NCAA: DU tops CU to halt Buffs' win streak

Two individual wins, a great showing in the women’s slalom and a little bit of history weren’t enough for the defending national champion University of Colorado ski team.
TWO INDIVIDUAL WINS, a great showing in the women’s slalom and a little bit of history weren’t enough for the defending national champion University of Colorado ski team.
    John Buchar of Ostersund, Sweden, won the men’s slalom Saturday, and Adam Cole of Park City, Utah, finished second, helping the University of Denver Pioneers capture the Denver Invitational.
    The Buffaloes had won five straight meets, one short of the school record set in 1995, but the streak ended this weekend as DU racked up 550 points to 538 for Colorado.  
    Denver’s score of 550 points was 16 better than Colorado (534), which had won the first two meets this season. Utah (505), New Mexico (434) and Montana State (409) rounded out the top five.
    Ian Dunlop and Sean Higgins did not finish, so Denver received only two scores in the men’s alpine race.
    Francesco Ghedina did not start the race due to a hand injury he sustained during Friday’s giant slalom race.
    On the women’s side, Claire Abbe was second, Molly Ryan seventh, Karine Falck-Pedersen 14th, Lindsay McClure 15th and Jenny Tank 17th.
    On Friday, winds affected the timing for the giant slalom racers, so results were not made official until this evening.
    Cole finished second in the men’s race, Buchar was fourth and Ghedina came in seventh for the Pioneers, while Higgins and Dunlop finished in 38th and 45th, respectively.
    Tank was the highest finisher for DU’s women in the GS at seventh, while Ryan and Abbe scored in 12th and 15th, respectively.
    Rene Reisshauer once again paced the men’s nordic team, finishing second in the classical race in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. John Stene was fourth, Mike Hinckley eighth and Havard Selseng 10th.
    Kara LaPoint came in seventh in the women’s classical, followed by Annelise Baily in 11th and Courtney Dauwalter in 16th.
    Utah finished third with 478, with New Mexico a distant fourth 434.
    The CU women’s alpine did team did everything it could Saturday, placing five skiers in the top 11 in the slalom, including two medalists. Junior Lucie Zikova swept the events, adding the slalom crown to her giant slalom title on Friday, as she used the fastest morning run of 42.79 seconds to a two-run time of 1:33.3, which was good for almost a full-second win over Abbe (1:34.27). Freshman Heidi Hillenbrand, who had the second-fastest first run (42.90) took the bronze with a 1:34.40 clocking.
    Zikova’s win was the 10th of her career, becoming the sixth CU skier since the sport went coed in 1983 to reach double figures in wins.  Being only a junior, she has as many as nine meets remaining to take over the top spot, both overall and in alpine. Per Kare Jakobsen won 13 men’s cross-country titles to lead all Buffs skiers, following by John Skajem, the alpine leader with 12. Line Selnes and Anette Skjolden won 11 women’s nordic events, and Bjorn Svensson captured 10 men’s cross-country races.
    It was the third time Zikova won both the GS and slalom at the same meet, the only three by a Buffalos skier since 1994, when Andreja Rojs won both events, also at DU’s invite. Zikova now trails oonly Skajem in all-time alpine meet sweeps, as he had four over the 1986-87 seasons.
    Also shining in the slalom were sophomore Lisa Perricone, who finished eighth in 1:35.97, senior Kristin Taylor, who in finishing 10th in 1:36.62 posted her best finish of the season, and junior Rachel Roosevelt, literally right behind Taylor by one-one-hundredth of a second in 1:36.63 to grab 11th.
    “You can’t ask for much better in slalom,” CU head coach Richard Rokos said. “We’ve posted a lot better results in slalom, we just have some issues in GS right now.  The girls skied awesome, and Lucie has been amazing. She’s our star. She is skiing with such confidence and such leverage that it’s a pure delight just to watch her.”
    In the women’s 10 km freestyle at Howelson Hill in Steamboat Springs, junior Maria Grevsgaard won her fourth race this season, her third classic in as many races, as she cruised to the victory in a 35:57.6 time. That bested runner-up Polina Ermoshina of New Mexico by over a minute-and-a-half.
    “Maria’s win was simply just great, she again won by a large margin,” CU nordic coordinator Bruce Cranmer said. “She looks strong and confident, especially in classic where no one’s really pushed her recently. She was strong at the finish and looked like she had more in her when she crossed the finish line.  She’s on top of her game, everything is going well, she doesn’t feel like she is at her peak and it’s great to see. Hopefully that will help pick the other girls up.”
    In the men’s 15 km version, freshman Matt Gelso led three Buffs in the top 11, as he finished third in a 47:18.3 effort. It was Gelso’s fifth top-three finish in six races this year, including one win, his second straight bronze effort in the DU meet. Utah’s Snorri Einarsson won in a sprint, as his time of 46:58.4 just topped Denver’s Reisshauer, who was clocked in 47:00.1. Junior Kit Richmond finished sixth in 48:22.7, while sophomore Karl Nygren took 11th in 48:45.9.
    The New Mexico Invitational is next up, set for Santa Fe and Red River next weekend (February 9-10).

