NCAA: Colorado, Utah neck-in-neck at WS Invite

By Published On: February 4th, 2008Comments Off on NCAA: Colorado, Utah neck-in-neck at WS Invite

Colorado senior Maria Grevsgaard made history Saturday, and the Buffaloes needed her performance to hang on to the lead in the Western State Invitational.
CRESTED BUTTE, Colorado — Colorado senior Maria Grevsgaard made history Saturday, and the Buffaloes needed her performance to hang on to the lead in the Western State Invitational.
    Conditions remained challenging, as snow fell throughout the day in an area that has been besieged by the white stuff the last month, along with temperatures in the single digits.  But unlike Friday, when only one run out of four in the giant slalom was completed, the slalom was run to completion.
    Colorado continues to lead the meet with 505.5 team points, as it is a three-school race for the third time in as many meets this winter. Utah is breathing down CU’s neck with 502 points, and Denver is in the hunt with 493. Nevada climbed into fourth with 361, passing New Mexico (360) as the two flip-flopped positions Saturday.  Alaska-Anchorage is a distant sixth (341).
    The men’s giant slalom, which once completed will be added in to the team scores to create the final standings, has been rescheduled for this Thursday, Feb. 7 in Taos, New Mexico, one day ahead of the New Mexico Invitational.  The women’s GS, which had one run completed, will count as-is for team scoring for the WSC meet, though the coaches will schedule another GS for the women for qualification purposes, likely one day ahead of regionals. The GS run at Crested Butte will also count toward qualifying.
    Grevsgaard had her closest call of the season but still won for the sixth time in as many races in winning the 10-kilometer freestyle in 29 minutes, 3.9 seconds.  That was good for a half-second win over Denver’s Annelise Bailly, who completed the course in 29:04.4; with the conditions (soft and blowing snow), the coaches decided against a mass start and sent the competitors off in 30-second intervals, thus there was no sprint toward the finish as would usually be the case in a freestyle race. Lenka Palanova of CU finished third in 29:33.1.
    The win was Grevsgaard’s 14th at Colorado and broke a tie with Per Kare Jakobsen for the most individual wins in the 59-year history of the CU ski team.  
    “It was a lot tighter for Maria, but with a little less than a kilometer to go, she was about 10 seconds [in the splits] behind Annelise,” CU nordic coordinator Bruce Cranmer said. “She knew it would be close, and she really revved it up at the end.  Kind of a nice way to get the record, showing she can win the close ones as well.”
    In the men’s 15-kilometer freestyle race, Utah skiers again finished 1-2 for the third straight outing.  Snorri Einarsson won in 35:56.6, besting teammate Even Sletten by nearly 12 seconds (he finished in 36:08.5).  Colorado senior Kit Richmond snared third in 36:26.8.
    As for the slalom, the results themselves are not entirely known due to Western State race officials’ unwillingness or incompetence to supply results to their own sports information department to disseminate to the other schools; no copies were provided to head coaches on site as well. Thus, there are no times available for Saturday’s slalom races, and no places available for any skier from any school if they were not among their team’s top three.
    Utah racers Eva Huckova and Tague Thorson won the women and men’s slalom events. Jenny Lathrop of Denver and CU’s Lucie Zikova rounded out the women’s top three, while Gregory Berger of Nevada and Seppi Stiegler of DU finished 2-3 for the men.
    The final competition ahead of the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association championships is set for next Friday and Saturday in Taos and Red River, N.M.  The RMISA meet, which doubles as the NCAA West Regional, will be in Bozeman, Mont., Feb. 22-23, the same site as next month’s NCAA Championships.

Western State Invitational Team Scores—1. Colorado 505.5;  2. Utah 502;  3. Denver 493.5;  4. Nevada 361;  5. New Mexico 360;  6. Alaska-Anchorage 341;  7. Montana State 306;  8. Whitman 176;  9. Western State 134;  10. Wyoming 48.

Women’s 10K Freestyle—1. Maria Grevsgaard, CU, 29:03.9;  2. Annelise Bailly, DU, 29:04.4;  3. Lenka Palanova, CU, 29:33.1;   4. Chelsea Holmes, UN, 29:59.1;  5. Kaelin Kiesel, MSU, 30:12.3;  6. Antje Maempel, DU, 30:22.5;  7. Devon Spika, WC, 30:27.5;  8. Sara Schweiger, Utah, 31:05.7;  9. Polina Ermoshina, UNM, 31:06.3;  10. Mia Gaw, CU, 31:10.7.
 
Men’s 15K Freestyle—1. Snorri Einarsson, Utah, 35:56.6;  2. Even Sletten, Utah, 36:08.5;  3. Kit Richmond, CU, 36:26.8;  4. Anders Folleraas, MSU, 36:38.2;  5. Raphael Wunderle, UAA, 36:47.7;  6. Mike Hinckley, DU, 37:07.4;  7. John Stene, DU, 37:10.9;  8. Lutz Preussler, UN, 37:19.4;  9. Gunnar Kristiansen, MSU, 37:20.1;  10. Andy Liebner, UAA, 37:22.8.
 
Women’s Slalom (TIMES, PLACES FOR NON-SCORERS UNAVAILABLE)
—1.Eva Huckova, Utah;  2. Jenny Lathrop, DU;  3. Lucie Zikova, CU;  4. Katie Hartman, CU;  5. Karin Ohlin, UNM;  6. Rachel Roosevelt, CU;  7. Stefanie Clocker, UAA;  8. Kristina Repcinova, UAA;  9. Katie Lyons, UN;  10. Allison Empey, UAA.

Men’s Slalom (TIMES, PLACES NON-SCORERS UNAVAILABLE)—1. Tague Thorson, Utah;  2. Gregory Berger, UN;  3. Seppi Stiegler, DU;  4. Thomas Zumbrunn, Utah;  5. John Buchar, DU;  6. Scott Veenis, Utah;  7. Tor Fodnesberge, UNM;  8. Francesco Ghedina, DU;  9. Drew Roberts, CU;  10. Toby Lamar, MSU.

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About the Author: Pete Rugh