NCAA Champs: DU Dominates Day 1

by Bryce Hubner

March 10, 2010

The University of Denver Pioneers absolutely slayed the competition on day one of the NCAA Championships here in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

Action kicked off with the men’s and women’s giant slalom races on Mount Werner, and by day’s end the Pioneers had accumulated a phenomenal 239 points — 42.5 points more than the University of Utah in second, and 60.5 points more than third-best Vermont.

The weather was cooperative for the women’s morning race, and though DU ruled the day as a team, no athlete was more impressive than Utah’s Eva Huckova, who convincingly won both ladies’ runs and claimed the 2010 NCAA GS title by almost a second. Huckova seemed content to ski a safe, smart line on the middle section of the course, where terrain was toughest — but when she reached the trail’s bottom flat each run, she hit a gear  no one else could match.

Denver’s Lindsay Cone, last year’s NCAA GS champion and this years RMISA MVP, raced to a super-solid second-place finish.

“I’m really proud of what Lindsay did today,” DU coach Andy LeRoy said after the race. “Last year she came into the championships with virtually no pressure. But it was a totally different story today, and she was carrying not only the weight of defending a title on her back, but our entire team as well. Given all that pressure, I think her second-place today is even more impressive than her victory last year.”

Cone was equally elated by her performance. “I haven’t had many good first runs this season,” Cone said. “So I was really psyched to be so close to the lead going into the second run, which is an area where I have been strong.”

Cone sat third, just .01 seconds behind New Mexico’s Anne Cecelie Brusletto, but leapfrogged the tough Norwegian on run number two — and fended off the rest of the field — to slide into second on the day. Despite her clutch performance and a tremendous individual accomplishment, Cone seemed even happier that her team had performed so well. Lady Pioneers Ida Dillingoen and Jennie Van Wagner also had exceptional days, finishing fifth and ninth, respectively.

“That was by far the best day we’ve had on the women’s alpine team all year,” Cone said. “I’m not sure if we’ve even had three girls in the top 15 at a regular carnival, so to have all three of us in the top 10 [at National Championships] is awesome.”

By the end of the morning, it looked like break-away-snow-cookie conditions could make for a rugged men’s race in the afternoon — a heavy dose of snow seemed imminent, too. But the track stayed solid, and when all was said and done a Norwegian Pioneer — having arrived by way of the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games — stood tallest: Leif Kristian Haugen one-upped his second-place performance from a year ago and claimed the 2010 title.

“There were a lot of people telling me I should win because I went to the Olympics this year and, to be honest, I felt quite a bit of pressure,” Haugen said. “And, of course, I really wanted to win because an individual title is not something I had accomplished yet.”

Haugen delivered for himself and for his school. His teammates did, too — AJ Arvin notched fifth while Andreas Kilde rounded out the great eight.

The men’s first run was incredibly tight. Vermont’s Chris Colpitts clocked in at 53.71, with Haugen running just .13 seconds behind and Vermont’s David Donaldson .17 seconds  back. A mere .23 seconds separated the six fastest men, setting up a thrilling showdown on the day’s final event.

Snow pounded the track as the second run commenced and it quickly became clear that and early starting position was a huge advantage — adding to the suspense as the field seemed to close on the leaders with every passing racer. Dartmouth’s Ace Tarberry — tied for fifth after the first run — took the top spot when he crossed the finish line. His lead held until Haugen showed his class a couple skies later — diving into each turn without reservation, adeptly handling the flat light and snowfall, and racing to a well-deserved victory.

“The last couple weeks have been great for me,” Haugen said. “After the Olympics I went back to school, caught up in some of my classes, and got some rest. We’ve also had a good couple weeks of training and racing leading up to this, so it’ been great.”

David Donaldson — EISA’s best skier all year — held on to his podium spot and took third, guiding Vermont to a strong third-place position on day one.

As for Denver’s stellar championships beginning, coach Andy LeRoy couldn’t have been more pleased.

“I’m just really happy for the athletes,” LeRoy said. “They’ve worked so hard all season leading into this, and today has been our best day by far.”

Action resumes tomorrow with men’s and women’s classic races at Howelsen Hill in downtown Steamboat Springs.

