Buffaloes send herd to World University Games

Cameron Smith, who will represent Team USA at the World University Games, in NorAm action earlier this season (GEPA/Andreas Pranter)

TRENTINO, Italy — The University of Colorado Ski Team will be represented by 12 current and two former student-athletes in the 26th Winter Universiade, also known as World University Games, held across Italy from December 11-21, 2013.

The total of 14 student-athletes are the most the Buffs have ever sent to a single Games.

CU coach Richard Rokos is once again the head alpine coach for the United States for the World University Games, as he has been seven previous times. He lead Team USA to the best performance by any U.S. alpine team on foreign soil the last time out in Erzurum, Turkey, when the alpine team won seven of the eight medals brought home by the United States during the entire games.

Rokos doesn’t anticipate a performance that dominant this time around for the United States, but is nonetheless excited both by what his United States squad can accomplish, as well as by his “other” team at the games, the University of Colorado.

“I’m not sure if we can exceed the last performance,” Rokos said. “Not everybody will compete in the super G and Downhill. But I think we can have some excellent performances in slalom and giant slalom races.”

Turning a potential negative into a positive, Rokos said these games will be less like past games with regards to the social aspects. The World University Games are supposed to be like an Olympic Games with a common housing and expected participation at other events, but with the event spanning some 75 miles, that will be nearly impossible this time around.

“Alpine specifically, we will be pretty secluded,” Rokos explained. “It’s not your typical Games, but I’m looking forward to good training. There are five or six ski areas close by we can train on all of them while we are there. These games were originally supposed to be in Slovania, so when they were moved to Italy, some of the social aspects couldn’t move with them.”

The 14 Buffs will represent seven different countries at these games. Rokos will coach four of his own team members that represent 33 percent of the U.S. alpine contingent. Shane McLean and Brooke Wales will ski for the women’s alpine team for the United States and Fletcher McDonald and Cameron Smith will strap up their boots on the men’s side.

In addition to the location making it more difficult for athlete interaction between sports, the games will also for the first time not interfere with the schedule for the ski teams in the United States. The Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association schedule, as in most years, will begin the first week of January and the games will be over before Christmas. That means the training aspect will be even more rewarding for all those athletes in attendance.

The Buffs will send six other alpine skiers, Roger Carry from Canada, Thea Grosvold from Norway, Henrik Gunnarsson from Sweden, Kasper Hietanen and Jessica Honkonen from Finland, and Adam Zika from the Czech Republic. Further, the Buffs will be represented by four Nordic athletes, two current and two former. Arnaud Du Pasquier will represent Switzerland and Rune Oedegaard Norway before returning back to Boulder prior to the start of the 2014 season.

Additionally, Eliska Hajkova, who finished her degree requirements prior to leaving for Italy, is hoping to replace her attendance at the CU Winter Commencement on Dec. 20 with a trip to the podium in Italy. Hajkova will remain in Europe and has a solid chance to represent her home country of the Czech Republic at the Winter Olympics in Sochi in February. Former CU Nordic skier Gustav Nordstroem, who helped the Buffs to the 2013 NCAA Championship and returned to study closer to home in Sweden at the end of the 2013 spring semester, will be in attendance at the Games.

Alpine skiers begin Friday, December 13, and action begins with both men’s and women’s downhill races, both medal events. The men remain on the slopes on Saturday, Dec. 14 in super G action, while the women’s super G is slated for Sunday, Dec. 15.

After everybody has a rest day Monday, Sept. 16, action resumes Tuesday, Dec. 17 with men’s giant slalom action. The women hold their GS races on Wednesday, Dec. 18. The men’s slalom will take place Dec. 19 and medals for the men’s combined will also be awarded. The women close down the games Dec. 20 with slalom action and the awarding of the combined medals.

The cross country teams will begin racing on Thursday, Dec. 12 with a total of 11 medals at stake. Action begins that day with the men’s and women’s skiathlon. The women will ski a 5K classic and 5K freestyle race and combine results. The men will do so with 7.5K distances. After a day off, on Saturday, Dec. 14, the sprint classic races begin with quarterfinals, semifinals and finals all taking place that day for both men and women. On Sunday, Dec. 15, the mixed sprint freestyle races will take place.

Another off day on Monday, Dec. 16, is followed by the women’s 5K and men’s 10K freestyle races on Tuesday, Dec. 17. Thursday, Dec. 19 will see the women’s 3x5K relay and men’s 4x10K relay races. The women’s 15K classical race will happen Friday, Dec. 20 and then the cross country portion closes action on Saturday, Dec. 21 with the men’s 30K classical race.

The Buffs in attendance and events they will all compete in:

• Roger Carry, Men’s Alpine, Canada, Downhill, GS, Slalom, super G
• Arnaud Du Pasquier, Men’s Nordic, Switzerland, 10K Freestyle, Skiathlon, Sprint Classic
• Thea Grosvold, Women’s Alpine, Norway, GS, Slalom, super G
• Henrik Gunnarsson, Men’s Alpine, Sweden, GS, Slalom
• *Eliska Hajkova, Women’s Nordic, Czech Republic, 15K Classic, 5K Freestyle, Skiathlon, Sprint Classic
• Kasper Hietanen, Men’s Alpine, Finalnd, GS, Slalom
• Jessica Honkonen, Women’s Alpine, Finland, GS, Slalom
• Fletcher McDonald, Men’s Alpine, United States, Downhill, GS, Slalom, super G
• Shane McLean, Women’s Alpine, United States, Downhill, GS, Slalom, super G
• *Gustav Nordstroem, Men’s Nordic, Sweden, 10K Freestyle, Skiathlon, Sprint Classic
• Rune Oedegaard, Men’s Nordic, Norway, 10K Freestyle, Relay, Skiathlon, Sprint Classic
• Cameron Smith, Men’s Alpine, United States, Downhill, GS, Slalom, super G
• Brooke Wales, Women’s Alpine, United States, Downhill, GS, Slalom, super G
• Adam Zika, Men’s Alpine, Czech Republic, GS, Slalom, super G

Release courtesy of Colorado Buffaloes Skiing