New Mexico's Rasanen wins World University Games slalom

Rasanen at World University Games (Jessica Honkonen)

The 2013 NCAA slalom champion, Joonas Rasanen of the University of New Mexico, repeated the feat on a grander stage by winning the World University Games slalom race on Thursday (Dec. 19) at Pozza di Fassa in Trentino, Italy. Skiing on behalf of his home nation of Finland, New Mexico junior Rasanen bested World Cup and Europa Cup regulars including runner-up Adam Zampa of Slovakia and third-place finisher Krystof Kryzl of the Czech Republic. Hig Roberts of Middlebury College finished 19th as the top athlete from Team USA.

“I knew that I couldn’t hold back at all because of the guys behind me and also that I had a good chance to get a medal with a solid second run,” said Rasanen, a former Finnish national team member. “I guess I put one down and am super stoked about the outcome.”

Rasanen came from behind in the second run to move from fourth position into the lead, similar to what he accomplished at the 2013 NCAA championships, where he won the national title after skiing from third place to overtake the first run winner. In Italy, Rasanen used smart tactics once again to grab the win.

“The conditions were good, it was like skiing in Colorado. The snow was grippy and nice, and the second course was normal except for a lot of combinations. I think the course setter knew that all the racers where students and he wanted to test our memory,” joked Rasanen.

The University of New Mexico couldn’t be more pleased with Rasanen’s success this year.

“This is a huge accomplishment for Joonas and will give him great confidence for the rest of the year,” said head UNM ski coach Fredrik Landstedt.

In the women’s slalom, Colorado Buffalo Jessica Honkonen — also skiing for Finland — was the fastest NCAA athlete in 15th. She was followed by her CU teammate Thea Grosvold of Norway in 19th and another Buffalo and top Team USA finisher Brooke Wales in 20th.

The University of Utah’s Lauren Samuels took home top honors for both NCAA skiers and Team USA members in the women’s giant slalom on Dec. 18 by finishing 13th with Wales as the next best in 18th.

The World University Games concluded at the end of last week just in time for the holidays.

