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Skiers Ready For NCAA Title Defense

cmgoods

Olympic Sports Mod
Club Member
Moderator
PARK CITY, Utah — The 61st Annual NCAA Skiing Championships are set to begin here Wednesday, and the University of Colorado ski team is out to defend its national title claimed back east in Middlebury, Vt., a year ago.

It was an interesting year in the west, as no school really dominated; the four usual powers, CU, Denver, Utah and New Mexico, were never all at full strength at the same time so the NCAA meet will be the first true measure of who really is the best. Denver and Utah won events and New Mexico one; the Buffs started slow with barely any Nordic competitors but finished second their last two times out.

Read more...

CU SKIING 2014 NCAA Championship Notes
 

Assume this information will end up being easily found other places by tomorrow, but for ease of reference, did a little research and

1) The NCAA will be webcasting this event. The link is http://www.ncaa.com/liveschedule .

2) Schedule (of course weather dependent- see note ** at the bottom) is:

Wednesday, March 5

Women’s giant slalom.........................9:00 a.m., Men’s giantslalom............................12:30 p.m.

Thursday, March 6

Women’s 5-km classic.......................10:00 a.m., Men’s10-km classic...........................12:00 p.m.

Friday, March 7

Men’s slalom........................ 9:00 a.m. (1st run), ..........................................12:00p.m. (2nd run)

Women’s slalom................. 10:00 a.m. (1st run), ............................................1:00p.m. (2nd run)

Saturday, March 8

Men’s 20-km freestyle.......................10:00 a.m., Women’s15-km freestyle..................12:00 p.m.

*mass start


** Note- Sounds like weather MAY be a factor, at minimum for the alpine skiers. Per an article last updated yesterday at the NCAA website ( http://www.ncaa.com/news/skiing/art...ampionships-utes-vermont-others-look-knock-cu )-
"
...
Warm, spring-like temperatures have been creating problems on the slopes for the NCAA alpine skiers, however. Reichelt (U. of Vermont's Director of Skiing) said practice timehas been nonexistent since arriving in Park City on Saturday.

“Conditions are not ideal right now,” he said. “It’s very soft. We haven’t been able to train on the race hill yet, and we might not be able to train before the [GS] race on Wednesday.”

The race course might be moved to a different run if conditions don’t improve. But, Reichelt said, the Catamounts will train as if everything was normal.
“Our approach will be the same,” he said. “We’ll just have a little less time to prepare.”
Forecasts for the area call for temperatures in the low- to mid-40s, with possible precipitation on Thursday and Friday.
"

GO BUFFS!!!
 
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To add to what I wrote above, here is the championship's host Utah's front webpage that contains most of what I had above, as well as a link to complete results (when the time comes of course) and, for those lucky enough to be in the Park City area, directions and so forth- http://utahutes.cstv.com/ncaa/ .
 
And the championships have begun with the women's giant slalom. Looks like a beautiful (but hopefully not too warm) sunny day.
 
Anyone know whether this year's squad stacks up like last year's? Last year, first day results were a matter of being in position and the dominance was in the final events.
 
Anyone know whether this year's squad stacks up like last year's? Last year, first day results were a matter of being in position and the dominance was in the final events.

From what I've read, I believe we're relatively young. (We graduated 6 seniors last year, which is quite a lot considering I believe we have a total of 12 athletes at these Championships.) For example, per the Cubuffs.com preview of this event, all 3 of our women's alpine skiers are sophomores, so we should have a good future there.

If we can be close going into the final day, it will be exciting, because our Men's cross country team seems like our strongest unit and could score BIG. Conversely, the big question mark for the team is probably the women's cross country team, as all three are freshmen who seemed to improve through the year (but who knows how they'll handle the big event pressure).
 
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CU women looked to have a good second run, and they all got down the mountain successfully. (Unlike the 1st run where everyone made it down successfully, 6 have gone down so far in the 2nd run.) Buffs currently in 1st and I believe 5th or 6th, with 4 skiers to go.
 
So, I believe the top two Buffs (Brooke Wales and Jessica Honkonen) end up in 5th and 10th or 11th place, respectively. The CU Ski team twitter says that makes them both All Americans. Congratulations!

(Edit- it looks like only the top 10 in each event earn All American honors, so Ms. Honkonen must have gotten 10th!)

(Edit again- per CU ski team twitter, Ms. Honkonen got 9th- even better.)
 
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[tweet]441287757046882304[/tweet]

Good improvement by the Buffs in the 2nd run, as they were in 5th 22 points out of 2nd after the 1st run.

Note- I assume individual events swing wildly point-wise between different meets, especially in Alpine skiing where a tenth of a second can be the difference of many places, but as a potential help to see how we might be doing in these NCAA championships, here is how the scoring went in the recent RMISA/ NCAA western region finals where the Buffs barely lost to Utah. (Showing top 4 teams' results only. Also, of course, this meet didn't include the East Coast Teams, including one of the favorites this year Vermont (which was the team victimized when the Buffs made their great record breaking comeback last year to be named champions).):

ALPINENORDIC
GIANT SLALOMSLALOMCLASSICALFREESTYLE
Rk.TeamwomenmenmenwomenwomenmenmenwomenTOTAL
1UTAH10092839171716765640
2COLORADO7596548569979367636
3NEW Mexico79½79837769708279617-1/2
4DENVER70½61947591684673578-1/2
 
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Good improvement by the Buffs in the 2nd run, as they were in 5th 22 points out of 2nd after the 1st run.

