Comeback Attempt Falls Just Short As Buffs Finish Second At Nevada

Tuesday, February 3

Reno, Nev.

9 AM Men / 9:45 AM Women

Colorado

Giant Slalom at Mount Rose Ski Tahoe

Comeback Attempt Falls Just Short As Buffs Finish Second At Nevada

February 03, 2026 | Skiing

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CU Men Sweep The Podium With Wahlqvist and Accambray Both Getting Race Victories

By: Curtis Snyder, Associate AD/Athletic Communications

RENO, Nev. – The Colorado Buffaloes ski team nearly completed a remarkable comeback on Tuesday at the Nevada Invitational, rallying from a 61-point deficit entering the final day to pull within eight points of Utah by the end of the meet.

Trailing and tied for fourth place after Sunday's slalom races, the Buffaloes surged during the giant slalom events behind a dominant showing from the men's team and another commanding performance from the women. The CU men swept the podium for the first time in a decade to score a perfect 111 points, vaulting past both Montana State and Denver and trimming Utah's lead to 27 points entering the women's race.

The women followed with a victory of their own, outscoring Utah 89–70 to close the gap further. When the final results were tallied, Colorado finished second overall with 309 points, just eight behind Utah's winning total of 317.

The men's rebound was led by Filip Wahlqvist, who earned his second straight victory and second consecutive giant slalom win. Justin Bigatel and Feb Allasina tied for second place to complete the podium sweep, while Christoffer Oestroem added an eighth-place finish and Stanley Buzek placed 22nd.

On the women's side, Louison Accambray continued her historic run, winning her third race of the season and fourth giant slalom in as many starts. She extended her podium streak to eight races, matching the CU women's alpine record for consecutive podiums to open a season, originally set by Lucie Zikova in 2006. Paige DeHart finished sixth and Alexa Brownlie ninth, while Cathinka Lunder did not finish her first run.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The men opened the day with Justin Bigatel winning the top bib in the double-blind draw and capitalizing with the fastest first run in the field. Colorado stacked the leaderboard early, with Wahlqvist sitting third, Allasina fourth and Oestroem ninth as the Buffs mounted their comeback.

In the second run, Allasina and Wahlqvist both held their positions as the final skiers came down the course. A mistake by a Denver skier late in the order opened the door, and Bigatel followed with a clean run to tie Allasina for second place, securing the podium sweep behind Wahlqvist.

The women followed with Accambray also earning the top bib and immediately asserting control, opening a 1.03-second lead after the first run. DeHart sat fourth and Brownlie fifth at the halfway point, while Lunder did not finish her opening run.

In the second run, DeHart and Brownlie slipped slightly in the standings, but Accambray posted the fastest run of the round to win by 1.81 seconds and keep the comeback alive.

UP NEXT

Nordic teams return to action next weekend at the Denver Invitational, relocated last week to the Frisco Nordic Center. Saturday, Feb. 7 will feature a 10K classic mass start, followed by a 7.5K freestyle interval start on Sunday.

TEAM NOTES

The podium sweep was the first in the RMISA in almost three years since the Utah women's Nordic team did so in the 5K freestyle race at Montana State in 2023. It's the first podium sweep for the Buffs since 2019 when the women's Nordic team swept the 7.5K classic race at the New Mexico Invitational (Anne Siri Lervik, Hedda Baangman and Ezra Smith), and the first in alpine since the men's team swept the slalom race at New Mexico in 2016 (Ola Johansen, Max Luukko and Henrik Gunnarsson).
Colorado finished second overall with 309 points, just eight behind Utah (317), while Denver placed third with 288 points.
CU scored 200 points on the final day, 53 more than Utah and 54 more than Denver.
The Buffs posted a perfect 111 points in the men's race, passing both Montana State and Denver and closing a 61-point gap.
Colorado won the women's race with 89 points, while Denver scored 77 and Utah 70.
CU's women led all teams with 167 total points in the meet, edging Utah by three and Denver by 16.
The CU men finished second overall with 142 points, just 11 behind Utah and five ahead of Denver.

MEN'S ALPINE NOTES

Filip Wahlqvist won his second straight race and second consecutive giant slalom, giving him 11 career victories, tied for 10th most in CU history and second most among CU men's alpine skiers.
- Wahlqvist is now tied with Bill Marolt for second-most wins by a CU men's alpine skier, trailing only John Skajem.
- Wahlqvist has 19 career podiums, ranking 18th in CU history and tied for fourth all-time among men's alpine skiers.
Justin Bigatel finished second for his second podium of the season and fourth of his career, earning his second career GS podium.
Bigatel has finished all four GS races this season inside the top four (two seconds, two fourths).
Feb Allasina tied for second to earn the second podium of his career and his first runner-up finish.
Christoffer Oestroem finished eighth, giving CU four of the top eight finishers and rebounding after a 32nd-place result Monday.

WOMEN'S ALPINE NOTES

Louison Accambray earned her third win of the season and sixth of her career, all in giant slalom.
- Accambray has won seven of eight GS runs this season and three GS races in back-to-back seasons.
- She tied the CU record with eight straight podiums to open a season, matching Lucie Zikova's 2006 mark.
- Accambray now has 13 career podiums, ranking 14th among CU women and tied for seventh among women's alpine skiers.
- Her eight podiums this season already rank fifth most in CU women's alpine history.
Paige DeHart finished sixth for her fourth straight top-10 finish during the Nevada series and fifth overall early in her career.
Alexa Brownlie placed ninth, recording her fifth top-10 and sixth top-11 finish in her young collegiate career after rebounding from two DNFs.

Final Team Scores: 1. Utah 317; 2. Colorado 309; 3. Denver 288; 4. Montana State 228.5; 5. Nevada 212; 6. Colorado Mountain 184; 7. Westminster 160; 8. Alaska Anchorage 115.5.

Men's Giant Slalom: 1. Filip Wahlqvist (Colorado) 1:56.55; 2. Justin Bigatel (Colorado) 1:56.92; Feb Allasina (Colorado) 1:56.92; 4. Pietro Motterlini (Denver) 1:57.06; 5. Sindre Myklebust (Utah) 1:57.48; 6. Johs Herland (Utah) 1:57.55; 7. Christian Soevik (Denver) 1:57.57; 8. Christoffer Oestroem (Colorado) 1:57.66; 9. Gianluca Boehm (Montana State) 1:58.19; 10. David Morken (Nevada) 1:58.27.
Other CU: 22. Stanley Buzek, 1:59.69.

Women's Giant Slalom: 1. Louison Accambray (Colorado) 1:57.03; 2. Cecilia Pizzinato (Denver) 1:58.84; 3. Tea Kiesel (Montana State) 2:00.32; 4. Guro Hestad Vognild (Westminster) 2:00.87; 5. Melanie Dahlberg (Utah) 2:00.90; 6. Paige DeHart (Colorado) 2:00.92; 7. Erica Lynch (Nevada) 2:00.99; 8. Nicola Rountree-Williams (Denver) 2:01.10; 9. Alexa Brownlie (Colorado) 2:01.40; 10. Kaila LaFreniere (Utah) 2:01.49.
Other CU: Cathinka Lunder DNF (run 1).