2020 Skiing Roster
Mikaela Tommy
- Position:
- ALPINE
- Height:
- 5-6
- Class:
- Senior
- Hometown:
- Wakefield, Quebec, Canada
- High School:
- Philemon Wright
- Prev School:
- Edleweiss/Canadian National Team
- Top Career Slalom Finish: 2nd (2020 Alpine Qualifier #2)
- Top Career Giant Slalom Finish: 1st (8 times, last 2020 RMISA Championships)
- Two-Time All-American
- Two-Time First-Team All-American (2019 Giant Slalom, 2019 Slalom)
- RMISA Women's Alpine MVP (2020)
- RMISA Individual Champion (2020 Giant Slalom)
- Two-Time All-RMISA
- Two-Time First-Team All-RMISA (2019, 2020)
- Two-Time Sportswomen of Colorado Skier of the Year (2019, 2020)
- National Collegiate All-Academic Ski Team (2019; 3.5 Cumulative GPA and Participation in Regionals)
- Two-Time RMISA Skier of the Week (2019 UAA Invitational, 2020 Denver Invitational)
- CU Outstanding Alpine Woman Award (2019)
- CUSPY Winner (2019 Female Freshman of the Year)
- CU Academic Student-Athlete of the Month (June, 2019)
- Six-Time CU Athlete of the Week (Jan. 14-20, 2019; Feb. 25-March 3, 2019; March 4-10, 2019; Jan. 13-20, 2020, Feb. 17-23, 2020; Feb. 24-March 1, 2020)
- Two-Time Letterwinner (2019, 2020)
Career—In two seemingly short seasons, Tommy established herself not only as one of the best skiers in the nation during her time, but one of the best women’s alpine skiers in CU history. She participated in 23 of a possible 27 career races, finishing 18 of them. She never finished outside the top 20, finished outside the top 10 once (16th after hiking in a slalom race) and outside the top five just twice with 13 podium appearances and eight race victories. One of the top 30 GS racers in the world rankings, she finished 10 of 12 GS races, never finishing outside the top five with nine podium appearances and eight wins. She finished her career second in women’s alpine wins behind Lucie Zikova, who won 16 races from 2005-08. She is CU’s leader in GS wins for women’s alpine, having three more than any skier in program history. She set the CU mark with four consecutive GS wins and has the two longest streaks in CU history, four during the 2020 season and three during the 2019 season. She also won 13 runs in her two seasons, second on CU’s career chart behind 20 from Zikova. She finished as a two-time first-team All-American, RMISA MVP and two-time first-team All-RMISA selection.
2020 (Senior)—Tommy not only picked up where she left off in 2020, the argument can be made that she even picked up her college racing performance in her final of two years of eligibility. She finished 10 of a possible 13 races with nine podium appearances, the first nine races of the season, which included five wins and a pair of runner-up performances. In seven GS starts, she finished six with five wins and a second place. In heartbreaking fashion, her ski fell off in her final college race, the GS race at the NCAA Championships, a race she was one of if not the favorite to win. She was named the RMISA Women’s Alpine MVP and first-team All-RMISA. She was the top GS qualifier out of the RMISA for the NCAA Championships and No. 5 on the slalom list. She was also the start list points leader for GS and fifth for slalom in the 2020 season. She matched the CU record set by Lucie Zikova by winning eight runs during the season, as she took six GS runs and two slalom runs during the season. Along with teammate Stef Fleckenstein, the two became the third and fourth skiers and the fourth and fifth instance of women’s alpine skiers winning multiple runs in both disciplines in a season. She mirrored what Zikova accomplished in 2006 when she won six slalom runs and two GS. She opened the season with two straight GS wins, first a qualifier and then as part of the DU Invitational in Aspen. She didn’t finish the slalom race there but had the fastest first run in the field. At Eldora, she won the GS race and took third and second in the two slalom races, the first as part of the CU Invitational and second a qualifier race. She was named the RMISA Skier of the Week and CU’s Athlete of the Week for the CU meet. In Utah, she again won the GS and took third in the slalom for the Utah Invitational before not finishing the extra qualifier slalom race, and she was again named CU’s Athlete of the Week. In Bozeman, she took second in the first GS race, a qualifier race, and then won the RMISA Individual Championship the next day before finishing 16th in the slalom race, her first career finish outside the top 10 after she had to hike to stay in the race. She picked up her third CU Athlete of the Week award for the races in Bozeman. She had the seventh-fastest first run and was on pace for another podium appearance before her misstep. She didn’t finish the GS race at the NCAA Championships, her first DNF in a GS race in her career. The next day, the NCAA cancelled the championship due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
