Taggart Spenst

Photo by: CUBuffs.com

Position:
Alpine
Height:
5-11
Weight:
null
Class:
Senior
Hometown:
Frisco, Colo. (Utah Winter Sports School/Team Summit)

Taggart Spenst Coaching Bio

• Top Career Slalom Finish: Sixth (2012 RMISA Slalom Qualifier)
• Top Career Giant Slalom Finish: Eighth (Twice, 2009 RMISA Qualifier, 2010 Utah Invitational)

Honors

• 2011 First-Team Academic All-Big 12 (3.2 GPA)
• 2012 Division I National All-Academic Ski Team (3.5 GPA, participation in regionals)
• 2012 SAAC Distinguished Service Award

Career at Colorado—Spenst closed out his career having participated in 46 career races. He finished 43 of them with 23 top 20 finishes and eight top 10 finishes.

2012 (Senior)—Spenst struggled getting high results a bit early in his senior season but finished strong to qualify for the NCAA Championships, although he did not participate. He broke through with his first top 20 finish in the fifth race of the season, taking 13th in the slalom at the Denver Invitational. After Alaska, he finished sixth in the slalom in Montana in a RMISA Qualifier race, the best finish of his career in either discipline. He was disqualified the next day in a RMISA Giant Slalom Qualifier, but then rebounded to finish ninth to secure qualification in the giant slalom race as part of the RMISA Championships. He finished ninth on the strength of his second run, which was the best in the field. He was named to the Division I National All-Academic Ski Team for obtaining a 3.5 GPA in the fall and participating in regionals. He also earned a Distinguished Service Award for his involvement with the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

2011 (Junior)—Spenst had a whirlwind season that saw him start strong with a pair of top 10 performances out of the gate and included a trip to Turkey for World University Games at the last minute. At WUG, he was part of a United States alpine team that turned in the best U.S. performance on foreign soil in history, including Olympic and other level performances. He started the season strong with top 12 finishes in his first three races. He took home 10th in the giant slalom and ninth in the slalom at the Utah Invitational and then took 12th in the GS ahead of the Montana State Invitational in a RMISA Qualifier race. He then had to hike in both the GS and slalom races in the Montana State Invitational before heading to WUG. Upon his return, he finished between 17th and 24th in the five remaining races of the season, including a pair of top 20 finishes at RMISA Championships, helping the Buffs to the championship there. He earned mention on the first team of the inaugural Academic All-Big 12 team by maintaining above a 3.2 grade point average.

2010 (Sophomore)—Spenst raced in all 12 races on the season and finished 10, taking home six top 20 and three top 10 (with one more 11th) place finishes on the season. His best giant slalom race to date of his career came when he took eighth place at the Montana State Invitational. He finished in the top 11 in three of six slalom races on the season and in the top 20 in three of the six giant slalom races. He put together the best meet of his season at the RMISA Championships where he took home 18th place in the giant slalom and 10th in the slalom to qualify for the NCAA Championships. Not being in the top three CU racers in terms of qualification points, he was an alternate for the NCAA Championships.

2009 (Freshman)—Spenst raced to four top 15 finishes as a freshman, including a season-best eighth place finish in the slalom RMISA Qualifier on CU’s home hill at Eldora. He notched his personal best giant slalom finish early on in the year in Alaska when he finished 14th in the bitter cold conditions of just his second race as a collegian.

Club—Spenst was a 13-year member of Team Summit and spent two years racing with the Rocky/Central Regional Team. Spenst is a two-time recipient of the Sportsmanship of the Year award presented to him by Team Summit. His top performance came when he made the junior podium after taking third place in the super-combined at the Nor-Am Finals in 2008. In 2002, Spenst took first in the slalom at the Junior Olympics when he was 14.

High School—Spenst lettered two years in skiing under coach Torey Hauserat at Summit High School before attending the Winter Sports School in Park City, Utah to further his skiing career. At Summit, Spenst helped his team to back-to-back Alpine team State Championships in 2002 and 2003, earning All-State honors as a freshman and sophomore. A dual sport athlete, Spenst also lettered two years in soccer at Summit and his 2003 team made it to the Elite Eight in the 4A Colorado Soccer State Tournament.

In the Classroom—Spenst is pursuing a degree in Business.

Personal—Taggart Spenst was born July 31, 1988 and is the son of Jim and Marcia Spenst in McCall, Idaho. His grandfather played collegiate basketball in Iowa. He enjoys following the Denver Nuggets, Broncos and Colorado Rockies. Spenst chose to ski for Colorado because it has been his goal since he was 12 and hopes to make the national team after college.