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2023/24 SKI TEAM pre and regular season news, results and discussion (Team WINS the RMISA Championships!)

AztecBuff

AztecBuff

Club Member
Club Member
Moderator
I am creating this thread to report on any news regarding the ski team leading up to and including regular season action up until the NCAA Championships.
(The Championships are scheduled to be hosted by CU this coming (2024) season at Steamboat Springs from March 6-9, 2024.)

When season long news comes up like the schedule is released, I'll probably put that below in this post. (The schedule was released mid-September last year.)

NCAA skiing home page - https://www.ncaa.com/sports/skiing
_____________________________________________________________________

On 11/1/23, CU released the Winter 2024 schedule. Article (Which also discusses the teams, etc..) - https://cubuffs.com/news/2023/11/1/skiing-rmisa-releases-2024-ski-schedule.aspx

"
BOULDER—The Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association has released its 2024 schedule and the Colorado Buffaloes are on tap to host two meets, the Spencer James Nelson Memorial Invitational Feb. 2-3 and the NCAA Championships March 6-9, both in Steamboat Springs.

The season will open shortly after the New Year at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah, at the 2024 United States Cross Country Skiing National Championships. Three of the four races there will count as RMISA Qualifiers, but not be counted toward any team meet. The 10K classic race on Jan. 2, the freestyle sprints on Jan. 4 and the classic sprints on Jan. 7 will open the Nordic season in those qualifier races.

The alpine teams get underway shortly after on Jan. 8 and 10 with the Westminster Invitational, an alpine-only meet at Park City. There are actually two alpine meets running concurrently, as the Utah Invitational will also host alpine races at Park City on Jan. 9 and 11. The Nordic portion of the Utah meet will then happen Jan. 12-13, remaining at Soldier Hollow.

The Buffs home meet is then on tap with a qualifier GS race on Feb. 1 getting things off the ground. There will be a second GS race on Feb. 2, both happening at Mt. Werner, and a night slalom on Feb. 3 at Howelsen Hill to emulate the schedule for the NCAA Championships on the alpine side. Nordic races will also take place at Howelsen with a 7.5K freestyle on Feb. 2 and a 20K classic on Feb. 3.

Teams will remain in Colorado and immediately partake in the Denver Invitational, with alpine races taking place Feb. 5-6 at Loveland Ski Area and Nordic races Feb. 9-10 at Maloit Park in Minturn.

After one more slalom race ahead of the RMISA Championships, the regular season will conclude. That qualifier will take place at Big Sky Resort on Feb. 22 as Montana State will host the RMISA Championships with alpine races there and Nordic races at Crosscut Mountain Sports Center Feb. 23-25 before teams return to Steamboat Springs for the NCAA Championships March 6-9.
...
"

The schedule (in text format from cubuffs.com):