2019 (Freshman)—A two-time first-team All-American and first-team All-RMISA performer, Tommy missed the first two races of the season, both GS races in Eldora, and then after not finishing her first career race in the slalom race at Eldora, she turned it on, winning both of her first three giant slalom races of her career; two at Montana State, one as the RMISA Alpine Qualifier #2 and the other as part of the Montana State Invitational, and one in Alaska at the UAA Invitational. At MSU, she then finished 10th in the slalom race, having moved up six spots from starting 16th after the first run and the second run being canceled. She then missed the New Mexico Invitational skiing on the World Cup and returned to the Buffs for two meets in Alaska. There she won her third straight GS race in the UAA Invitational and took home two top 10 and one top five slalom finishes, seventh as part of the UAA Invitational and fifth as part of the RMISA Championships. She became the first women's alpine skier in CU history to win three straight GS races, which happened to be the first three of her career. She was the first skier since Tove Pashkowski to win her first career GS race and Pashkowski also won her first two career GS races that season. Tommy joins Pashkowski and Caroline Gedde-Dahl as skiers under coach Richard Rokos who have won back-to-back GS races spanning the last 29 seasons. Tommy has won five GS runs (two runs per race) this season, which as a team constitutes the most GS run wins under Rokos. Pashkowski won four GS runs in 2000, the previous best for the Buffs. Tommy also became just the fifth known skier to win both runs within one GS race, which she accomplished in the second race at MSU as part of the RMISA Alpine Qualifier #2. Erika Ghent was the last skier to accomplish that feat in 2012 at the CU Invitational. Pashkowski (2000), Mia Cullman (2003) and Katie Hartman (2010) are the only other known instances of that happening in CU history with data available back to 2000. Tommy was the No. 2 NCAA Qualifier out of the RMISA and the top seed in GS and No. 11 seed in slalom out of the league for the NCAA Championships, where she finished fourth in the GS and third in the slalom to earn two first-team All-America honors. She earned the team's Outstanding Women's Alpine Award and was honored as CU's Female Freshman of the Year at the annual CUSPY Awards. She also earned a spot on the National Collegiate All-Academic Ski Team for maintaining above a 3.5 GPA. In early 2020, she was named the SportsWomen of Colorado Collegiate Skier of the Year for the 2019 season.
Prior To CU—Tommy has skied at the highest levels including World Championships and in World Cup races. She skied at the World Championships in Schladming in 2013, Vail/Beaver Creek in 2015 and St. Moritz in 2017. In six races, she finished two, finishing 22nd in both the Giant Slalom at Vail/Beaver Creek in 2015 and in the Super G in St. Moritz in 2017. She has 45 World Cup races to her credit with 11 finishes, including her three best finishes prior to the start of the 2019 collegiate season. All in GS action, she took 26th in Killington in November and 19th in Chouchevel and 18th in Semmering in December. With those three results, she earned 30 points and ranks 29th in the World Cup Standings. She also earned four points for a 27th place finish in 2017 at Squaw Valley in a GS race. She competed at the Junior World Championships from 2012-16, highlighted by a fourth place finish in the GS at Hafjell, Norway, in 2015. She has skied in continental cup races since 2012 and she has won three NorAm Cup Championships in her career, including the GS in 2013 and 2018 and the alpine combined in 2014. In the overall NorAm Cup standings for all disciplines, she finished in the top 11 five times, including second in 2015 when she was second in both alpine combined and Super G and third in GS; and she took third in 2018, adding a third place alpine combined placement to her GS championship. She has competed both on the NorAm Cup and European Cup circuits. She has over 120 starts in NorAm Cup races with 56 top 10 finishes, 37 top 5 finishes with 27 podium appearance and 10 race wins. Her 10 wins include seven in giant slalom, one in Super G, one in super combined and one in alpine combined. In European Cup action, she has 17 race starts with 10 finishes and three top 10s including a fifth place in the GS at Zinal in 2016. She has competed at the Canadian National Championships since 2012 and has finished 10 of 14 races having never finished lower than eighth. She hit the podium twice, taking second in the Super G in Nakiska in 2015 and third in the GS in Whistler in 2014. She also competed in the 2015 US National Championships, taking fifth in both the Downhill and Super G, and the 2018 in New Zealand. Overall in FIS sanctioned races, she has over 350 starts with over 200 finishes. She has 124 top 10 and 83 top 5 finishes including 49 podium appearances and 19 race wins.
High School—Tommy graduated from Philemon Wright High School in 2012.
In the Classroom—Tommy is majoring in Environmental Design at Colorado.
Personal—Mikaela Tommy was born May 10, 1995 in Ottawa, Canada. Her parents are Michael and Gabrielle and she has two siblings, Duncan and Reese. Her dad was a two-time Olympian (1984, '88) in alpine skiing and his two brothers, her uncles, were also Olympians. Another uncle, Horst Bulau, was a World Cup winning ski jumper. She enjoys painting, play sports, the ukulele and having fun in her spare time.
Why Colorado—"I love Colorado for skiing!"