Results Men’s Slalom

Rank	Bib	FIS Code	Name	Year	Nation	Run 1	Run 2	Total Time	FIS Points
1	10	180567	RASANEN Joonas	1989	FIN	45.57	46.52	1:32.09	6.00
2	14	700830	ZAMPA Adam	1990	SVK	45.03	47.22	1:32.25	7.08
3	13	150644	KRYZL Krystof	1986	CZE	45.85	46.87	1:32.72	10.24
4	1	481148	MAYTAKOV Sergei	1990	RUS	45.18	47.56	1:32.74	10.38
5	7	291318	TONETTI Riccardo	1989	ITA	46.28	46.80	1:33.08	12.67
6	3	201896	STEHLE Dominik	1986	GER	45.63	47.51	1:33.14	13.07
7	2	92562	PRISADOV Stefan	1990	BUL	45.81	47.77	1:33.58	16.03
8	5	550054	ZVEJNIEKS Kristaps	1992	LAT	45.80	48.02	1:33.82	17.65
9	28	700868	FALAT Matej	1993	SVK	46.92	47.12	1:34.04	19.13
10	21	304242	NARITA Hideyuki	1993	JPN	46.98	47.20	1:34.18	20.07
11	17	303097	ISHII Tomoya	1989	JPN	46.60	47.63	1:34.23	20.41
12	12	561161	JAZBEC Patrick	1989	SLO	46.56	47.70	1:34.26	20.61
13	23	511817	STRICKER Martin	1991	SUI	46.73	47.54	1:34.27	20.68
14	24	501751	STEDING Daniel	1992	SWE	46.99	47.40	1:34.39	21.48
15	4	60160	ALAERTS Kai	1989	BEL	46.46	48.05	1:34.51	22.29
16	8	561146	MLINSEK Filip	1988	SLO	45.75	48.89	1:34.64	23.17
17	40	690571	ROMANO Francesco	1991	ITA	47.85	46.94	1:34.79	24.18
18	25	511776	GASPOZ Vincent	1991	SUI	46.71	48.16	1:34.87	24.72
19	26	934566	ROBERTS Hig	1991	USA	47.42	47.47	1:34.89	24.85
20	20	501873	LUNDBAECK Gustav	1993	SWE	47.57	47.69	1:35.26	27.34
21	37	180631	PENTTINEN Juho-Pekka	1991	FIN	48.71	46.73	1:35.44	28.55
22	33	303219	NAKAMURA Kazushi	1989	JPN	48.49	47.00	1:35.49	28.89
23	46	370022	JENOT Olivier	1988	MON	48.20	47.40	1:35.60	29.63
24	6	303696	KONO Kyosuke	1991	JPN	48.38	47.23	1:35.61	29.70
25	39	511867	NOGER Cedric	1992	SUI	48.70	46.96	1:35.66	30.04
26	32	531392	JAMPOLSKY Grant	1989	USA	48.03	47.66	1:35.69	30.24
27	41	180667	HIETANEN Kasper	1991	FIN	47.76	48.04	1:35.80	30.98
28	19	53859	TRIENDL Armin	1989	AUT	48.72	47.52	1:36.24	33.94
29	18	532232	MCDONALD Fletcher	1989	USA	47.70	49.08	1:36.78	37.58
30	31	150743	BERNDT Ondrej	1988	CZE	48.86	49.16	1:38.02	45.92
31	34	501814	OESTER Carl-johan	1992	SWE	48.99	49.76	1:38.75	50.84
32	52	430560	RZEPECKI Filip	1992	POL	48.93	50.68	1:39.61	56.63
33	44	103751	TOUTANT Simon-Claude	1991	CAN	49.76	49.98	1:39.74	57.50
34	57	6530168	SMITH Cameron	1992	USA	48.98	51.06	1:40.04	59.52
35	76	481355	ZHILIN Alexey	1992	RUS	50.59	50.64	1:41.23	67.54
36	69	750088	RISTEVSKI Antonio	1989	MKD	50.17	52.34	1:42.51	76.15