DateTimeAtOpponentLocationTournament
January 2, 2024 (Tuesday)All DayNeutral10K ClassicMidway, UtahRMISA Nordic Qualifier
January 4, 2024 (Thursday)All DayNeutralFreestyle SprintsMidway, UtahRMISA Nordic Qualifier
January 7, 2024 (Sunday)All DayNeutralClassic SprintsMidway, UtahRMISA Nordic Qualifier
January 8, 2024 (Monday)All DayNeutralGiant SlalomPark City, UtahWestminster Invitational
January 10, 2024 (Wednesday)All DayNeutralSlalomPark City, UtahWestminster Invitational
January 9, 2024 (Tuesday)All DayNeutralGiant SlalomPark City, UtahUtah Invitational
January 11, 2024 (Thursday)All DayNeutralSlalomPark City, UtahUtah Invitational
January 12, 2024 (Friday)All DayNeutral7.5K FreestyleMidway, UtahUtah Invitational
January 13, 2024 (Saturday)All DayNeutral10K ClassicMidway, UtahUtah Invitational
February 1, 2024 (Thursday)All DayNeutralGiant SlalomSteamboat Springs, Colo.RMISA Alpine Qualifiers
February 22, 2024 (Thursday)All DayNeutralGiant SlalomBig Sky, Mont.RMISA Alpine Qualifiers
February 2, 2024 (Friday)All DayNeutral7.5K FreestyleSteamboat Springs, Colo.Colorado Spencer James Nelson Memorial Invitational
February 2, 2024 (Friday)All DayNeutralGiant SlalomSteamboat Springs, Colo.Colorado Spencer James Nelson Memorial Invitational
February 3, 2024 (Saturday)All DayNeutralSlalomSteamboat Springs, Colo.Colorado Spencer James Nelson Memorial Invitational
February 3, 2024 (Saturday)All DayNeutral20K ClassicSteamboat Springs, Colo.Colorado Spencer James Nelson Memorial Invitational
February 5, 2024 (Monday)All DayNeutralSlalomDillon, Colo.Denver Invitational
February 6, 2024 (Tuesday)All DayNeutralSlalomDillon, Colo.Denver Invitational
February 9, 2024 (Friday)All DayNeutral10K ClassicMinturn, Colo.Denver Invitational
February 10, 2024 (Saturday)All DayNeutral5K FreestyleMinturn, Colo.Denver Invitational
February 23, 2024 (Friday)All DayNeutralGiant SlalomBig Sky, Mont.RMISA Championships
February 24, 2024 (Saturday)All DayNeutralSlalomBig Sky, Colo.RMISA Championships
February 24, 2024 (Saturday)All DayNeutral7.5K FreestyleBozeman, Mont.RMISA Championships
February 25, 2024 (Sunday)All DayNeutral20K ClassicBozeman, Mont.RMISA Championships
March 6, 2024 (Wednesday)All DayNeutralGiant SlalomSteamboat Springs, Colo.NCAA Championships
March 7, 2024 (Thursday)All DayNeutral7.5K FreestyleSteamboat Springs, Colo.NCAA Championships
March 8, 2024 (Friday)All DayNeutralSlalomSteamboat Springs, Colo.NCAA Championships
March 9, 2024 (Saturday)All DayNeutral20K ClassicSteamboat Springs, Colo.NCAA Championships
 
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Some news that relates to student-athletes who excelled both on the snow and in the classroom.

Next season junior Hanna Abrahamsson was named 2nd Team Academic All-American and now graduated Filip Forejtek was named to the 3rd Team.

And, Mr. Forejtek was also named CU's male honoree for the Pac 12's most prestigious academic award, the Tom Hansen Conference Medal.

Congrats to both!
____________________________________________________________________________________________

Article on the Academic Al-American honors -




Direct link - https://cubuffs.com/news/2023/6/22/skiing-abrahamsson-forejtek-named-academic-all-americans.aspx

"
BOULDER—Sophomore Hanna Abrahamsson and graduate student Filip Forejtek were named Academic All-Americans Thursday by the College Sports Communicators. Abrahamsson was named to the second team and Forejtek to the third in the At-Large classification, which includes a dozen sports.

It marks the first time that CU has placed multiple All-Americans on any team in the same season. They are the eighth and ninth skiers to earn an Academic All-America honor and it's the third straight season a CU skier has earned such an honor joining Joey Young in both 2021 and '22.

The duo were two of 10 Buffs honored on the Academic All-District team, which included eight skiers, , one women's golfer and a lacrosse player. Those 10 were automatically put on the ballot for All- America status.

Abrahamsson is a sophomore studying environmental engineering and finished the 2023 season as a two-time first-team All-American at the NCAA championships, finishing in the top five in both the classic and freestyle races. On the season she didn't finish lower than seventh in any race with nine top five finishes, seven podiums and one race win.

Forejtek is a graduate student earning a master's in data science at CU. He successfully defended his individual national championship in the giant slalom on 2023 and in all, had five top five with four podiums and two race wins. One of only a few to repeat as GS individual champion, he is a six-time All-American and two-time RMISA MVP.