Women:
Rank    Bib    Name    Team    Club    Class    Result 1    Result 2    Combined
1      7    Huckova, Eva          UU     MID     58.67   (1)    55.87   (1)    1:54.54
2      2    Cone, Lindsay     USA     DU     MID     58.98   (3)    56.50   (7)    1:55.48
3      6    Hartman, Katie     USA     UCO     MID     59.27   (4)    56.59 (10)    1:55.86
4      5    Hemmingsson, Malin          UNM     MID     59.93   (5)    56.11   (2)    1:56.04
5      23    Dillingoen, Ida          DU     MID     1:00.02   (6)    56.22   (3)    1:56.24
6      1    Brusletto, Anne Cecilie          UNM     MID     58.97   (2)    57.38 (23)    1:56.35
7      18    Smith, Sofia L     USA     UU     MID     1:00.57 (10)    56.76 (12)    1:57.33
8      9    Hammond, Courtney R     USA     DART     MID     1:00.49   (8)    57.06 (20)    1:57.55
9      19    VanWagner, Jennie     USA     DU     MID     1:00.76 (11)    56.88 (14)    1:57.64
10      12    Parker, Alex          UAA     MID     1:00.52   (9)    57.13 (21)    1:57.65
10      8    Ryley, Meg          UVM     MID     1:00.25   (7)    57.40 (24)    1:57.65
12     &
nbsp;10    Ghent, Erika     USA     UCO     MID     1:00.86 (12)    57.04 (19)    1:57.90
13      3    Janowiak, Lyndee M     USA     UVM     MID     1:01.17 (14)    56.79 (13)    1:57.96
14      29    Kocken, Anna          UU     MID     1:01.54 (19)    56.60 (11)    1:58.14
15      17    Lepine, Marie-Elaine          UNH     MID     1:01.69 (24)    56.52   (8)    1:58.21
16      27    Williams, Kate     USA     UNM     MID     1:00.96 (13)    57.30 (22)    1:58.26
17      28    Roddick, Kelsey     USA     DART     MID     1:02.13 (26)    56.27   (4)    1:58.40
18      11    Durham, Ashley Kate          STL     MID     1:01.46 (16)    56.95 (16)    1:58.41
19      25    Gantnerova, Petra          UAA     MID     1:01.54 (19)    56.89 (15)    1:58.43
20      4    Kechian, Valerie O     USA     UVM     MID     1:01.48 (17)    57.00 (18)    1:58.48
21      24    Lonza, Geordie C     USA     WIL     MID     1:01.62 (22)    56.98 (17)    1:58.60
22      20    Archambault-Leger, Veronique          UNH          1:02.21 (27)    56.52   (8)    1:58.73
23      30    Breakstone, Dana A     USA     CLB     MID     1:01.28 (15)    57.71 (29)    1:58.99
23      22    Dvorak, Nicole     USA     MID     MID     1:02.61 (29)    56.38   (6)    1:58.99
25      16    Nordh, Carolina          UCO          1:01.61 (21)    57.43 (25)    1:59.04
26      13    Farrell, Aileen          UNH     MID     1:01.63 (23)    57.60 (27)    1:59.23
27      26    Rendall, Annie     USA     DART     J-1     1:03.01 (30)    56.35   (5)    1:59.36
28      33    Lattimer, Amy          MSU     MID     1:02.46 (28)    57.70 (28)    2:00.16
29      15    Porter, Emily     USA     WIL     MID     1:03.33 (32)    59.97 (30)    2:03.30
30      32    Woodworth, Natasha M     USA     MID     MID     1:03.54 (33)    1:00.03 (31)    2:03.57
31      34    Carter, Laurel     USA     WIL     MID     1:04.36 (34)    1:00.39 (32)    2:04.75
32      35    Fry, Kayla     USA     UAA     J-1     1:03.31 (31)    1:04.46 (33)    2:07.77
33      14    Poleschuk, Nicole          UNR     J-1     1:17.20 (35)    57.43 (25)    2:14.63
34      21    Harris, Amy     USA     UNR     MID     1:01.83 (25)    1:45.91 (34)    2:47.74
35      31    Horst, Erika     USA     UNR     MID     1:01.49 (18)    4:05.23 (35)    5:06.72

