2015 Skiing Roster
Henrik Gunnarsson
- Position:
- Alpine
- Height:
- 5-11
- Weight:
- 165
- Class:
- Senior
- Hometown:
- Gavle, Sweden
- High School:
- Malung-Salens Gymsasieskola/Gavle Alpina
- Top Career Slalom Finish: First (2x - last at the New Mexico Invitational)
- Top Career Giant Slalom Finish: Second (2016 RMISA Championship)
Honors
- 2014 First-Team All-American (Giant Slalom)
- 2016 First-Team All-American (Slalom)
- 2015 Second-Team All-American (Giant Slalom)
- 2016 First-Team All-RMISA
- 2013 Second-Team All-RMISA
- 2014, 2015 & 2016 Collegiate All-Academic Ski Team (3.5 GPA, Participation in Regionals)
Career at Colorado—Gunnarsson competed in the NCAA Championships in all four of his seasons with the Buffs, helping CU win the 2013 and 2015 national championships. He finished 50 races in his career and was in the top 10 an impressive 23 times (six at the podium). Received first-team All-America honors in both disciplines.
2016 (Senior)–A first-team All-American selection in the slalom after finishing second in the race at the NCAA Championships that CU hosted in Steamboat Springs. He collected CU Athlete-of-the-Week honors after his first-place finish in the slalom at the Colorado Invitational – his first career victory. Followed up that win with another victory in his next slalom race a month later at the New Mexico Invitational. He was a first-team All-RMISA selection after he finished second in the giant slalom and 10th in the slalom. He finished 10 races on the year, finishing in the top 15 in every one and he posted six top five finishes.
2015 (Junior)—Garnered second-team All-American honors after his seventh place finish in the giant slalom at the NCAA Championships held in Lake Placid, helping the Buffalos win the NCAA team championship. Finish 11 of 12 races on the year with 10 top 20 finishes, including four in the top 10. In the Utah Invitational he finished fourth (GS), which he matched his next time out at the Colorado Invitational (slalom). That was his top finish of the season. At the RMISA Championships hosted by Alaska he finished 11th in the slalom, improving upon his 17th place finish in the discipline from the year before. Prior to the start of the 2015 season, Gunnarsson finished seventh and 15th in slalom races at the CU Jimmie Heuga Invitational at Echo Mountain, and then took home two top 10 performances in slalom races at Steamboat Springs.
2014 (Sophomore)—Gunnarsson earned first-team All-American honors after finishing fifth in the giant slalom at the NCAA Championships, despite slalom being his slightly better discipline. He finished 12 of 13 races and finished in the top 20 in all 12 races. He did improve in giant slalom action, after having all five of his top 10 finishes in 2013 coming in slalom, he racked up three top 10 finishes in giant slalom action in 2014. He began the year with a bang, compiling a pair of top 10 finishes at Utah after taking 10th in the GS and eighth in the slalom race there. He followed that up with a seventh place slalom race at Montana State. He matched that season best seventh place slalom race at the New Mexico Invitational. His fifth place GS finish at the NCAA Championships was his best GS finish by five places. Prior to the 2014 season, he participated in World University Games for his home country of Sweden and finished 37th in the giant slalom race. After the college season, he won a slalom race at Mission Ridge, Wash., where he also took fourth in a GS race.
2013 (Freshman)—Gunnarsson earned second-team All-RMISA honors as a freshman in 2013, helping the Buffs to the NCAA Championship. One of seven freshmen for the Buffs NCAA Championship squad, he responded by finishing 12th in the giant slalom and 13th in the slalom races there, barely missing All-America designation in both. In five regular season slalom races, he finished in the top four three times with one podium appearance, a third place finish at one of the slalom races at the New Mexico Invitational. He took fourth at the Colorado Invitational and Denver Invitational in the slalom races. His best GS races came at Winter Park in an RMISA Qualifier race and the Denver Invitational, where he finished 10th and 11th, respectively.
Club—Gunnarsson has skied for Gavle Alpina SK since 1997 and has participated in over 200 FIS races since 2006. Entering CU, he finished 126 out of 226 races with 75 top 20 finishes, 40 top 10s, 21 top 5s, 12 podium appearances and two wins. He has one win each in slalom and giant slalom action, with the GS race coming first in Oppdal, Norway on Jan. 7, 2011, and the slalom win in Gopshus, Sweden, on Feb. 16, 2012. He has 16 European Cup starts from 2011-12, mainly in slalom, and has two top 20 finishes. He finished 24th in Italy at Madonna di Campiglio, which was his best point total at 16.11. He has competed in Swedish, Norwegian and New Zealand national championships with 20 races to his credit with three top 10 finishes and two more 11th place finishes. He has finished in the top 10 in the last two Swedish National Championships, ninth in 2011 at Are and eighths at Bergsjoe, while his other top 10 finish was in Norway at Trysil in 2011. He finished 13th at the Junior World Ski Championships in Crans Montana, Switzerland, in the slalom. In August 2012, he participated in five Australian New Zealand Cup races, with four top 20 finishes, three in giant slalom.
High School—Gunnarsson graduated from Malung-Salens Gymsasieskola in Malung, Sweden, in June 2011.
In the Classroom—Gunnarsson is majoring in Business at Colorado.
Personal—Henrik Gunnarsson was born December 20, 1991, in Gavle, Sweden, to Mats and Katerina Gunnarsson. After college his goal is to compete on the Swedish World Cup Team. He enjoys hanging out with friends, playing sports and watching movies and he picked CU because “it seems to be a great place to both ski and study.”