The two are joined by Civanna Kuhlmann, who was named third-team Academic All-American in the fall for women's soccer, and those three bring CU's total number of Academic All-America honors to 73.
"
__________________________________________________________________________________________________

On Mr. Forejtek's Tom Harmon Award - https://cubuffs.com/news/2023/6/29/...ceive-pac-12-tom-hansen-conference-medal.aspx

"
SAN FRANCISCO - Colorado's Filip Forejtek and Charlie Rudy were announced as the university's Pac-12 Tom Hansen Conference Medal recipients today.

The Hansen medal is the top academic honor that the Pac-12 awards. The medal is granted annually to each member institution's graduating male and female student-athlete based on the exhibition of the greatest combination of performance and achievement in scholarship, athletics and leadership.
...

Filip Forejtek (Skiing - Alpine):

A two-time individual NCAA Champion, Forejtek is just the third men's skier to repeat as giant slalom national champion. He is a six-time All-American, including four First-Team honors and was named 2022 National Men's Alpine Skier of the Year. He also earned All-RMISA honors four times and was twice named RMISA MVP.

Just as impressive in the classroom, the eight-time Athletic Director's Honor Roll student maintained a 3.9 GPA while earning an MS in Data Science after an undergraduate degree in Computer Science with a Minor in Statistics. He was a three-time Dean's List member and two-time Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll student.

He has been actively involved in community service, including volunteering for the Buffalo Bicycle Classic in 2022 and for CU Athletics Field Day as part of the 2023 Spring Football Game.
"

 
Article on one of if the not THE longest running Buff fundraiser, the annual Ski Ball, scheduled this year for Saturday, October 14th.

Article - https://cubuffs.com/news/2023/9/21/...-still-available-for-cus-annual-ski-ball.aspx

"
Alumni C Club | September 21, 2023 | David Plati, SID-Emeritus/Athletic Historian

Limited Number Of Tickets Still Available For CU's Annual Ski Ball​

53rd annual event set for Saturday, October 14​

BOULDER — The 53rd annual University of Colorado Ski Ball, the major fundraiser for CU's national championship caliber ski team, is fast approaching and tickets are still available for the event.

The black-tie optional gala, billed as CU's premier party of the year, features dinner and dancing, along with an exclusive silent auction. The event is annually a "Who's Who" in both CU and the state of Colorado skiing circles.

The night will include the presentation of CU's Mountain of Honor recognition to longtime CU head coach Richard Rokos, who coached the team to eight national championships during his 31-year career before retiring after the 2021 season.

In addition, the evening's "Letter C" recipients will be honored in the late Sandy Shellworth Hildner and Clare Wise. The program recently created the program to recognize those who skied for the Buffaloes but didn't qualify under previous criteria to officially letter (in Hildner's case, she skied for CU well before women's skiing was a varsity sport).

This year's event is set for Saturday, October 14 at the Omni Interlocken Hotel in Broomfield. The cost to attend begins at just $175 per person, rising incrementally to other donation and sponsorship levels. A limited number of individual tickets remain, along with corporate tables and benefactor opportunities.

All proceeds will be invested in skiing student-athletes, providing them with the resources to win NCAA Championships as well as their individual desires to become professionals, on and off the slopes. There are several ski-specific endowments people can donate to, such as the Jimmie Heuga Scholarship Fund, the Spencer James Nelson Memorial Fund, the Richard Rokos Endowed Ski Program Support Fund and the Bill Marolt Endowment.

The evening's entertainment will be provided by the Rick Lewis Project, headlined by Rick, the morning DJ on 103.5 FM the FOX and the color analyst on Denver Bronco radio broadcasts. In recent years, they have opened for some world-renowned musical groups including Lynyrd Skynyrd, Michael Franti & Spearhead and the Wall Flowers, among many others.

For complete information on and/or to register for this year's annual CU Ski Ball, visit this link: https://cubuffs.com/sports/2022/7/7/53rd-annual-ski-ball.aspx
53rd Annual Ski Ball - University of Colorado Athletics (cubuffs.com).

This year's event falls on CU's Family Weekend; the football team hosts Stanford University the night before at Folsom Field (8 p.m. kickoff); that game is already a sellout.
"
 
Today was CU's Media Day for the winter sports, which at CU is skiing and the basketballs.

