Denver edges Utah in RMISA season finale

By Published On: March 2nd, 2020Comments Off on Denver edges Utah in RMISA season finale

It was another sunny race series for the RMISA skiers as they raced their last RMISA Qualifier and the RMISA Championships in Bridger Bowl, Montana. With the NCAA Championships just two weeks away on the same hill, the skiers took full advantage of the races.

In the RMISA Qualifier GS, Denver University women had a strong showing. From the first run Storm Klomhaus was able to ski her way to second place with a 54.96 just 0.07 behind Colorado’s Mikaela Tommy who posted a swift 54.89. In third place first run was Andrea Komsic of DU.

Going into second run, it was Utah’s Kathryn Parker and CU’s Stef Fleckenstein who made moves jumping up 3 spots. Parker moved to fourth place and Fleckenstein skied her way to a bronze-medal finish. Klomhaus was able to out-ski Tommy second run winning overall with a 1:51.54 with a slight 0.17 advantage over Tommy who ended up in second. This is Klomhaus’s second win of the season and Tommy’s eighth podium finish.

On the men’s side, Denver’s Tobias Kogler ripped down the GS to win the first run just 0.02 ahead of Aage Solheim with a 54.92. Filip Forejtek sat in third following run one with a 55.66.

“The snow conditions were really soft and I took advantage of my bib in the first run, I had a really solid and clean first run,” said Kogler on his speedy first run.

With a narrow lead, Kogler made sure to ski fast and clean second run to secure the overall with the time of 1:52.34. Gustav Vollo (UU) finished behind him with a 1:53.85, and MSU’s Riley Seger rounded out the podium in third. First run’s first- and second-place skiers Solheim and Forejtek DQ’d on the second run.

“I didn’t make any mistakes in the bumpy second course, overall a cool day,” remarked Kogler on his GS win.

RMISA Regionals GS

In the second day of the GS races, familiar names this season skied their way to the podium. After run one, Mikaela Tommy (CU) raced down to first place just a tenth ahead of the previous day’s winner, Storm Klomhaus (DU).  In third, following first run was Julia Toivainen (WMC) with 1:00.67.  In the second run, Stef Fleckenstein (CU) made moves from sixth to third overall, with the second fastest time on second run. Tommy and Klomhaus remained consistent in one and two. Rounding out the top five was Toivanen in fourth and Amelia Smart (DU) in fifth.

On the men’s side, last week’s back-to-back winner Joachim Lien (UU) sped his way to first place with the time of 58.86. Tobias Kogler (DU) skied to second, and Aage Solheim (MSU) finished third.

“It was a difficult race on soft conditions. Running first in the first run was definitely an advantage, and I’m happy that I managed to take care of that opportunity,” said Lien.

Second run brought a strong performance by Filip Foretjek who took over the third spot on the podium overall posting the combined time of 1:53.69. Kogler and Lien maintained their places on the podium. Lien won with a 1:52.93 and Kogler took second with a 1:53.45.

“Second run was a bumpy ride and ride and I’m happy with how I let it go,” said Lien.  This is Lien’s fourth win out of six races in the past two weekends. “The last week has been pretty sweet four of six wins, can’t really complain. Probably going to stress more about school than skiing the next week and just try to keep the momentum going into NCAAs.”

RMISA Regionals SL

In the season finale for the RMISA skiers, the racers had to deal with soft snow in a long slalom making for an exciting day to give it their all.

In the men’s first run Simon Fournier of DU made his way down through the soft surface the fastest as he posted a 52.37 first run. Filip Foretjek (CU) took second with a 52.80 and Mikkel Solbakken (WMC) grabbed third with a 52.97.

“The snow conditions were really soft and I tried to ski smooth and soft on the skis,” said Kogler who sat in fourth following the first run.

In the second run Kogler skied clean to finish with a solid second-run time that proved to be fast as the rest of the top five made their way down. Kogler finished first overall overtaking the field with a combined time of 1:48.55, just 0.01 ahead of second place’s Filip Forejtek. Simon Fournier slipped to third overall.

“I had a rough slalom season and wasn’t expecting such a good result,” exclaimed Kogler on his slalom win. “It was good to end the RMISA season with a win especially for NCAA’s in one week. Confidence is high on the whole DU team.”

In the women’s race, it was the Denver women in full force as they went 1-2-3 in the slalom. Amelia Smart (DU) showing off her speedy slalom skills won first run with a 58.53, Klomhaus skied to second with a 58.94 and Katie Hensien raced to third with a 59.30. The three Pioneers were not going to let anyone out-ski them as they all skied consistent to keep their podium spots. The DU women swept the podium and placed five in the top seven. Smart won with the combined time of 1:53.24.

“Regionals in Montana was such a cool experience overall. The snow was pretty soft but we were still able to pull off three good races,” said Klomhaus on Denver’s performance.

Denver University skis away with the team win in Bridger Bowl, Montana

The Denver University team skied away with the team win for combined Nordic and alpine, racking up 688 points, slightly edging out Utah’s 678 points. Colorado took third with 643 points.

“Racing as a senior is really emotional but having your entire team there makes is special,” said Klomhaus who raced her last RMISA season race as a senior this weekend.

The NCAA Championships is held March 11-14 at Bridger Bowl where college skiers from the EISA and RMISA will compete for the 2020 NCAA Championship title.

Women’s RMISA Qualifier GS Results

Men’s RMISA Qualifier GS Results

Women’s RMISA RegionalsGS Results

Men’s RegionalsGS Results

Women’s RegionalsSL Results

Men’s RegionalsSL Results

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About the Author: Sierra Ryder

A San Francisco Bay Area native and Bates College graduate, Sierra Ryder has ski raced all over the country starting in the West growing up skiing on The Squaw Valley Ski Team, and then back East on the EISA NCAA circuit. Sierra is a proud Bates Bobcat and is grateful to have skied carnivals for four years serving as a captain for the Bates ski team her senior year. She now resides in San Francisco where she works for the CBS San Francisco News affiliate KPIX5. When she is not working you can find her running on Crissy field or skiing at Squaw.