Thursday, March 7
Steamboat Springs, Colo.
Men 10 AM / Women Noon
Colorado
vs
7.5K Freestyle
Photo by: Ashton Scott
Men Power Buffs On Day 2 Of NCAA Championships
March 07, 2024 | Skiing
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS – All three Colorado men finished in the top seven of the 7.5K freestyle race and the Buffaloes remain in second place at the midpoint of the 2024 NCAA Ski Championships Thursday at Howelsen Hill.
Will Koch finished fourth, Magnus Boee sixth and Johannes Flaaten seventh in a similar performance to the Buffs appearance at its own Spencer James Nelson Memorial Invitational a month ago. Koch was pushing for a podium appearance and missed it by just 4.7 seconds. The trio were the only trio who all finished in the top 10.
"My race went super well today," Koch said. "I executed exactly how I wanted to do it, paced each lap and let the intensity come. I think the difference between this and getting fifth at the CU Invite a month ago is I just pushed harder at the end. All of our guys are really strong on this course, we all finished within six seconds of each other last month."
Unfortunately for the Buffs, the women did not repeat their performance from the CU Invitational and struggled with Anna-Maria Dietze the only top 20 performance in eighth will Hanna Abrahamsson finished 23rd and Weronika Kaleta 26th, both their lowest finish of the season.
"The guys did great, the girls not as much," CU head coach Jana Weinberger said. "The guys did what they needed to do. Anna Maria's race was good, but I know she can be even better. Hanna and Weronika had their worst races of the season and it's unfortunate that it happened here at the championships. It can serve as motivation for Saturday, we're better than we showed today, so we'll prepare and see what happens."
Utah won both races as a team, powered by a 2-3 men's performance and women's win and lead at the midpoint by 56 points, finishing the day with 312.5 points to the Buffs 256.5. CU extended it's lead over Denver (251) by just a point, now leading by 5.5 points, and those three west powers are 67 points ahead of the rest of the field as Dartmouth (184) edged out Montana State (183) in the top five.
UP NEXT: The action turns to, as former coach Richard Rokos calls it, the great equalizer, a one-of-a-kind night slalom at Howelsen Hill Friday night. First runs start at 6:40 p.m. and large crowds are expected. The championship will end Saturday with the exciting mass start 20K classic races.
"The mass start is always interesting, and I think this course is particularly interesting with its downhill finish," Koch explained. "There's two kilometers net downhill at the end with punchy little climbs and a lot of corners. Fast skis are important, pushing into the downhills are hard so carrying your speed is important and truly anything can happen if you're with the leaders at the end."
WHAT IT MEANS: Every good story has adversity and the Buffs have put themselves in position for a great story. The task is not easy but not unsurmountable, and half of the championship where truly anything can happen with the slalom and mass start still lay ahead.
ALL-AMERICANS:
WOMEN'S NORDIC NOTES
TEAM STANDINGS (Thru 4 of 8 Races): 1. Utah, 312.5; 2. Colorado, 256.5; 3. Denver, 251.0; 4. Dartmouth, 184.0; 5. Montana State, 183.0; 6. Vermont, 167.0; 7. Alaska Anchorage, 125.0; 8. New Hampshire, 99.0; 9. Westminster, 82.0; 10. Alaska Fairbanks, 72.0; 11. Middlebury, 62.0; 12. Colby, 47.5; 13. St. Michael's, 44.5; 14. Michigan Tech, 43.0; 15. Harvard, 21.0; 16. Bowdoin, 17.0; 17. St. Lawrence, 15.0; 18. Plymouth State, 9.0; 19. Nevada, 3.0; 20. Northern Michigan & Williams, 1.0; 22. Bates & Boston College, 0.0.
MEN'S 7.5K FREESTYLE (40 Collegiate Finishers): 1. John Hagenbuch, DAR, 19:09.2; 2. Joe Davies, UU, 19:20.2; 3. Tom Mancini, UU, 19:35.9; 4. Will Koch, CU, 19:40.6; 5. Florian Knopf, DU, 19:44.5; 6. Magnus Boee, CU, 19:46.3; 7. Johannes Flaaten, CU, 19:53.6; 8. Fredrik Nilsen, MSU, 19:58.9; 9. Jack Lange, DAR, 19:59.8; 10. Andreas Kirkeng, DU, 20:08.2.
WOMEN'S 7.5K FREESTYLE (40 Collegiate Finishers): 1. Sydney Palmer-Leger, UU, 22:08.2; 2. Haley Brewster, UVM, 22:29.3; 3. Jasmine Drolet, DAR, 22:30.7; 4. Tilde Baangman, MSU, 22:32.9; 5. Kate Oldham, MSU, 22:50.0; 6. Rosie Fordham, UAF, 22:51.6; 7. Astrid Stav, UAA, 22:55.8; 8. Anna-Maria Dietze, CU, 23:02.7; 9. Luci Anderson, UNH, 23:03.1; 10. Selma Andersen, DU, 23:08.5. Other CU Finishers: 23. Hanna Abrahamsson, 23:58.8; 26. Weronika Kaleta, 24:13.9.
Will Koch finished fourth, Magnus Boee sixth and Johannes Flaaten seventh in a similar performance to the Buffs appearance at its own Spencer James Nelson Memorial Invitational a month ago. Koch was pushing for a podium appearance and missed it by just 4.7 seconds. The trio were the only trio who all finished in the top 10.
"My race went super well today," Koch said. "I executed exactly how I wanted to do it, paced each lap and let the intensity come. I think the difference between this and getting fifth at the CU Invite a month ago is I just pushed harder at the end. All of our guys are really strong on this course, we all finished within six seconds of each other last month."
