Eliska Hajkova

Photo by: CUBuffs.com

Position:
Nordic
Height:
5-5
Class:
Sophomore
Hometown:
Jablonec, Czech Republic (Gymnasium Vseobecne/Masaryko)

Top Career Classical Finish: First (five times, last at 2012 Seawolf Invitational)

Top Career Freestyle Finish: First (three times, last at 2013 RMISA Championships)

Honors

2010 First-Team All-America (freestyle)
2010 Second-Team All-America (classical)
2010 First-Team All-RMISA
2010 CU Athlete of the Week (Utah Invitational)
2010 RMISA Skier of the Week (Utah Invitational)
2011 Individual NCAA Champion (classical)
2011 First-Team All-American (classical)
2011 First-Team All-American (freestyle)
2011 RMISA Individual Champion (classical)
2011 RMISA Individual Champion (freestyle)
2011 First-Team All-RMISA
2011 Honorable Mention FasterSkier Female Collegiate Skier of the Year
2011 CU Female Athlete-of-the-Year
2011 Division I All-Academic Ski Team (3.5 GPA; participation at Regionals)
2011 First-Team Academic All-Big 12 At-Large (3.2 GPA)
2011 CU Athlete of the Week (twice, Feb. 21-27; RMISA Championships; March 7-13; NCAA Championships)
2011 RMISA Skier of the Week (Utah Invitational)
2012 Second-Team All-American (Classical)
2012 First-Team All-RMISA
2012 RMISA Skier of the Week (Alaska Anchorage Invitational)
2012 CU Athlete of the Week (three times; Jan. 16-22, Denver Invitational; Jan. 30-Feb. 5, Alaska Anchorage Invitational; Feb. 6-12; Seawolf Invitational)
2012 CollegeSports360.com Prime Time Performer of the Week (Feb. 6-12; Seawolf Invitational)
2013 First-Team All-American (Freestyle)
2013 RMISA Individual Champion (Freestyle)
2013 First-Team All-RMISA
2013 CU Outstanding Career Performance Award (Ski Team)
2013 CU Outstanding Nordic Woman Award (Ski Team)
2013 RMISA Skier of the Week (Denver Invitational)
2013 CU Athlete of the Week (Feb. 18-24; RMISA Championships)
2013 Division I National All-Academic Ski Team (3.5 GPA, Participation in RMISA Championships)

Career at Colorado—Hajkova closed out one of the most dominant careers in CU history as a senior, capping a run that included two team NCAA Championships and one individual NCAA Championship. She finished with six All-America honors for the Buffaloes, including four first-team awards on top of her individual championships. She was also a four-time first-team All-RMISA performer and won three individual RMISA Championships. In 48 career races, she finished in the top 10 an astounding 45 times with 33 podium (top three) appearances including eight race victories, 17 runner-up performances and six third place finishes. In 24 classical races, she won five times with 14 total podium appearances and finished outside the top 10 just twice. In 24 freestyle races, she won three with 23 top 10 and 19 top five finishes. She won three freestyle races, was a runner up 12 times and has 19 podium appearances.

2013 (Senior)—Doing nothing less than cementing herself as one of the top Nordic skiers in CU if not NCAA history, Hajkova competed in all 12 races for the Buffaloes with 10 top 10 finishes, eight top 5 finishes, seven podium appearances and one race victory. An anchor of the most dominant women’s Nordic teams in NCAA history, she etched herself into the ski team lore with yet another amazing postseason run. At the RMISA Championships, she finished second in the classical race and then won the freestyle race, her first win of the season while teammates Maria Nordstroem and Joanne Reid winning every race to that point of the season. After missing the wax in the classical race at the NCAA Championships and finishing 16th, she rebounded to finish second behind Reid as the Buffaloes 1-2 performance in that race enabled the Buffs to the largest final day comeback in NCAA Championship history and helped the Buffs capture the program’s 19th national championship. She hit the podium twice in two separate meets, first at the Denver Invitational and then at the RMISA Championships. Her second place finish in the freestyle race earned her a fourth first-team and fifth overall All-American honor and she was a four-time first-team All-RMISA selection. She earned CU ski team honors with the Outstanding Career Performance Award and the Outstanding Nordic Woman Award. She was the RMISA Skier of the Week for the Denver Invitational when she finished second in the classical race and third in the freestyle race, a week she also earned one of her two CU Athlete of the Week honors, the other coming at the RMISA Championships. She was named to the Division I National All-Academic Ski Team for attaining a 3.5 grade point average and competing at the RMISA Championships.