37	61	934525	FLOWERS Kitt	1991	USA	50.73	51.87	1:42.60	76.76
38	45	150744	CERMAK Jan	1988	CZE	51.22	51.97	1:43.19	80.73
39	9	561117	KUERNER Miha	1987	SLO	45.36	58.23	1:43.59	83.42
40	70	180616	DAHL Kalle	1991	FIN	52.07	51.80	1:43.87	85.31
41	42	930214	OLIVER Coley	1990	USA	49.78	56.99	1:46.77	104.83
42	89	400268	BORSBOOM Olaf	1995	NED	52.32	56.39	1:48.71	117.89
43	88	40508	LEWIS Tom	1993	AUS	55.86	56.53	1:52.39	142.67
44	87	260142	KIA SHEMSHAKI Hamed	1990	IRA	1:04.46	1:12.18	2:16.64	305.93
Did not start 1st run
	75	310410	VUKOVIC Andrija	1994	SRB
	66	310426	VUKICEVIC Marko	1992	SRB
	54	51401	GRAF Bernhard	1988	AUT
	49	690616	TENTORI Michelangelo	1991	ITA
	36	990051	BOSCA Giulio	1990	ITA
	15	320266	JUNG Dong-hyun	1988	KOR
Did not finish 2nd run
	86	260111	KIA SHEMSHAKI Behnam	1990	IRA
	67	103855	RIVET Philippe	1992	CAN
	58	510508	BONER Patrick	1989	SUI
	43	430466	GARNIEWICZ Mateusz	1990	POL
Did not finish 1st run
	94	450025	BIZZOCCHI Lorenzo	1993	RSM
	93	260176	SHAMHSAKI Sorosh	1992	IRA
	92	520105	USTA Cenk	1988	TUR
	91	40539	MORRISON James	1994	AUS
	90	550071	FOGELIS Daniels	1994	LAT
	85	520111	YILDIZ Mustafa	1989	TUR
	84	54040	FALBESONER Martin	1991	AUT
	83	690672	TELYCHUK Vasyl	1992	UKR
	82	512130	DU PASQUIER Gregoire	1995	SUI
	81	320314	CHOI Kwang-hun	1991	KOR
	80	690337	BERTOLINI Francesco	1991	ITA
	79	430617	CHRAPEK Adam	1993	POL
	78	320356	YOON Jong-seok	1993	KOR
	77	320296	PARK hyuk	1990	KOR
	74	491853	DEL CAMPO Juan	1994	SPA
	73	750089	DEHARI Dardan	1990	MKD
	72	104191	MAINS Gabriel	1994	CAN
	71	103953	CARRY Roger	1993	CAN
	68	103881	FISHER MCCARNEY Dylan	1992	CAN
	65	150610	PISA Martin	1985	CZE
	64	481428	NOVIKOV Vladislav	1993	RUS
	63	700851	SIRAN Vladimir	1991	SVK
	62	194686	FABRE Jonas	1993	FRA
	60	60196	ALAERTS Xan	1992	BEL
	59	430387	ILEWICZ Jakub	1987	POL
	56	304139	SHIN Masanori	1993	JPN
	55	561254	ZERAK Misel	1992	SLO
	53	103669	BERTRAND Mathieu	1991	CAN
	51	320367	PARK Je-yun	1994	KOR
	50	561296	SPIK Jakob	1994	SLO
	48	501436	ERIKSSON Jakob	1990	SWE
	47	150834	ZIKA Adam	1989	CZE
	38	92534	CHONGAROV Nikola	1989	BUL
	35	194935	FAVROT Thibaut	1994	FRA
	30	501351	JOHANSSON Emil	1988	SWE
	29	320244	KIM Woo-sung	1986	KOR
	27	501529	GUNNARSSON Henrik	1991	SWE
	22	511504	BONER Sandro	1988	SUI
	16	90131	GEORGIEV Georgi	1987	BUL
	11	430633	JASICZEK Michal	1994	POL