Note- I assume individual events swing wildly point-wise between different meets, especially in Alpine skiing where a tenth of a second can be the difference of many places, but as a potential help to see how we might be doing in these NCAA championships, here is how the scoring went in the recent RMISA/ NCAA western region finals where the Buffs barely lost to Utah. (Showing top 4 teams' results only. Also, of course, this meet didn't include the East Coast Teams, including one of the favorites this year Vermont (which was the team victimized when the Buffs made their great record breaking comeback last year to be named champions).):

ALPINE
NORDIC
GIANT SLALOM
SLALOM
CLASSICAL
FREESTYLE
Rk.
Team
women
men
men
women
women
men
men
women
TOTAL
1
UTAH
100
92
83
91
71
71
67
65
640
2
COLORADO
75
96
54
85
69
97
93
67
636
3
NEW Mexico
79½
79
83
77
69
70
82
79
617-1/2
4
DENVER
70½
61
94
75
91
68
46
73
578-1/2

Just noticed that, on my tablet only, only the Alpine scores from the RMISA championships in the table above are displayed. In case anyone cares and had the same thing happen, here again are just the cross country/ Nordic and total scores from that meet:

NORDIC
CLASSICAL
FREESTYLE
Rk.
Team
women
men
men
women
TOTAL
1
UTAH
71
71
67
65
640
2
COLORADO
69
97
93
67
636
3
NEW Mexico
69
70
82
79
617-1/2
4
DENVER
91
68
46
73
578-1/2
 
So, assuming they're accurate, the official results for the women's giant slalom had the following results for the top 5 (who I believe are also the main favorites for the overall NCAA championships):
UTAH
87
New Mexico
71
DU
61
CU
60
VERMONT
39

And, after the 1st run of the men's giant slalom (points not actually awarded until after the 2nd run), it's:
Utah
95
CU
74
Vermont
67
New Mexico
58
DU
48

Obviously, the 2nd run could significantly change the official points for the men, AND there's a LONG way to go, but it looks like (As the announcers have noted) Utah is definitely taking advantage of "home snow", and could be tough to beat (although our Men's cross country team should be able to make up some points tomorrow and Saturday). The Buffs will of course also need to watch out for the other teams, with especially Vermont being a danger, as they seem to have strong cross country teams on both the men's and women's sides. And, based on the RMISA championships, DU also has a strong women's cross country team.
 
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I think that we'll definitely need a very strong finish in cross country to have a chance
 
Unofficially, the NCAA scoreboard has the total results for the Men's giant slalom (4 left columns) and (in the 3 right columns) 1st day overall results for the top 5 teams as follows:

Plc
Team
# Scoring
Event Pts
Plc
Team
Alp Team Pts
1
UU
3
78
1
UU
165.0
2
DU
3
69
2
DU
130.0
3
CU
3
67
3
UNM
130.0
4
UVM
3
62
4
CU
127.0
5
UNM
2
62
5
UVM
101.0



Seems like a solid (neither spectacular or disastrous) day for the Buffs. Now, go get them tomorrow X-country men and women.
 
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Assuming the men's results noted above end up being official, looks like another All-American honor for the Buffs as sophomore Henrik Gunnerson earned a 5th place finish. Congrats Henrik. Also, solid results for senior Andreas Haug (just missing All American honors at 11th place) and sophomore Kasper Hietanen, who tied for 12th.
 
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Unofficially, the NCAA scoreboard has the total results for the Men's giant slalom (4 left columns) and (in the 3 right columns) 1st day overall results for the top 5 teams as follows:

PlcTeam# ScoringEvent PtsPlcTeamAlp Team Pts
1UU3781UU165.0
2DU3692DU130.0
3CU3673UNM130.0
4UVM3624CU127.0
5UNM2625UVM101.0



Seems like a solid (neither spectacular or disastrous) day for the Buffs. Now, go get them tomorrow X-country men and women.

Tied for 2nd place after day one isn't too bad. Hopefully we can improve tomorrow.
 
Tied for 2nd place after day one isn't too bad. Hopefully we can improve tomorrow.

Actually, the chart I posted above (from the NCAA website) is a little weird (the last 3 columns don't relate to the left 4), so we're actually in 4th, 3 points behind the tie for 2nd. (Obviously not a big difference.)
 
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Just to finalize my part of this topic for today (sorry I've been posting so much), the official men's giant slalom results have now posted, and CU gained a point from the unofficial results I'd pasted above. So, officially after day one of four, it's Utah leading with 165 points, followed by DU and New Mexico at 130, the Buffs at 128, and Vermont at 101.
 
[video=youtube;mowFjanHteU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mowFjanHteU[/video]
 
Just to finalize my part of this topic for today (sorry I've been posting so much), the official men's giant slalom results have now posted, and CU gained a point from the unofficial results I'd pasted above. So, officially after day one of four, it's Utah leading with 165 points, followed by DU and New Mexico at 130, the Buffs at 128, and Vermont at 101.

It's great that you've been posting this. If you want to keep us updated with it go ahead, I haven't had too much time to be able to do it so you're help is greatly appreciated.
 
The women's 5K classical cross country race has just started. Stagger start.

Have a feeling women's xc could be the big variable for CU's podium chances, as they are all freshman , but have been improving (and at least one overcoming illness) as the season has progressed.
 
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Wow- this seems like a quick race- 1st skiers already finished. (With stagger start, too early to tell how the Buffs are doing.)
 
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