to kick off Tuesday in Loveland with a pair of slalom races comprising the alpine portion of the meet. The Nordic teams will convene at Maloit Park in Minturn, Colo., Friday and Saturday to essentially put the regular season to rest. After that, just the RMISA Championships (Bozeman, Mont., Feb. 23-25) and the NCAA Championships back here at Steamboat Springs March 6-9.
WHAT IT MEANS: What the Buffs were able to do in the last 72 hours here in Steamboat was great on multiple fronts. While some teams were hit more than others with participation outside of college racing this week, the fact remains that this is the first CU team able to take advantage of that opportunity and get a meet win in over five years, doing so in its home meet for the first time in nine years. About one-third of the NCAA field five weeks from now will benefit from having skied at the CU meet, but likely none more than the Buffs, who were able to build confidence, win races all the while getting familiar with the hills and courses. Should the up to 12 skiers selected to represent CU at NCAAs have as good of a meet as CU did the past few days, it's hard to think the Buffs won't be a in the mix to compete for the NCAA Championship.
TEAM NOTES:
WOMEN'S CLASSIC (32 Collegiate Finishers): 1. Hanna Abrahamsson, CU, 1:07:18.2; 2. Tilde Baangman, MSU, 1:07:23.8; 3. Anna-Maria Dietze, CU, 1:07:40.1; 4. Sydney Palmer-Leger, UU, 1:08:05.0; 5. Karianne Dengerud, UU, 1:08:39.6. Other CU Finishers: 9. Weronika Kaleta, 1:09:23.6; 19. Elena Grissom, 1:13:03.2; 23. Sophie Spalding, 1:14:12.1; 26. Kili Lehmkuhl, 1:15:28.1; 29. Karolina Kaleta, 1:18:48.6.
MEN'S CLASSIC (28 Collegiate Finishers): 1. Andreas Kirkeng, DU, 1:00:29.3; 2. Magnus Boee, CU, 1:00:38.7; 3. Will Koch, CU, 1:00:39.0; 4. Tom Mancini, UU, 1:00:40.6; 5. Florian Knopf, DU, 1:00:44.6. Other CU Finishers: 8. Johannes Flaaten, 1:00:50.9; 11. Alexander Maurer, CU, 1:01:39.4. Did Not Start: Luka Riley. Disqualified: Hugo Hinckfuss.
WOMEN'S SLALOM (27 Collegiate Finishers): 1. Nora Brand, DU, 1:27.86; 2. Magdalena Luczak, CU, 1:28.00; 3. Kaja Norbye, UU, 1:28.01; 4. Ainsley Proffit, UAA, 1:28.77; 5. Michelle Kerven, UU, 1:28.79. Other CU Finishers: 9. Julia Toiviainen, 1:29.56; 13. Elena Exenberger, 1:29.94; 14. Ashley Campbell, 1:30.06; 16. Caroline Jones, 1:30.25; 17. Emma Hammergaard, 1:30.03. Did Not Finish First Run: Cleo Braun. Did Not Finish Second Run: Denise Dingsleder.
MEN'S SLALOM (34 Collegiate Finishers): 1. Oliver Parazette, UU, 1:20.22; 2. Leon Nikic, UAA, 1:20.59; 3. Jeremie Lagier, WMC, 1:21.04; 4. Mikkel Solbakken, UU, 1:21.55; 5. Christian Soevik, DU, 1:21.80. Other CU Finishers: 8. Etienne Mazellier, 1:22.09; 10. Jacob Dilling, 1:22.25; 29. Jack Reich, 1:27.56. Did Not Start: Chase Seymour. Did Not Finish First Run: Louis Fausa. Did Not FInsh Second Run: Filip Walhqvist.
The Buffs have knocked on the door a few times the past five years including taking second at the 2023 NCAA Championships, and took a Nordic-only meet at Alaska Fairbanks in 2022, but this is the first full team, alpine and Nordic, victory since the 2019 Montana State Invitational. Additionally, it's CU's first win in its SJN Memorial since the Buffs perfect season in 2015.