Men:
Rank    Bib    Name    Team    Club    Class    Result 1    Result 2    Combined
1      8    Haugen, Leif Kristian          DU     MID     53.84   (2)    55.00   (5)    1:48.84
2      5    Tarberry, Ace     USA     DART     MID     53.94   (5)    55.07   (8)    1:49.01
3      9    Donaldson, David          UVM     MID     53.88   (3)    55.25 (12)    1:49.13
4      3    Shpall, Bryan     USA     MID     MID     53.88   (3)    55.40 (13)    1:49.28
5      4    Avrin, A J     USA     DU     MID     54.23   (7)    55.40 (13)    1:49.63
6      2    Colpitts, Chris     USA     UVM     MID     53.71   (1)    56.02 (23)    1:49.73
7      10    Schwab, Thomas          UNM     MID     54.70   (9)    55.09   (9)    1:49.79
8      12    Kilde, Andreas          DU     MID     54.49   (8)    55.41 (15)    1:49.90
9      35    Krogdahl, Torjus          UU     MID     56.08 (26)    54.22   (1)    1:50.30
9      14    Adde, Andreas          UAA     MID     55.14 (13)    55.16 (10)    1:50.30
11      11    Cremeno, Michael V  
   USA     UNH     MID     54.97 (11)    55.42 (16)    1:50.39
12      18    Kung, Kyle J     USA     UU     MID     55.11 (12)    55.59 (18)    1:50.70
13      25    Lamb, Max     USA     UU     J-1     55.65 (18)    55.06   (7)    1:50.71
14      27    Mackie, Michael          MSU          55.93 (25)    55.05   (6)    1:50.98
15      29    Acosta, Christopher     USA     UNM     J-1     56.21 (27)    54.82   (4)    1:51.03
16      1    Rivas, Gabriel          UCO          53.94   (5)    57.10 (29)    1:51.04
17      13    Leafe, Trevor W     USA     DART     MID     56.53 (30)    54.55   (2)    1:51.08
18      21    Falkum-Hansen, Halfdan          UAA     MID     55.50 (17)    55.61 (19)    1:51.11
19      7    Gilbert, Erik     USA     UVM     MID     54.80 (10)    56.38 (26)    1:51.18
20      26    Lund, Jacob     USA     MID     MID     55.80 (21)    55.54 (17)    1:51.34
21      23    Nelson, Spencer     USA     UCO     J-1     55.39 (15)    56.07 (24)    1:51.46
22      30    Lebrun-Fortin, Vincent          CLB     MID     55.86 (23)    55.66 (20)    1:51.52
23      19    Kernan, Joshua     USA     CLB     MID     55.72 (19)    55.91 (22)    1:51.63
24      34    Heldman, Bump     USA     BATES     MID     55.80 (21)    55.86 (21)    1:51.66
25      33    Barber, Christopher          MSU          55.44 (16)    56.23 (25)    1:51.67
26      32    Manter, Benjamin     USA     BATES     MID     56.49 (29)    55.19 (11)    1:51.68
27      31    Roberts, Drew     USA     UCO     MID     1:01.81 (31)    57.00 (28)    1:58.81
28      24    Poehling, Bobby     USA     MID     MID     55.90 (24)    1:03.23 (32)    1:59.13
29      6    Brenna, Petter          UNM     MID     1:04.46 (32)    54.72   (3)    1:59.18
30      15    Ford, William W     USA     UNH     MID     55.72 (19)    1:05.19 (33)    2:00.91
31      20    McLaughry, Luke J     USA     DART     MID     1:08.24 (33)    57.67 (30)    2:05.91
32      17    Atkinson, Paul          UNH     MID     1:12.85 (34)    56.85 (27)    2:09.70
33      16    Harris, Martin     USA     UNR     MID     55.37 (14)    1:24.42 (34)    2:19.79
34      28    Harden, Braden     USA     STM     MID     1:23.70 (35)    58.66 (31)    2:22.36
35      22    Dyroff, Robert Alex     USA     WIL     MID     56.41 (28)    1:30.70 (35)    2:27.11

Photos: UNM’s Petter Brenna en route to a third-place second run. DU’s 2010 NCAA GS champ, Leif Kristian Haugen.

Credit: Bryce Hubner