Results Women’s Slalom

Rank	Bib	FIS Code	Name	Year	Nation	Run 1	Run 2	Total Time	FIS Points
1	2	315187	IGNJATOVIC Nevena	1990	SRB	48.64	49.78	1:38.42	12.78
2	10	516135	GIVEL Margaux	1991	SUI	50.41	48.37	1:38.78	15.05
3	6	155728	DUBOVSKA Martina	1992	CZE	50.11	48.87	1:38.98	16.31
4	7	485637	ALOPINA Ksenia	1992	RUS	50.33	48.81	1:39.14	17.32
5	11	385041	NOVOSELIC Sofija	1990	CRO	50.09	49.16	1:39.25	18.01
6	8	705363	LUKACOVA Barbora	1990	SVK	49.90	49.44	1:39.34	18.58
7	3	705349	GANTNEROVA Jana	1989	SVK	49.65	49.88	1:39.53	19.77
8	4	705394	KANTOROVA Barbara	1992	SVK	50.41	49.47	1:39.88	21.98
9	5	505908	SMEDH Veronica	1988	SWE	50.01	49.99	1:40.00	22.73
10	30	197538	PICCARD Lucie	1994	FRA	50.96	49.13	1:40.09	23.30
11	14	56004	MORIK Michelle	1990	AUT	50.54	49.60	1:40.14	23.62
12	1	435189	KLUS Aleksandra	1986	POL	50.78	49.91	1:40.69	27.08
13	21	197267	BOTTLAENDER Margot	1992	FRA	51.33	49.46	1:40.79	27.71
14	20	665009	SHKANOVA Maria	1989	BLR	51.41	49.66	1:41.07	29.47
15	17	185267	HONKONEN Jessica	1989	FIN	51.23	49.91	1:41.14	29.91
16	22	155695	VOLOPICHOVA Valentina	1993	CZE	51.51	49.88	1:41.39	31.49
17	34	185357	VIRKKULA Sohvi	1993	FIN	53.00	49.00	1:42.00	35.33
18	12	155479	SMUTNA Michaela	1987	CZE	50.97	51.20	1:42.17	36.40
19	24	425803	GROSVOLD Thea	1990	NOR	52.25	50.06	1:42.31	37.29
20	29	538975	WALES Brooke	1990	USA	52.77	49.67	1:42.44	38.10
21	41	298553	RE Elena	1993	ITA	52.71	50.35	1:43.06	42.01
22	28	506478	LUNDH Jenni	1993	SWE	52.96	50.22	1:43.18	42.77
23	18	307120	ARAI Makiko	1993	JPN	53.15	50.69	1:43.84	46.92
24	27	107388	DAVID Sandrine	1994	CAN	53.79	51.26	1:45.05	54.55
25	45	539404	SAMUELS Lauren	1992	USA	53.69	51.49	1:45.18	55.36
26	15	306977	MUKOGAWA Sakurako	1992	JPN	52.35	53.04	1:45.39	56.69
27	54	516067	FUCHS Daniela	1990	SUI	54.06	51.85	1:45.91	59.96
28	46	506483	CARLSSON Sofie	1993	SWE	53.76	52.23	1:45.99	60.47
29	33	539109	DELANEY Devin	1991	USA	52.51	53.70	1:46.21	61.85
30	47	538841	DUPRATT Jaime	1990	USA	54.56	51.70	1:46.26	62.17
31	58	485645	KOLOMOVA Darya	1992	RUS	54.38	51.99	1:46.37	62.86
32	43	155503	KLICNAROVA Pavla	1988	CZE	54.89	52.85	1:47.74	71.49
33	48	435313	MAJERCZYK Sabina	1993	POL	52.48	56.98	1:49.46	82.33
34	56	515987	CANDRIAN Simona	1989	SUI	57.39	53.93	1:51.32	94.04
35	26	197521	NICOLETTA Romane	1994	FRA	51.26	1:00.69	1:51.95	98.01
36	50	245051	BERECZ Anna	1988	HUN	58.38	56.16	1:54.54	114.33
37	64	675021	CHEREPANOVA Yekaterina	1992	KAZ	1:04.29	1:03.46	2:07.75	197.55
38	19	539656	IDE Maisie	1993	USA	52.33	1:17.04	2:09.37	207.75
Disqualified 2nd run
	36	298904	CILLARA ROSSI Valentina	1994	ITA
Did not start 2nd run
	63	85024	MARANO Chiara	1993	BRA
Did not start 1st run
	61	185281	HALME Nina	1990	FIN
Did not finish 2nd run
	55	107178	LAMOUREUX Emilie	1992	CAN
	52	299072	MARTINELLI Gaia	1995	ITA
	51	65075	DECROIX Marjolein	1992	BEL
	35	705377	SAALOVA Kristina	1991	SVK
	32	405091	DIRKZWAGER Mandy	1990	NED
	16	435210	GASIENICA- GLADCZAN Agnieszka	1987	POL
	9	155727	CAPOVA Gabriela	1993	CZE
Did not finish 1st run
	66	525056	GUL Fatmanur	1990	TUR
	65	525066	GUL Betul	1991	TUR
	62	385057	MARENIC Edita	1992	CRO
	60	695101	TIKUN Tetyana	1994	UKR
	59	107017	BERGERON Maelle	1991	CAN
	57	45288	HODKINSON Toni	1993	AUS
	53	325091	KIM Seo-hyun	1991	KOR
	49	506379	HESELIUS Ida	1992	SWE
	44	435334	GASIENICA-DANIEL Maryna	1994	POL
	42	56197	WIRTH Anna-Katharina	1994	AUT
	40	485731	ROMANOVA Anastasia	1993	RUS
	39	565395	JESENKO Katja	1993	SLO
	38	565382	BABNIK Naja	1992	SLO
	37	325081	JEONG So-ra	1990	KOR
	31	485525	BUREEVA Vladislava	1989	RUS
	25	539390	MCLEAN Shane	1992	USA
	23	298270	GEYR Carmen	1992	ITA
	13	307009	HASUMI Konatsu	1992	JPN