Colorado brought a 22.5 point lead over Denver into the day at the midpoint of the meet and threw the hammer down in the morning's Nordic races, as Abrahamsson picked up her second college victory and Anna-Maria Dietze her second straight podium, quickly extending its lead over Denver to 60.5 points. The Pioneers charged back in the men's Nordic race, but the Buffs kept pace with Magnus Boee taking second and Will Koch third, and the two tied with 94 points each and the baton was handed off to the alpine teams with that 60.5 point lead.
The women's alpine team dominated the second run under the lights, as CU had the first, second, fourth, seventh, eighth and 12th fastest times in the second run. Magdalena Luczak hit the podium in second place despite starting in 34th and Julia Toiviainen finished ninth with six Buffs taking the top 17 spots. Always strong in alpine, DU outscored the Buffs by two points in the race to make the margin 58.5 points with just the men's slalom remaining.
The men's team had a bit of bad luck with Chase Seymour not able to start, Louis Fausa skiing out in the first run and Filip Wahlqvist, who had gold on his mind after having the second fasted first run, skiing out about two-thirds down the course in the second run. Still, Etienne Mazellier took eighth and Jacob Dilling 10th while Jack Reich did well to finish despite having a high bib to secure the victory for the Buffaloes.
As a team, the Buffs scored 671.5 points, scoring 90 or more in half races and 78 or more in seven of the eight races in the meet. It's the most points the Buffs have scored since the 2017 RMISA Championships (672) and the fourth most under the current scoring system. The Buffs held off Denver (635, 36.5 points back) and beat third place Utah (586.5) by 85 points. Montana State (495) and Alaska Anchorage (428) round out the top five teams.
With snow falling overnight, it affected both disciplines Saturday, as the women's 20K classic race took over 67 minutes to complete. Abrhamsson pushed the pack the first two laps, broke away near the end of the third lap and held of MSU's Tilde Baangman on the final lap, winning by 15.6 seconds. Dietze was another 12.3 seconds back in third place, giving the Buffs two podiums in the race and Weronika Kaleta finished ninth as the third team scorer.
The men were up next, and the Buffs again placed two in the top three with Magnus Boee taking second and Will Koch third, the two just three-tenths of a second apart. Johannes Flaaten finished eighth also near the lead pack, just over 12 seconds behind Boee and Koch.
Due to the field sizes, the first runs of both slalom races were held mid afternoon and then after about a three-hour break, the skiers came back for the second runs under the lights at the storied racing hill. Magdalena Luczak was able to throw down the ninth fastest first run despite starting 34th in extremely difficult conditions. She then moved up to finish second after the second run. The women's team dominated the second run, with six of the top 12 times overall, including Ashley Campbell's top time in the second run, helping her move up from 28th to 14th place. Luczak had the second fastest second run while Emma Hammergaard had the fourth-fastest to move up from 24th to 17th. Caroline Jones had the seventh fastest second run, moving up six spots to 16th, and Elena Exenberger had the eighth fastest second run to move up three spots to 13th. Julia Toiviainen had the 12th fastest time in both runs and finished ninth.
The men's race saw Louis Fausa not finish the first run and after throwing down the second fastest first run, Filip Wahlqvist skied out in the second run with a third straight slalom win on his mind. Still, the men placed two in the top 10 led by Etienne Mazellier in eighth and Jacob Dilling in 10th. Chase Seymour didn't start the race and Jack Reich was the Buffs third scorer, finishing 29th despite starting 51st. The Buffs were also without freshman phenom Ryder Sarchett, who won a GS world title earlier in the day in France at the FIS Junior World Championships.
UP NEXT: It's no rest for the weary in college skiing, and teams will remain in Colorado for the Denver Invitational, set to kick off Tuesday in Loveland with a pair of slalom races comprising the alpine portion of the meet. The Nordic teams will convene at Maloit Park in Minturn, Colo., Friday and Saturday to essentially put the regular season to rest. After that, just the RMISA Championships (Bozeman, Mont., Feb. 23-25) and the NCAA Championships back here at Steamboat Springs March 6-9.