New Alpine Coach Lochhead's part of the press conference begins at around the 24 minute mark of the below video and goes through the 32.30 mark. (He says that new overall head coach and longtime CU Nordic Coach Weinberger wasn't in town today.)

 
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The team has released its schedule for this coming season, with the Nordic group scheduled to start things off on Monday, January 2nd in Midway, Utah. The Alpine squad begins its action a week or so later, with racing in Park City, Utah scheduled to start things off for them on Monday, January 8th. (In addition to the below Instagram post, I have posted the schedule in table format in the original post of this thread.)

 
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Not something I've paid that close attention to in the past, but looks like is CU is using a lot more different resorts as our "home" this year.
 
Haven't found a great link yet for live timing, but the Nordic group starts off the 2024 schedule (both for their sport and CU overall) in Midway, Utah for what I believe are conference (RMISA) qualifying races.
(Note - the main skiing website I use for both amateur and pro skiing does have information at the following link, but it's not usually live results - https://www.fis-ski.com/DB/general/event-details.html?sectorcode=CC&eventid=54759&seasoncode=2024 )

Per the host Utes' preview article ( https://utahutes.com/news/2023/12/2...nal-begins-2024-season-for-utah-ski-team.aspx), basic schedule for the week is:
(Of course, skiing is probably one of if not the most weather sensitive sports of all, and schedule changes are pretty common.)

"
The Basics
Westminster Invitational – Midway, Utah (Soldier Hollow Nordic Center)
  • Tuesday, Jan. 2 – 10K Classic interval start – 9 a.m. (women) / Noon (men)
  • Thursday, Jan. 4 – Freestyle Sprints – 9 a.m.

RMISA Qualifier – Midway, Utah (Soldier Hollow Nordic Center)
  • Sunday, Jan. 7 – Classic Sprints – 9 a.m.
"

 
Live results link for today's sprint races, the 1st round of which were scheduled to start at 9:00 - https://my.raceresult.com/273537/
______________________________________________________________________________________

Article after Tuesday's action. (Sounds like the men did OK, while the shorthanded women had challenges. Thankfully sounds like the women will be at full strength soon, and don't have any injured Buffs who will be missing the season.)




Direct link - https://cubuffs.com/news/2024/1/2/skiing-boee-koch-pick-up-top-10s-to-open-2024

"
By: Curtis Snyder, Associate AD/Athletic Communications

MIDWAY, Utah – The Colorado Buffaloes put together some positive results to open the 2024 season despite being a little short-handed on the women's side, as the Westminster Invitational got underway taking RMISA results from the 10K Classic race here at the 2024 U.S. Cross Country Ski National Championships and the Buffs sit in sixth place after the first day.

Fifth-year Magnus Boee finished fifth place to lead the Buffaloes in the season opener with senior Will Koch two spots back in seventh and freshman Johannes Flaaten finishing 11th despite a bad starting position.

"Johannes' points aren't where they should be from last year," Head Coach Jana Weinberger said. "He did fairly well with what he was working with, he had to pass 50-60 people along the way. By the time they update points, we will have six overall races before the end of next week, so I anticipate his points improving soon."

For Boee, it's his 42nd top 10 performance, which sets a new CU record for men's Nordic skiers, and it's also his 34th career top five finish, putting him into a tie with Mads Stroem for second-most at CU. Sophomore Hugo Hickfuss (15th), Trey Jones (20th) and Luka Riley (21st) also all had solid races. Alexander Maurer didn't finish the race.

On the women's side, the short-handed Buffs were led by junior Hanna Abrahamsson, who finished 15th. She has battled illness and injuries all fall and finally looks to be getting back to full strength. Senior Weronika Kaleta sat out Tuesday's race but will be back Thursday for the freestyle sprint races and fifth-year Anna-Maria Dietze and junior Karolina Kaleta are still in Europe before returning next week ahead of the Utah Invitational.

"We had to rely on our younger skiers today on the women's side," Weinberger said. "Wera will start racing Thursday, Karolina and Anna-Maria will be back next week and Hanna has been injured and sick, so I think given that she had a good race. She will get better every race and we should be back to full strength soon."