2012 (Junior)—Proving again to be one of the top Nordic skiers in the NCAA, she raced in all 12 races for the Buffaloes and brought home 11 top 10 finishes, and hit the podium seven times with three victories and four runner-up performances on the season. She opened the season with a seventh place freestyle and fourth place classical finish at the University of Colorado Spencer Nelson Memorial Invitational and then after a 10th place classical finish at the Denver Invitational, she found her stride with seven consecutive top two finishes, starting with the freestyle race at the DU Invitational. In four races in Alaska as part of the Alaska Anchorage and Seawolf Invitationals, she won three and took second in the other by winning both classical races. She then finished second in both the freestyle and classical races at the RMISA Championships. Perhaps peaking a little early, by her standards she struggled at the NCAA Championships with a 10th place finish in the classical race and 14th place finish in the freestyle race. Her 10th place finish did afford her a fifth All-America honor, earning second-team honors in the classical race. She was the top female Nordic qualifier out of the RMISA and named first-team All-RMISA. She was the RMISA Skier of the Week for the Alaska Anchorage Invitational and was three times the CU Athlete of the Week. She also won the CollegeSports360.com Prime Time Performer of the Week for her performance in Alaska.

2011 (Sophomore)—On the heels of one of the more impressive seasons as a freshman, she improved upon her performances as a junior putting in the books one of the most dominant seasons in CU history. She was at her best as the season culminated in the Buffaloes winning the NCAA Championship. In the postseason, she won three of the four races and finished second in the other. She took home race victories in both races at the RMISA Championships, winning the first freestyle race of her career. At NCAA Championships, she won the individual championship in the classical race and was the runner-up in the freestyle race. In 12 races, she hit the podium 11 times with a fourth place finish in the other race. She was the runner-up six times and won three races. On top of her NCAA individual championship, she earned two first-team All-America honors and was first-team All-RMISA. She was twice the CU Athlete of the Week and earned RMISA Skier of the Week honors the second meet of the season. FasterSkier named her honorable mention for their Female Collegiate Skier of the Year. She was also named to the Division I All-Academic Ski Team for maintaining above a 3.5 grade point average and the inaugural first team Academic All-Big 12 At-Large team.

2010 (Freshman)—Hajkova had one of the more successful seasons in CU history as a sophomore, her first in Boulder, racing 12 times, all 12 races coming in the top nine. She took over from Maria Grevsgaard as CU’s top women’s Nordic racer and didn’t disappoint with seven podium appearances which included two third place and four runner-up performances with one race victory. She began her career in style as in her first four races, she finished second three times and won the classical race at the 2010 Utah Invitational, earning both CU Athlete of the Week and RMISA Skier of the Week honors. After racing at a higher altitude at New Mexico, she returned and had two podium appearances at the Nevada Invitational, third in the classic race and second in the freestyle. She earned two All-America honors, first team in the freestyle after a third place finish and seventh in the classical which earned her a second-team honor. She finished second to Denver’s Antje Maempel as both the top seeded skier in the western region based on NCAA qualification points and the most valuable women’s Nordic skier in the RMISA.

Club—Hajkova has been a member of the Czech Republic National Cross Country Ski Team since 2004. She won a silver medal at the European Youth Olympic Festival in Switzerland in 2005 and a bronze in the relay at the World Junior Championships in Finland that same year and she has racked up 35 gold medals from competition in the Czech championships. She took 24th place in the World Cup sprint at the Tour de Ski in 2008 and has had four top 11 finishes at the Junior World Ski Championships since 2006, including fifth in the freestyle and sixth in the classical in Slovenia in 2006, 11th in the pursuit in Italy in 2007 and ninth in the freestyle in Italy in 2008. She also took home a 10th place finish at the U23 World Ski Championships in France in 2009 in the classical race.

High School—Hajkova attended Gymnasium Vseobecne in Jablonec, Czech Republic, from 1999-2007 and Masaryk University from 2008-09, the same University that coach Richard Rokos attended. She skied for the Ski Club Jablonec from 1996-2007 and for the SKP Jablonex from 2007-09.

In The Classroom—Hajkova graduated ……... At Masaryk she studied sports sciences and majored in ski coaching and direction, nutrition and regeneration.

Personal—Eliska Hajkova was born January 29, 1988 and is the daughter of Petr Hajek and Libuse Hajkova. Her younger brother, Kristof Hajek is a drummer in the music group Soothing Harrow. She was named the third-best sportsperson of Jablonec in 2008. She chose to continue her skiing career at Colorado because of the school, the area and the people associated with the program. Her hobbies include poetry, theater, music and origami. She won the poetry competition Mag of the Month in Poetry with her poem entitled Childlike Games in 2007. She also does volunteer work for a hospital in the Czech Republic.