WHAT IT MEANS: What the Buffs were able to do in the last 72 hours here in Steamboat was great on multiple fronts. While some teams were hit more than others with participation outside of college racing this week, the fact remains that this is the first CU team able to take advantage of that opportunity and get a meet win in over five years, doing so in its home meet for the first time in nine years. About one-third of the NCAA field five weeks from now will benefit from having skied at the CU meet, but likely none more than the Buffs, who were able to build confidence, win races all the while getting familiar with the hills and courses. Should the up to 12 skiers selected to represent CU at NCAAs have as good of a meet as CU did the past few days, it's hard to think the Buffs won't be a in the mix to compete for the NCAA Championship.
TEAM NOTES:
- The Buffs won their first meet since the Nordic-only 2022 UAF Invitational and first full meet since the 2019 Montana State Invitational, a span of 25 full meets between wins.
- CU won its first home invitational in 2015, nine years and seven meets between wins (CU does not host a meet every year), the longest draught between home wince since 1986.
- This is the 29th time CU has won its own invitational and the 72nd running of its home meet dating back to the 1940s.
- This is the 112th regular season meet victory in program history, and 69th in the coed era since 1983.
- The 671.5 points is the fourth most under the current scoring system, dating back to the 2014 season. In those 61 meets, CU only scored more team points in the 2015 Utah Invitational (694.5), 2016 New Mexico Invitational (676) and 2017 RMISA Championships (672).
- It's the most points scored in the CU Invitational, topping 668 points in the 2015 season, the last time the Buffs won their home meet.
- CU picked up three individual race wins in the meet and how has 134 race victories in its home meet in program history and 71 in the coed era.
- Magdalena Luczak took second place, her third consecutive top two finish and fourth of her career. It's her best slalom finish, bettering a seventh place in a 2022 RMISA qualifier.
- Luczak's GS win Friday was the first for a CU skier in the CU Invitational since Mikaela Tommy did so in 2020 and it's the 13th women's GS win at the CU Invitational for the Buffs.
- Julia Toiviainen finished ninth, her third top 10 of the season, all in slalom races. Consistent, she has now finished seventh, eighth and ninth in the three slalom races to date this season. In her career, she now has 33 career top 10 finishes, 16 in slalom.
- Elena Exenberger finished 13th, her 22nd career top 20 finish and 11th in slalom races. It's her highest finish of the season and highest since her clutch ninth place finish at the RMSIA Championships that qualified her, and thus a full CU team, at the NCAA Championships.
- Ashley Campbell finished 14th, matching her GS finish from Friday and the top slalom finish of her young career. She now has four top 20s this season, two each in slalom and giant slalom.
- Caroline Jones finished 16th, her 32nd career top 20 finish and 19th in slalom action.
- Emma Hammergaard finished 17th, her 41st career top 20 finish and 20th slalom top 20 in her career.
- Etienne Mazellier finished eighth for his third straight top 10 since the start of the month, and his first in slalom action. It betters his other finish of 16th by half and will help greatly in his NCAA qualification points.
- Jacob Dilling finished 10th for her 17th career top 10 finish, including ninth in slalom. It is his first top 10 in almost a calendar year in a college race since an injury derailed the second part of his season last year.
- Hanna Abrahamsson's win is the second of her career, repeating as the CU Invitational 20K Classic Champion, having won this same race last season. She now has three straight top 10s after starting the season with her only four races outside the top 10 of her career. Battling some off snow issues, she broke through for the win Saturday, which is her second classic win, eighth podium and 13th top five finish in 16 career classic races, and it's her 11th career podium and 19th career top five finish in 29 career races.
- Abrahamsson is the second women's skier to win multiple classic races at the CU Invitational along with Maria Grevsgaard, who won three from 2006-09. It marks the ninth win for a CU skier in the women's classic race at the CU Invitational.
- Anna-Maria Dietze finished third, her second straight podium after winning Friday's freestyle race. She now has seven career podium appearances and this is the second classic podium of her career. Her win Friday was the ninth win in women's freestyle at the CU Invitational for CU skiers.
