Buff Alpine Teams Impress At RMISA Qualifier

GEORGETOWN, Colo. – Filip Wahlqvist won and Etienne Mazellier and Ashley Campbell both hit the podium for the first time in RMISA qualifier races here at Loveland Ski Area, giving the Colorado Buffaloes ski team a solid start to the alpine season Monday.

One of two qualifier races throughout the season, the races are ahead of the Denver Invitational, which kicks off Tuesday with another set of slalom races at Loveland. Monday's races, however, are critical for NCAA qualifying and improving start lists points, and across the board, the Buffs did just that with all 11 skiers that finished doing so in the top 21 positions.

Wahlqvist was the top ranked slalom skier in the RMISA last season and picked up where he left off, having the fastest start time for the first run and hanging onto the win with the ninth-fastest second run, which was significant considering he started the second run in 30th position after the flip. Mazellier had the fifth fastest first run and used the 10th fastest second run to move up into podium position for his first career podium in college racing.

Jacob Dilling finished 17th, Louis Fausa 20th and Jack Reich moved up from a starting position of 39th to finish 21st. Newcomer Justin Bigatel did not finish his first run.

In the women's race, if the Buffs were at all tentative in the first run of the day, they certainly weren't in the second. Campbell was solid in both runs and after sitting in eighth in the first run, she used the second-fastest second run to move into podium position in third place, not only her first collegiate podium but also her first top 5 and top 10 finish.

Campbell was outdone, however, on her second run by Katie Fleckenstein, a fifth-year senior who started just her third collegiate race, and despite starting in 37th, she had the 24th fastest first run then threw down the fastest second run in the field to move all the way up to 20th. Newcomer Cathinka Lunder had a similar race, starting back in 34th, she moved up to 21st after the first run and had the third fastest second run to move up nine more spots into 12th.

Lunder was just behind Elena Exenberger, who finished 11th, while newcomer Louison Acambray also moved up significantly, starting 28th, having the 11th fastest first run and moving up to eighth after the second run for a top 10 performance in her first collegiate race. Hannah Saethereng finished in 16th place as the Buffs placed all seven skiers in the top 20.

WHAT IT MEANS: While not part of an official meet, these results are official and show that the Buffs should have competitive alpine teams on both the men's and women's side. The women's team was especially impressive as it's the first time a CU team has finished top three in a second run in recent memory. On the men's side, Wahlqvist picked up where he left of last season, Mazellier got his season off to a fantastic start and all six skiers can place high, as well.

UP NEXT: Teams will remain at Loveland for another set of slalom races Tuesday, this time as part of the Denver Invitational, which will then wrap up the alpine portion of its meet Wednesday at Copper Mountain with GS races.

MEN'S ALPINE NOTES
•   Wahlqvist picked up his fifth collegiate racing victory, all in slalom races, picking up where he left off last season when he won four of the seven slalom races on the college circuit. Through eight slalom races in his career, he already ranks in the top 3 in CU history for most slalom wins by a men's alpine skier, tied with Niklas Scherrer (1975-78) and David Ketterer (2017-18) with five and behind only John Skajem (7, 1986-87) and Stephan Heinzsch (6, 1975-78).
•   Mazellier hit the podium in third place for his first collegiate podium performance, and on the slalom side just his second top 10 performance, bettering an eighth place finish last season in the CU Invitational. He did get top 5's in three GS races last season, thus giving him four career top five finishes in his 15th start.
•   Dilling finished 17th, his 28th career top 20 finish with them evenly split with 14 apiece in both slalom and GS, while Fausa hit the top 20 for the 33rd time in his career and 17th in slalom races.
•   Reich finished 21st, barely missing his second career top 20 performance in slalom, and just two spots off his career best slalom finish of 19th back in his freshman season in 2022.

WOMEN'S ALPINE NOTES
•   Campbell broke through for her first collegiate podium, which is also her first career top 5 and top 10 finish after a season best placement of 14th in both slalom and GS as a freshman last season.
•   Accambray finished eighth in her first collegiate race after starting 28th she was able to move all the way up to 11th after the first run and three more spots after her second run.
•   Exenberger finished 11th, just two spots off her career best slalom performance of ninth, which she did twice at the end of the 2023 season, she just missed out on her sixth career top 10 by just four-hundredths of a second.
•   Lunder took 12th, also moving through the field in impressive fashion, starting 34th and moving up to 21st and then having the third-fastest second run to move up nine more spots to 12th, and she was right there with Exenberger just seven-hundredths out of the top 10.
•   Saethereng, a transfer from Westminster, finished 16th to pick up her 47th career top 20 performance, and 23rd in slalom races.
•   Fleckenstein being on the mountain is a win, as she started just her fifth and finished just her third race out of a possible 46 college races dating back to 2021, but she not only skied, she had the fastest second run in the entire field and picked up her first top 20 finish despite starting 37th in the field.

MEN'S SLALOM (50 collegiate finishers): 1. Filip Wahlqvist, CU, 1:27.23; 2. Thomas Hoffman, DU, 1:27.76; 3. Etienne Mazellier, CU, 1:28.31; 4. Raphael Lessard, UU, 1:28.80; 5. Oliver Parazette, UU, 1:28.91; 6. Gianluca Boehm, MSU, 1:28.98; 7. Alejandro Puente Tasias, WMC, 1:29.44; 8. Sindre Myklebust, UU and Jan Ronner, UAA, 1:29.56; 10. Christian Soevik, DU, 1:29.61. Other CU Finishers: 17. Jacob Dilling, 1:30.25; 20. Louis Fausa, 1:30.45; 21. Jack Reich, 1:30.50. Did Not Finish First Run: Justin Bigatel.

WOMEN'S SLALOM (30 collegiate finishers): 1. Sara Rask, DU, 1:30.21; 2. Ella Bromee, UAA, 1:30.52; 3. Ashley Campbell, CU, 1:31.24; 4. Nicola Rountree-Williams, DU, 1:31.88; 5. Kaja Norbye, UU, 1:31.90; 6. Claire Timmermann, UU, 1:32.00; 7. Tea Kiesel, MSU, 1:32.04; 8. Louison Accambray, CU, 1:32.05; 9. Carmen Nielssen, UAA, 1:32.20; 10. Kaila Laferiere, UU, 1:32.77. Other CU Finishers: 11. Elena Exenberger, 1:32.81; 12. Cathinka Lunder, 1:32.84; 16. Hannah Saethereng, 1:33.35; 20. Katie Fleckenstein, 1:33.65.

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Players Mentioned

Louison Accambray

Justin Bigatel

Ashley Campbell

Jacob Dilling

Elena Exenberger

Louis Fausa

Katie Fleckenstein

Cathinka Lunder

Etienne Mazellier

Jack Reich

Hannah Saethereng

Filip Wahlqvist