Results Women’s GS

Rank	Bib	FIS Code	Name	Year	Nation	Run 1	Run 2	Total Time	FIS Points
1	1	435334	GASIENICA-DANIEL Maryna	1994	POL	55.09	55.90	1:50.99	11.31
2	17	56004	MORIK Michelle	1990	AUT	55.58	55.65	1:51.23	13.23
3	6	505908	SMEDH Veronica	1988	SWE	55.77	55.77	1:51.54	15.72
4	3	485731	ROMANOVA Anastasia	1993	RUS	55.92	55.66	1:51.58	16.04
5	26	197267	BOTTLAENDER Margot	1992	FRA	55.88	55.85	1:51.73	17.24
5	14	185281	HALME Nina	1990	FIN	55.75	55.98	1:51.73	17.24
7	16	705349	GANTNEROVA Jana	1989	SVK	56.11	55.67	1:51.78	17.64
8	20	298904	CILLARA ROSSI Valentina	1994	ITA	56.56	55.50	1:52.06	19.89
9	15	315187	IGNJATOVIC Nevena	1990	SRB	56.36	56.01	1:52.37	22.38
10	8	298453	PFEIFER Lisa	1993	ITA	56.40	56.28	1:52.68	24.86
11	7	435210	GASIENICA- GLADCZAN Agnieszka	1987	POL	56.94	55.92	1:52.86	26.31
12	29	297594	BORGHETTI Giulia	1990	ITA	57.00	55.93	1:52.93	26.87
13	36	539404	SAMUELS Lauren	1992	USA	56.58	56.38	1:52.96	27.11
14	44	197538	PICCARD Lucie	1994	FRA	56.84	56.29	1:53.13	28.47
15	23	298553	RE Elena	1993	ITA	56.98	56.21	1:53.19	28.95
16	19	705394	KANTOROVA Barbara	1992	SVK	56.97	56.38	1:53.35	30.23
17	28	385041	NOVOSELIC Sofija	1990	CRO	57.12	56.29	1:53.41	30.72
18	13	538975	WALES Brooke	1990	USA	55.64	57.78	1:53.42	30.80
19	27	435313	MAJERCZYK Sabina	1993	POL	57.25	56.21	1:53.46	31.12
20	18	155728	DUBOVSKA Martina	1992	CZE	57.50	56.04	1:53.54	31.76
21	50	665009	SHKANOVA Maria	1989	BLR	57.14	56.58	1:53.72	33.20
22	25	298270	GEYR Carmen	1992	ITA	57.93	55.88	1:53.81	33.92
23	21	506478	LUNDH Jenni	1993	SWE	58.43	56.16	1:54.59	40.18
24	31	539109	DELANEY Devin	1991	USA	58.46	56.39	1:54.85	42.26
25	5	307120	ARAI Makiko	1993	JPN	57.66	57.43	1:55.09	44.19
26	55	565382	BABNIK Naja	1992	SLO	58.08	57.40	1:55.48	47.31
27	37	197521	NICOLETTA Romane	1994	FRA	58.55	56.95	1:55.50	47.47
28	35	155503	KLICNAROVA Pavla	1988	CZE	58.30	57.31	1:55.61	48.36
29	38	155695	VOLOPICHOVA Valentina	1993	CZE	58.68	58.00	1:56.68	56.94
30	49	107017	BERGERON Maelle	1991	CAN	58.58	58.34	1:56.92	58.86
31	42	185357	VIRKKULA Sohvi	1993	FIN	58.82	58.17	1:56.99	59.42
32	11	306977	MUKOGAWA Sakurako	1992	JPN	58.78	58.35	1:57.13	60.55
33	30	425803	GROSVOLD Thea	1990	NOR	59.29	58.06	1:57.35	62.31