- With Dietze's freestyle win Friday, she became the fourth women's Nordic skier to win two freestyle races at the CU Invitational, joining Julie Southwell (1989-90), Maria Grevsgaard (2008-09) and Joanne Reid (2012-13).
- Weronika Kaleta finished ninth, her sixth top 10 finish of the season and 12th straight top 10 dating back to the 2022 season. She has 11 top 10s in 15 career classic races and 23 top 10s overall in 29 finished races.
- Elena Grissom finished 19th, her ninth career top 20 finish and first of the season. It's her fourth career top 20 finish in nine classic races.
- Sophie Spalding finished 23rd, matching the best finish of her career, already done twice previously. She has finished 23rd in two straight races.
- Magnus Boee finished second, his 28th career podium and 37th career top five finish in 54 career races. In classic action, he has raced 27 times and finished on the podium 16 times and in the top five 21 times.
- Will Koch finished third, matching his career best classic finish. It's his third podium of the season and sixth of his career. He has finished four straight races in the top five and five overall this season, and now has nine top five career finishes, including four in classic races.
- Johannes Flaaten finished eighth for his third straight top 10, the first three of his career. He now has two top 10s in four classic races, and in seven career races he's finished all in the top 15 and six of seven in the top 11.
- Alexander Maurer finished 11th, his 17th career top 20 finish in 23 races.
WOMEN'S CLASSIC (32 Collegiate Finishers): 1. Hanna Abrahamsson, CU, 1:07:18.2; 2. Tilde Baangman, MSU, 1:07:23.8; 3. Anna-Maria Dietze, CU, 1:07:40.1; 4. Sydney Palmer-Leger, UU, 1:08:05.0; 5. Karianne Dengerud, UU, 1:08:39.6. Other CU Finishers: 9. Weronika Kaleta, 1:09:23.6; 19. Elena Grissom, 1:13:03.2; 23. Sophie Spalding, 1:14:12.1; 26. Kili Lehmkuhl, 1:15:28.1; 29. Karolina Kaleta, 1:18:48.6.
MEN'S CLASSIC (28 Collegiate Finishers): 1. Andreas Kirkeng, DU, 1:00:29.3; 2. Magnus Boee, CU, 1:00:38.7; 3. Will Koch, CU, 1:00:39.0; 4. Tom Mancini, UU, 1:00:40.6; 5. Florian Knopf, DU, 1:00:44.6. Other CU Finishers: 8. Johannes Flaaten, 1:00:50.9; 11. Alexander Maurer, CU, 1:01:39.4. Did Not Start: Luka Riley. Disqualified: Hugo Hinckfuss.
WOMEN'S SLALOM (27 Collegiate Finishers): 1. Nora Brand, DU, 1:27.86; 2. Magdalena Luczak, CU, 1:28.00; 3. Kaja Norbye, UU, 1:28.01; 4. Ainsley Proffit, UAA, 1:28.77; 5. Michelle Kerven, UU, 1:28.79. Other CU Finishers: 9. Julia Toiviainen, 1:29.56; 13. Elena Exenberger, 1:29.94; 14. Ashley Campbell, 1:30.06; 16. Caroline Jones, 1:30.25; 17. Emma Hammergaard, 1:30.03. Did Not Finish First Run: Cleo Braun. Did Not Finish Second Run: Denise Dingsleder.
MEN'S SLALOM (34 Collegiate Finishers): 1. Oliver Parazette, UU, 1:20.22; 2. Leon Nikic, UAA, 1:20.59; 3. Jeremie Lagier, WMC, 1:21.04; 4. Mikkel Solbakken, UU, 1:21.55; 5. Christian Soevik, DU, 1:21.80. Other CU Finishers: 8. Etienne Mazellier, 1:22.09; 10. Jacob Dilling, 1:22.25; 29. Jack Reich, 1:27.56. Did Not Start: Chase Seymour. Did Not Finish First Run: Louis Fausa. Did Not FInsh Second Run: Filip Walhqvist.
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