Colorado University Athletics
Grosvold Wins Gold At World University Games
GRANADA, Spain GÇô Junior Thea Grosvold became just the third skier in CU history to win a Gold Medal and fourth to win any medal as the 27th running of the World University Games continued here Friday.
Along with a sixth-place finish from junior Jessica Honkonen, CU produced two of the top six finishers in the world level competition. GrosvoldGÇÖs winning time was 1:38.72 and she won the race by almost a half second (.47) ahead of GermanyGÇÖs Monica Huebner, who skis for the University of Denver. Honkonen was 1.25 seconds back at 1:39.97.
GÇ£It felt good, I really came here for the slalom and I was confident I could do well,GÇ¥ Grosvold said. GÇ£It was all up to this day, I woke up early, I was out training at 6 a.m. when it was pitch dark,GÇ¥
Grosvold had the second fastest first run and combined it with the fourth-fastest second run for the victory while Honkonen had the ninth-fastest first run and then the third fastest second run to move up three spots.
GÇ£I felt good this morning,GÇ¥ Grosvold continued. GÇ£My first run was solid, I wasnGÇÖt sure where I was compared to the other girls. I came out second. The second run was tougher, more like what you see in the U.S. I made a couple of mistakes on my second run, but in the middle of the course, I decided to go for it, I didnGÇÖt have anything to lose, so I went for it and it turned out well.GÇ¥
GrosvoldGÇÖs win was also a little bit of retribution from some bad luck earlier in the Games. She began competition in the Super G and finished 36th. She was disqualified from the slalom portion of the Super Combined and then did not finish the GS race on Wednesday after losing her ski.
GÇ£I didnGÇÖt do too well in the Super G and then I had some bad luck in the GS, but overall itGÇÖs been a lot of fun and the snow has been good and this has been a great trip,GÇ¥ Grosvold said. GÇ£IGÇÖve got a lot of miles on my skis so thatGÇÖs been good. There are a lot of good skiers here and itGÇÖs a competitive environment. Racing is the best training and weGÇÖve had a lot of that over here.GÇ¥
GrosvoldGÇÖs win is the Buffs third Gold Medal all-time at the Games and fourth overall. She joins Katie Hartman, who won a gold medal in the Super G in 2011, and Erika Ghent, who captured the Combined Classification Gold that same year in Erzurum, Turkey. Ghent also won the silver medal that year in the Super Combined and that trio joins Erika Hogan, who took home the bronze medal in the slalom in 2003 in Tarvisio, Italy.
GÇ£The U.S. girls didnGÇÖt have much luck, but itGÇÖs great to see a Buff skier on top of the podium,GÇ¥ Rokos said. GÇ£Having Jessica in the top 10 is good to see, too. The goal here is preparation for the season and the NCAA Championships. Everybody is happy about the amount of training weGÇÖre getting, thereGÇÖs no better training than racing, so this has been a great trip.GÇ¥
GrosvoldGÇÖs Gold Medal performance highlights a bevy of activity from the Buffs as the University of Colorado is well represented across the board at the World University Games.
Rokos is the team leader for the United States alpine team consisting of 12 student-athletes from around the United States, six men and six women. Among them are CU skiers Dani Brownell-Patty, Shane McLean, Cameron Smith and Clare Wise.
Overall, there are 10 Buffs competing at the Games. Along with the four on the U.S. team, CU has alpine skiers Roger Carry (Canada), Grosvold (Norway), Kasper Hietanen (Finland), Honkonen (Finland) and Adam Zika (Czech Republic). Additionally, former menGÇÖs Nordic skier Arnaud Du Pasquier is representing Switzerland.
On top of her sixth place finish Friday, Honkonen started her competition by finishing 32nd in the Super G and then she took 20th in the Super Combined before not finishing the giant slalom. In all, she was 16th in the Combined Classification, taking into account all four race results. Had she finished the GS race, she likely wouldGÇÖve finished in the top five in the overall competition.
McLean gave the Buffs three of the top 14 in the slalom race with her time of 1:42.35 and had the most consistent performance for the Buffs in the two completions that make up collegiate skiing in the U.S. She was the Buffs top finisher in 11th place in the GS race Wednesday, giving her two top 15s on the week.
Wise brought home a top 20 finish for the Buffs in the GS race and finished the slalom race in 40th. Brownell-Patty did not finish the GS race and was disqualified from the slalom race.
On the menGÇÖs side, the slalom race will close down the competition at the Games on Saturday with all four Buffs expected to compete in the race.
Zika has perhaps had the best week among the Buffs with a 20th place finish in the Super G while earning at top 10 in eighth in the Super Combined. He finished 22nd in the giant slalom on Thursday.
Hietanen was signed up for the Super G but did not start the race and then finished 20th in the Super Combined. He finished his first run for the GS race on Thursday but didnGÇÖt race in the second run.
Carry and Smith both did not compete in the Super G or Super Combined competitions. Carry did not finish the GS race while Smith finished 35th.
Du Pasquier, the Buffs only Nordic skier at World University Games with races taking place in Strbske Pleso/Osrbie, Slovakia, had an impressive competition himself. He did not qualify for the sprint freestyle race after placing 43rd in qualifying, but did advance to the semifinal of the mixed team sprint classic race. In the menGÇÖs 10K classic, he placed 37th while he helped his 4x7.5K relay team to an 11th place finish, and he ended the competition with a 17th place finish in the 30K freestyle race.
Lastly, while not a varsity sport at CU, competing in freestyle skiing from CU are Jeremy Brown, Shelby Dyer, Luke Farny, Leta McNatt and Mandy Silverstone. Former CU-Boulder student Alexis Keeney, who represented CU at the 26th World University Games, is also in Granada continuing her education at Colorado Mountain College.
Dyer led the way for the club skiing Buffs, taking fifth place in the womenGÇÖs Moguls race as the top U.S. performer. Silverstone took 13th in that same race. Farny led the men with an eighth place finish in the menGÇÖs moguls. Freestyle competition also concludes Saturday with the slopestyle event.
OTHER NEWS AND NOTES FROM CU ALUMS ON THE TRAILS
Also happening earlier in February were the Under 23 World Cross Country Ski Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Former All-American Joanne Reid was the top United States finisher in both races she took part, coming in 25th in the 10K freestyle race and 22nd in the Skiathon, which was a race consisting of 7.5K each both freestyle and classic disciplines.
Former Buff Mary Rose continued her solid season on the heels of the United States Championships, she won a 10K freestyle race on the U.S. Super Tour in Craftsbury, Vt., and then followed that up with a second place finish in the 10K Classical race the next day.
Another former Buff, Matt Gelso, made his World Cup debut on the Nordic side of things after the U.S. Championships in Otepaa, Estonia, and Rybinsk, Russia. He finished 50th in the 15K Freestyle race and followed that up with a 48th place in the Skiathlon, both in Rybinsk.