Colorado University Athletics
Buff Women Dominate FIS Competition For Third Straight Day
PARK CITY, Utah ? The University of Colorado alpine skiers wrapped their preparation ahead of the collegiate season by posting another solid round of finishes in FIS competition here Monday.
The Buffalo women continued to dominate the races, as sophomore Lucie Zikova won for the third time in as many days. On Monday, she added the giant slalom title to a pair of slalom crowns she captured over the weekend. She won in a two-run time of 2:00.02, edging teammate Sabrina Mocellin, who skied the course in a combined time of 2:00.72.
Mocellin, a freshman, was the third different CU woman to claim runner-up honors behind Zikova; freshman Lisa Perricone placed second Saturday and sophomore Rachel Roosevelt did the same Sunday. Roosevelt took fourth in the GS in a 2:02.71, while Perricone had some trouble on her second run, finishing 80th in 2:19.56; she was tied for eighth after the morning run. Junior Kristin Taylor finished 13th in 2:03.61 to round out the CU contingent,
Overall, the Buff women posted an impressive 11 of the top 17 finishes in the event over the three days.
In the men’s slalom, freshman Josh Bryan posted CU’s best finish in a two-run time of 1:26.12, eighth overall but the fourth collegian in the standings and the third from the west. Another Buff frosh was right behind in him ninth, as Jean-Francois Ferreira completed his two runs in 1:26.63. Two other freshmen placed in the top 25, as Patrick Duran was 17th in 1:28.16 and Tony Cesolini 21st in 1:29.24. Sophomore Joel Adams and frosh Jonas Kryzl did not finish their first runs, while sophomore Miles Cooke did not finish his second attempt down the mountain.
“This appears to be one of the strongest women’s teams we’ve had in quite some time, and that says a lot because more often than not we’ve fielded top alpine teams,” said CU head coach Richard Rokos. “So this is very encouraging. Denver did not compete here, so we won’t know how we compare to their skiers until we see them (Wednesday), but we are very deep and I feel confident that the women will be a strength of our overall team.”
Colorado was ranked No. 2 in the preseason rankings as voted on by NCAA coaches for Ski Racing Magazine. Denver was ranked first, with New Mexico third, Vermont fourth, Utah fifth and Alaska-Anchorage sixth, giving the west five of the top six spots.
Colorado’s alpine teams will sit out the final FIS races Tuesday to prepare for the first college meet of the winter, as the Alaska Invitational continues on Wednesday at Park City. The Nordic portion of the meet was completed in nearby Soldier Hollow over the weekend.
Defending NCAA champion Denver leads at the midway point of the meet with 282 points, as “host” Alaska-Anchorage shaved the gap to just 10 points as the Seawolves have 272. Utah is in third with 258, followed close by Colorado (252) with New Mexico fifth with 223 in the 10-team western competition.
The Montana State Invitational will then follow Saturday and Sunday in Bozeman.