Sophomore Elena Grissom (25th) and freshman Sophie Spalding (27th) also scored for the team and junior Kili Lehmkuhl (30th) rounded out the CU skiers.

In the team standings, the Buffs are in sixth place but just 14 points out of third and have a good opportunity Thursday to make up some ground, as the Buffs boast some strong sprinters ahead of the freestyle sprint races. The Buffs will then stay in Utah for an extended trip as the US Nationals continue with two more races,

UP NEXT
The season continues Thursday after a day off Wednesday with the freestyle sprit races. CU will remain in Utah for the next 12 days through the end of the Utah Invitational. After Thursday's races, which will also count toward the Westminster Invitational, the US Nationals will have two more races, the 10/20K freestyle mass start on Friday and then classic sprit races on Sunday, Jan. 7. Teams will stay for the Utah races on Jan. 12-13. The classic sprint races will count as an RMISA qualifier, but the mass start freestyle races will not.
...

TEAM STANDINGS (through 2 of 8 races): 1. Utah 183; 2. Denver 158; 3. Alaska Fairbanks 132; 4. Montana State 127; 5. Alaska Anchorage 124; 6. Colorado 118; 7. Wyoming 66.

WOMEN'S 10K CLASSIC (40 RMISA finishers): 1. Tilde Baangman, MSU, 27:13.3; 2. Sydney Palmer-Leger, UU, 27:32.5; 3. Karianne Dengerud, UU, 27:54.7; 4. Astrid Stav, UAA, 28:10.8; 5. Hanna Ray, DU, 28:18.2. CU Finishers: 15. Hanna Abrahamsson, 29:31.3; 25. Elena Grissom, 31:15.5; 27. Sophie Spalding, 31:19.5; 30. Kili Lehmkuhl, 32:30.6. Did Not Start: Weronika Kaleta.

MEN'S 10K CLASSIC (38 RMISA finishers): 1. Andreas Kirkeng, DU, 23:50.8; 2. Joe Davies, UU, 23:53.1; 3. Christopher Kalev, UAF, 24:16.1; 4. Florian Knopf, DU, 24:19.0; 5. Magnus Boee, CU, 24:21.5. Other CU Finishers: 7. Will Koch, 24:35.7; 11. Johannes Flaaten, 25:12.3; 15. Hugo Hinckfuss, 25:33.1; 20. Trey Jones, 26:14.4; 21. Luka Riley, 26:15.5. Did Not Finish: Alexander Maurer.
"

 
Congrats to Will Koch for the big WIN at the National Championships a couple days ago, and freshman Trey Jones for earning his 1st collegiate podium finish EARLY in his collegiate career!

Article - https://cubuffs.com/news/2024/1/4/skiing-koch-wins-freestyle-sprints-us-national-championship

"

Koch Wins Freestyle Sprint US National Championship​

By: Curtis Snyder, Associate AD/Athletic Communications

MIDWAY, Utah – Senior Will Koch won his first collegiate race in style, taking the U.S. National Championship in the men's freestyle sprint race here Thursday at Soldier Hollow. The race at the U.S. Cross Country Ski National Championships is doubling as the freestyle race for the Westminster Invitational.

The CU men won the men's race with 101 points as a team with freshman Trey Jones getting his first college podium in third place in his second college race, and fifth-year Magnus Boee finishing sixth, and combined with Koch's win the trio moved the Buffs from sixth place after the first day of racing Tuesday into third place, a position that held despite the women's team continuing to be short-handed here in Utah.

Senior Weronika Kaleta led the women's team as the only CU skier to advance to the heats stage of the sprint championships with the second-fastest qualifying time out of the RMISA and seventh-fastest in the entire field. Once in the quarterfinals, however, she unfortunately lost her pole early in her heat and finished sixth and did not advance to the semifinals. In the end she took 10th place for the Buffs in the RMISA results. Junior Hanna Abrahamsson finished in 19th place and Kili Lehmkuhl (26th) was the third team scorer just ahead of Sophie Spalding (27th) and Elena Grissom (29th).

