CU Buffs look ahead to busy NCAA season

University of Colorado head skiing coach Richard Rokos is entering his 28th season at the helm of CU’s most successful sport program. Recently coming off the programs 47th annual Ski Ball event, CUBuffs.com caught up with Rokos to talk about the success of the unique event, the depth of his squad that always sets its No. 1 goal of winning a national championship as well as having several Olympic hopefuls on this year’s team.

CUBuffs.com: Tell us about this year’s Ski Ball event and the record success you saw from it?
Rokos: I really would like to thank Bruce Gamble, Dale Pearson and Jodi Mossoni and all the people on the Ski Ball committee for their hard work in putting together a first-class event. We actually raised a record amount of money, I think right now it is in the neighborhood of $76,000.

CUBuffs.com: Not just from a fundraising side, but from the aspect of keeping alumni involved with the program coming back for the social aspect with it, has Ski Ball has turned into a very important event for the program?
Rokos: It is a fantastic opportunity to meet all of the good Buffs, build on old and existing relationships, and in fact since my frequent meetings with (former coach and CU Athletic Director) Bill Marolt, we are kind of trying to keep this tradition in place. It is very unique among all schools and I think sports because we are getting to a level where no other sport can demonstrate because of the history of it and people coming. There were people involved with our first ski teams are still here and coming, so it has been 70 years of tradition and still rolling. It is amazing.

CUBuffs.com: Last year’s funds were used to help purchase a sprinter van for team travel. How will the funds raised be used this year?
Rokos: Funds like this are always emergency for projects that are not part of our regular budget, so it will be used for some University Games, World Cup races for some kids and obviously NorAms, some things that we do not budget for in our travel plans frequently because it changes and the number of participants (from year to year) can change. That’s why it is good to have that money there and again, it helps with equipment or anything where we are above and beyond where we normally (budget).

CUBuffs.com: How has the dryland training been going thus far during the fall semester?
Rokos: So far, and I have to knock on wood, it has been fantastic. Everybody is healthy, we had a little bit, not injury but misalignments here or there, but otherwise everybody is attending (training) frequently. We have had great training riding to Winter Park, riding in the Buffalo Classic and it looks like the team is very strong and everybody is healthy.

CUBuffs.com: We are getting close to the time where you can get on some snow, what is the training schedule looking like for the rest of the semester?
Rokos: Alpine goes on snow on Oct. 20 at Copper Mountain and then we will pretty much roll into the preseason training on snow after that. We are scheduled for three weeks in Copper and then we will move to Eldora (Mountain Resort) because by that time Eldora should be open. Nordic, they will start as soon as we have snow on the ground. They could actually go on snow potentially in Breckenridge, they go up there for this weekend. If there is snow, they will go on it and if not they will go on roller ski’s. It is pretty much rolling into the season very smoothly.

CUBuffs.com: Could we see any Buffs competing at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang and how would their participation in that effect the team?
Rokos: I don’t know, it’s kind of scary year for me because we might have actually a pretty solid representation at the Olympic Games, potentially, and that will definitely effect our appearances at regionals and consequently at NCAA Championships because it looks like three to four athletes could qualify for Olympic Games. If they go there they will come right back before regional championships, so with the duration of the trip and everything what’s related to it, they’ll probably be tired and not as prepared as they could be. They’ll miss most likely one qualifier. David Ketterer, due to his involvement with the German National Team and being placed back on the national team, he will probably miss even more because of World Cups in January. It is kind of a bittersweet phenomenon, on one side you are very proud of the fact we have kids that we have helped develop to that level, but then on the other side obviously they are fulfilling their dreams to go to the Olympic Games and go above and beyond what is in college, but that will be hurting us a little bit.

CUBuffs.com: Who are the Buffs who have a shot at the Olympics?
Rokos: David Ketterer and Petra Hyncicova, potentially Alev Alvar, Sondre Bollum and then maybe also Hedda Baangman. It is all in the selection process, so you never know.

CUBuffs.com: Will David Ketterer be able to get enough NCAA races in, with his World Cup starts and Olympic possibility, to qualify to defend his NCAA titles?
Rokos: Oh yeah, technically speaking, his only concern will be how he will place in rankings because it will be based on his two best results on the season and if he comes for two races and does well, he doesn’t need to worry about it. If he has a problem in one race, he may end up starting in the middle of the field for NCAA based on the ranking. It is hard to say and a little too early to predict how much he will have to go to Europe and how many races he will miss because the schedule for him is not set yet.

CUBuffs.com: On the Nordic side, with several possible Olympic qualifiers there, does having the U.S. Cross Country Nationals in Alaska at the beginning on January help give them an extra event for NCAA qualification points?
Rokos: I don’t know exactly how many kids will go there, but potentially a pretty good group will go and represent and again, it is a combination of also an intercollegiate race. Everybody goes there, it is a good place to be and good competition.

CUBuffs.com: How are the newcomers meshing in with the team?
Rokos: We have six new people, freshmen, and they have blended in with the team so quickly and well. They adapted to the elevation, school and everything so the transition was very smooth for everybody.

CUBuffs.com: Colorado is hosting both Regionals and NCAAs at Steamboat Springs this year, is that an advantage for your program?
Rokos: The fact that we are hosting in Steamboat again, it will be the traditional race with night slalom and Steamboat is our favorite place to race because of course proximity and the fact that we have so many alumni in town – Billy Kidd and lots of people that were on the team – they live in Steamboat, so it is our home turf and lots of people come to help us and support us. Anyone is welcome and it is a great show.

CUBuffs.com: The goals always remain the same, winning a national championships. What does it take this year to win the programs 21st national championship?
Rokos: Again, it just depends on those four days (at NCAAs) because the season itself I know it will go well, even if we have missing parts. We have pretty good depth on both sides, nordic and alpine. Then it comes the way how everybody will feel and health is the biggest part of it, if everybody comes healthy with no injuries we will be in contention.

Release courtesy of University of Colorado Athletics