NCAA: DU's Cole wins men's giant slalom

Adam Cole gave Denver its first NCAA giant slalom national title since 1994 on Thursday, winning the men’s race at Attitash, New Hampshire to lead two Pioneers in the top three.

ATTITASH, N.H. — Adam Cole gave Denver its first giant slalom national title since 1994 on Thursday, winning the men’s race to lead two Pioneers in the top three and move Denver into second place overall.   
    Cole followed radioed advice of teammates to "avoid the gusts," as the skies cleared before the second run and gusting, swirling winds blew snow up the race hill. Cole, a former junior world champion and a three-time medalist at the World University Games earlier this winter, finished the two-run race in an unofficial 2 minutes, 20.42 seconds. Dartmouth’s Evan Weiss finished second in 2:21.09, while DU’s Francesco Ghedina finished third in 2:22.17, setting up a battle between the two schools.
   "I think I did have less wind," said Cole, "but I did give myself a cushion after the first run starting third, so I think that helped a little. But when I got through the top pitch with not much wind I knew if I just hung in there the rest of the way I would probably end up pretty good. Our team needed this day pretty bad. Dartmouth's very solid this year. We're looking at our better events coming up, I think. All three of our guys can win in slalom. I said I wanted all three in the top eight and we were one-four and 14 [actually 1-3-14], which is pretty good."
    While Weiss said the wind did not bother his run much, it was a factor. "There's wind up there," Weiss said. "Once you get going in the gates it's hard to really tell [because] you're so focused. It was a good race. Conditions were great. It is what it is. Sometimes you're on the right side and sometimes you're on the bad side."
    In terms of the Dartmouth effort, Weiss said, "I think Dave [Chodounsky] was on the wrong side of the wind there, so that's not so awesome for us. But two guys in the top 10 or there abouts, and the third not too far out. I'm looking forward to watching our nordic guys tomorrow. Think they're going to want some revenge after yesterday's performance. So we're looking good."
    Middlebury’s Andrew Wagner and Lars Loeseth of New Mexico rounded out the top five. Finishing sixth through 10th were defending NCAA GS champ Scott Veenis of Utah, Nevada’s Scott Hume, New Mexico’s Tor Fodnesbergene, Stefan Hughes of Colorado and Nevada’s Cameron Barnes.
    Dartmouth maintained the lead in the team results after two events by a single point — 330-329 — over Denver. The University of Utah sits third at 280.

Click here for full results.

NCAA Championship Team Scores (through four events) —1. Dartmouth 330;  2. Denver 329;  3. Utah 280;  4. Colorado 275;  5. Vermont 211.5;  6. Middlebury 204;  7. Northern Michigan 189;  8. Nevada 181.5;  9. New Mexico 177;  10. Montana State 145;  11. Alaska-Anchorage 124;  12. Bates 118;  13. New Hampshire 108;  14. Alaska-Fairbanks 130;  15. Williams 84;  16. Western State 71;  17. Colby 66;  18. Michigan Tech 42;  19. St. Lawrence 23;  20. St. Olaf 6;  21 (tie). Whitman and Wisconsin-Green Bay 0.