Denver Invitational results
Denver Invitational Team Scores—1. Denver 550;  2. Colorado 538;  3. Utah 478;  4. New Mexico 434;  5. Montana State 415;  6. Alaska-Anchorage 398;  7. Nevada 321;  8. Western State 206;  9. Whitman 122;  10. Wyoming 21.
 
Women’s Slalom—1. Lucie Zikova, CU, 1:33.33;  2. Claire Abbe, DU, 1:34.27;  3. Heidi Hillenbrand, CU, 1:34.40;  4. Mikaela Grassl, Utah, 1:35.35;  5. Katie Lyons, UN, 1:35.65;  6. Malin Hemingsson, UNM, 1:35.82;  7. Molly Ryan, DU, 1:35.88;  8. Lisa Perricone, CU, 1:35.97;  9. Smaranda Munteanu, UAA, 1:36.61;  10. Kristin Taylor, CU, 1:36.62.  Other CU Skiers: 11. Rachel Roosevelt, CU, 1:36.63;  25. Leslie Fox, 1:42.21.
 
Men’s Slalom—1. John Buchar, DU, 1:24.71;  2. Adam Cole, DU, 1:24.73;  3. Scott Hume, UN, 1:25.05;  4. Lars Loeseth, UNM, 1:25.25;  5. Tague Thorson, Utah, 1:25.36;  6. Alex Mach, UNM, 1:25.50;  7. Jon Masdal, UNM, 1:25.65;  8. Cory Harris, MSU, 1:25.67;  9. Drew Roberts, CU, 1:25.68; 10. Cameron Barnes, UN, 1:25.99.  Other CU Skiers: 12. Arman Serebrakian, 1:27.26;  14. Josh Bryan, 1:27.64;  28. Tony Cesolini, 1:43.50;  32. Stefan Hughes, 2:03.78.  Disqualified: Miles Cooke (first run).
 
Men’s Giant Slalom (Friday; results made official Saturday at 3 p.m.)—1. Lars Loeseth, UNM, 1:54.57;  2. Adam Cole, DU, 1:56.98;  3. Tor Fodnesbergene, UNM, 1:56.99;  4. John Buchar, DU, 1:57.07;  5. Alex Mach, UNM, 1:57.06;  6. Francesco Ghedina, 1:57.33;  7. Scott Veenis, Utah, 1:57.46;  8. Don Brockett, MSU, 1:57.48;  9. Tony Cesolini, CU, 1:57.56;  10. Miles Cooke, CU, 1:57.71.  Other CU Skiers: 12. Stefan Hughes, 1:58.10;  27. Drew Roberts, 2:00.67;  37. Arman Serebrakian, 2:45.73.  Did Not Start (second run): Josh Bryan.
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Women’s Giant Slalom (Friday, results official Saturday a.m.)—1. Lucie Zikova, CU, 1:52.19;  2. Sarah Schaedler, WSC, 1:52.51;  3. Katie Lyons, UN, 1:53.92;  4. Malin Hemingsson, UNM, 1:54.31;  5. Smaranda Munteanu, UAA, 1:54.56;  6. Spela Bertonelj, MSU, 1:54.65;  7. Jennifer Tank, DU, 1:54.86;  8. Rachel Roosevelt, CU, 1:54.96;  9. Alison Empey, UAA, 1:56.09; 10. Carmel McElroy, MSU 1:56.24.  Other CU Skiers: 14. Heidi Hillenbrand, 1:56.76; 18. Kristin Taylor, 1:57.89;  29. Leslie Fox, 2:02.73.  Did Not Start (second run): Lisa Perricone.
 
Women’s 10K Classical—1. Maria Grevsgaard, CU, 35:57.6;  2. Polina Ermoshina, UNM, 37:28.4;  3. Jamie Woelk, MSU, 37:38.3;  4. Sara Schweiger, Utah, 37:49.5;  5. Kasandra Rice, UAA, 38:07.7;  6. Sarah MacCarthy, Utah, 38:12.5;  7. Kara LaPoint, DU, 38:15.0;  8. Andlies Cook, Utah, 38:23.9;  9. Melanie Zemp, UNM, 38:25.8;  10. Mandy Bowden, MSU, 38:27.9.  Other CU Results: 14. Mia Gaw, 39:13.9;  20. Kristin Ronnestrand, 39:48.3;  31. Lenka Palanova, 43:06.8; 42. Megan Wilder, 48:26.7.  
 
Men’s 15K Classical—1. Snorri Einarsson, Utah, 46:58.4;  2. Rene Reisshauer, DU, 47:00.1;  3. Matt Gelso, CU, 47:18.3;  4. John Stene, DU, 47:38.1;  5. Andy Liebner, UAA, 47:44.6;  6. Kit Richmond, CU, 48:22.7;  7. Even Sletten, Utah, 48:29.9;  8. Mike Hinckley, DU, 48:32.7;  9. Raphael Wunderle, UAA, 48:39.6;  10. Havard Selseng, DU, 48:49.5. Other CU Results: 11. Karl Nygren, 48:45.9;  29. Garret Reid, 52:20.7;  34. Joaquin Goodpaster, 53:35.1.