34	41	506483	CARLSSON Sofie	1993	SWE	58.99	58.41	1:57.40	62.71
35	43	155727	CAPOVA Gabriela	1993	CZE	58.59	59.05	1:57.64	64.63
36	46	435189	KLUS Aleksandra	1986	POL	58.97	58.73	1:57.70	65.12
37	24	185267	HONKONEN Jessica	1989	FIN	59.12	58.81	1:57.93	66.96
38	54	107388	DAVID Sandrine	1994	CAN	59.33	58.68	1:58.01	67.60
39	57	695101	TIKUN Tetyana	1994	UKR	59.20	59.18	1:58.38	70.57
40	52	506379	HESELIUS Ida	1992	SWE	59.31	59.34	1:58.65	72.73
41	10	485525	BUREEVA Vladislava	1989	RUS	1:00.20	58.57	1:58.77	73.70
42	60	516067	FUCHS Daniela	1990	SUI	1:00.96	58.47	1:59.43	78.99
43	48	539656	IDE Maisie	1993	USA	59.57	59.94	1:59.51	79.63
44	45	245051	BERECZ Anna	1988	HUN	59.84	59.79	1:59.63	80.59
45	56	107178	LAMOUREUX Emilie	1992	CAN	59.76	59.91	1:59.67	80.91
46	64	85024	MARANO Chiara	1993	BRA	1:02.73	1:02.40	2:05.13	124.69
47	61	515987	CANDRIAN Simona	1989	SUI	1:03.48	1:02.49	2:05.97	131.43
48	58	325081	JEONG So-ra	1990	KOR	1:04.41	1:04.45	2:08.86	154.60
49	63	45288	HODKINSON Toni	1993	AUS	1:06.72	1:04.08	2:10.80	170.16
50	68	675021	CHEREPANOVA Yekaterina	1992	KAZ	1:11.73	1:09.27	2:21.00	251.95
Disqualified 2nd run
	34	485645	KOLOMOVA Darya	1992	RUS
Did not start 1st run
	33	298667	AGERER Julia Catharina	1993	ITA
Did not finish 2nd run
	59	325091	KIM Seo-hyun	1991	KOR
	53	565395	JESENKO Katja	1993	SLO
	47	516135	GIVEL Margaux	1991	SUI
	39	705363	LUKACOVA Barbora	1990	SVK
	32	538841	DUPRATT Jaime	1990	USA
	22	405091	DIRKZWAGER Mandy	1990	NED
	9	307009	HASUMI Konatsu	1992	JPN
	4	307223	OSHIMI Hikaru	1994	JPN
	2	539390	MCLEAN Shane	1992	USA
Did not finish 1st run
	67	525066	GUL Betul	1991	TUR
	66	525056	GUL Fatmanur	1990	TUR
	65	155479	SMUTNA Michaela	1987	CZE
	62	65075	DECROIX Marjolein	1992	BEL
	51	325088	KIM Soo-ji	1991	KOR
	40	705377	SAALOVA Kristina	1991	SVK
	12	485563	PROSTEVA Elena	1990	RUS

About the Author: C.J. Feehan

Christine J. Feehan is a USSA Level 300 coach who spent more than a decade training athletes at U.S. ski academies - Burke, Sugar Bowl, and Killington - before serving as Editor in Chief at Ski Racing Media through 2017. She worked for the FIS on the World Cup tour for three years and then settled into her current home in Oslo, Norway.