Unfortunately for the Buffs, the women did not repeat their performance from the CU Invitational and struggled with Anna-Maria Dietze the only top 20 performance in eighth will Hanna Abrahamsson finished 23rd and Weronika Kaleta 26th, both their lowest finish of the season.
"The guys did great, the girls not as much," CU head coach Jana Weinberger said. "The guys did what they needed to do. Anna Maria's race was good, but I know she can be even better. Hanna and Weronika had their worst races of the season and it's unfortunate that it happened here at the championships. It can serve as motivation for Saturday, we're better than we showed today, so we'll prepare and see what happens."
Utah won both races as a team, powered by a 2-3 men's performance and women's win and lead at the midpoint by 56 points, finishing the day with 312.5 points to the Buffs 256.5. CU extended it's lead over Denver (251) by just a point, now leading by 5.5 points, and those three west powers are 67 points ahead of the rest of the field as Dartmouth (184) edged out Montana State (183) in the top five.
UP NEXT: The action turns to, as former coach Richard Rokos calls it, the great equalizer, a one-of-a-kind night slalom at Howelsen Hill Friday night. First runs start at 6:40 p.m. and large crowds are expected. The championship will end Saturday with the exciting mass start 20K classic races.
"The mass start is always interesting, and I think this course is particularly interesting with its downhill finish," Koch explained. "There's two kilometers net downhill at the end with punchy little climbs and a lot of corners. Fast skis are important, pushing into the downhills are hard so carrying your speed is important and truly anything can happen if you're with the leaders at the end."
WHAT IT MEANS: Every good story has adversity and the Buffs have put themselves in position for a great story. The task is not easy but not unsurmountable, and half of the championship where truly anything can happen with the slalom and mass start still lay ahead.
ALL-AMERICANS:
- The Buffs picked up four All-America honors Thursday with Will Koch picking up a first team honor and Magnus Boee, Anna-Maria Dietze and Johannes Flaaten all getting second-team honors.
- CU now has 554 All-America honors in its history, 313 men's and 241 women's.
- CU now has 318 first-team All-America honors and 179 from men's skiers.
- Flaaten won his first All-America honor in his first opportunity. He has the 212th skier in CU history to be named All-American, the 123rd men's skier.
- CU now has 117 All-America honors in freestyle, 59 women's and 58 men's.
- Boee picked up his seventh career All-America honor, becoming just the eighth skier in CU history to win seven or more honors and he's the first skier since Petra Hyncicova in 2018.
- Koch picked up his fifth All-America honor in his career and first career first-team honor.
- Dietze picked up her fourth career All-America honor.
- Koch finished fourth, his best finish at the NCAA Championships and sixth top five finish of the season. He now has 10 top five finishes in his career and finishes out his freestyle career with six top five finishes in 19 starts.
- Boee finished sixth, his 49th career top 10 finish out of 58 career races. In freestyle, he ends his career with 24 top 10 performances in 29 starts.
- Flaaten continued his solid season with a seventh place finish, his eighth straight top 10. He has finished all 12 races this season in the top 15 and 11 of the 12 in the top 11.
WOMEN'S NORDIC NOTES
- Dietze finished eighth for her seventh top 10 finish of the season in seven starts. She now has 32 career top 10 finishes in 49 starts and finishes out her freestyle career with 20 top 10 freestyle finishes in 26 starts.
TEAM STANDINGS (Thru 4 of 8 Races): 1. Utah, 312.5; 2. Colorado, 256.5; 3. Denver, 251.0; 4. Dartmouth, 184.0; 5. Montana State, 183.0; 6. Vermont, 167.0; 7. Alaska Anchorage, 125.0; 8. New Hampshire, 99.0; 9. Westminster, 82.0; 10. Alaska Fairbanks, 72.0; 11. Middlebury, 62.0; 12. Colby, 47.5; 13. St. Michael's, 44.5; 14. Michigan Tech, 43.0; 15. Harvard, 21.0; 16. Bowdoin, 17.0; 17. St. Lawrence, 15.0; 18. Plymouth State, 9.0; 19. Nevada, 3.0; 20. Northern Michigan & Williams, 1.0; 22. Bates & Boston College, 0.0.
MEN'S 7.5K FREESTYLE (40 Collegiate Finishers): 1. John Hagenbuch, DAR, 19:09.2; 2. Joe Davies, UU, 19:20.2; 3. Tom Mancini, UU, 19:35.9; 4. Will Koch, CU, 19:40.6; 5. Florian Knopf, DU, 19:44.5; 6. Magnus Boee, CU, 19:46.3; 7. Johannes Flaaten, CU, 19:53.6; 8. Fredrik Nilsen, MSU, 19:58.9; 9. Jack Lange, DAR, 19:59.8; 10. Andreas Kirkeng, DU, 20:08.2.
WOMEN'S 7.5K FREESTYLE (40 Collegiate Finishers): 1. Sydney Palmer-Leger, UU, 22:08.2; 2. Haley Brewster, UVM, 22:29.3; 3. Jasmine Drolet, DAR, 22:30.7; 4. Tilde Baangman, MSU, 22:32.9; 5. Kate Oldham, MSU, 22:50.0; 6. Rosie Fordham, UAF, 22:51.6; 7. Astrid Stav, UAA, 22:55.8; 8. Anna-Maria Dietze, CU, 23:02.7; 9. Luci Anderson, UNH, 23:03.1; 10. Selma Andersen, DU, 23:08.5. Other CU Finishers: 23. Hanna Abrahamsson, 23:58.8; 26. Weronika Kaleta, 24:13.9.
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