The men's team had five skiers in the top 11 with sophomore Hugo Hinckfuss taking 10th and freshman Johannes Flaaten 11th. After the qualifier race, it was Hinckfuss and Flaaten just behind Koch at the top as that trio not only had the top three qualifying times out of the RMISA, but in the entire National Championship race. Jones had the fifth-fastest qualifying time from RMISA skiers and Boee the eighth as CU was the only team with five skiers advanced to the heats.

Koch won each of the four races he took part in on the day, taking the best qualifying time by over 1.3 seconds over the entire field, setting up his dominant day. His quarterfinal heat was then one of the slower heats but he advanced by winning it, and then it moved back again as his semifinal heat was the fastest. He won that and then the final heat to take the race victory.

Jones won his quarterfinal heat and then finished fourth in his semifinal heat, barely missing the finals. Only two RMISA skiers advanced to the six-skier final heat, and Jones high qualifying time put him into third place officially. Boee took third in his semifinal heat and it looked like he may advance to the semifinals as a lucky loser until the fifth and final quarterfinal heat took place, which was just about a second faster overall.

UP NEXT
Teams will continue to compete at the US National Championships the next few days. Friday will be a mass start freestyle race but will not be counted as an RMISA Qualifier race. Sunday the US Championships will conclude with a Supertour Classic Sprint race that will count as an RMISA Qualifier. The Nordic teams will stay in Utah for the Utah Invitational Jan. 12-13 with a 7.5K freestyle race on Friday and a 10K classic race on Saturday. Alpine teams then have four days of racing in Utah for these two meets Jan. 17-20.
...

TEAM STANDINGS (through 4 of 8 races): 1. Utah 353; 2. Denver 309; 3. Colorado 265; 4. Alaska Fairbanks 260; 5. Montana State 259; 6. Alaska Anchorage 236; 7. Wyoming 134.
"





 
Another nice day on the trails as a couple Buffs earn podium spots in today's conference sprint qualifiers.

Article -




Direct link - https://cubuffs.com/news/2024/1/7/skiing-kaleta-boee-hit-podium-in-rmisa-qualifiers

"
By: Curtis Snyder, Associate AD/Athletic Communications

MIDWAY, Utah – Weronika Kaleta took second and Magnus Boee third as the Colorado Buffaloes took part in classic sprint RMISA Qualifiers races that doubled as a US Super Tour race held here at Solder Hollow after the conclusion of the 2024 U.S. Cross Country Ski National Championships.

The races to not count toward team scoring but do count toward NCAA Qualification.

Kaleta's second place finish is the best of her career and her fourth career podium appearance, three of which have come in sprint races. She had the 10th fastest qualifying time in the field, fourth fastest among RMISA skiers, and she then took second in her quarterfinal heat. She was third in her semifinal heat but advanced to the finals as a lucky loser, where she was one of three RMISA skiers in the six-skier final. The took fourth overall in the final heat and behind just Utah's Karianne Dengerud in the RMISA standings.

Kaleta was the only women's skier to advance to the heats after the qualifier. Hanna Abrahamsson finished 43rd in the qualifier race, not advancing to the heats, and took 20th for her NCAA Qualification placement, and Sophie Spalding was 43rd overall, 23rd for RMISA Skiers. Elena Grissom (60th/28th) and Kili Lehmkuhl (69th/30th) rounded out the CU contingent.

The men advanced four skiers to the heats, as Boee was joined by Hugo Hinckfuss, Trey Jones and Will Koch. Boee led the way for the Buffs with the 13th fastest qualifying time (seventh for RMISA) while Hinckfuss (15th overall, eighth RMISA) and Koch (17th overall, ninth RMISA) were right behind him. Jones was the final qualifier in at 30th place, and was 14th among RMISA skeirs.

In the heats, Boee won his quarterfinal heat and took second in his semifinal heat before taking fifth in the final heat. There were four RMISA skiers in the final heat, and Utah's Tom Mancini and Denver's Florian Knopf finished ahead of Boee in the final. Hinckfuss took second in his quarterfinal heat and was then fourth in his semifinal heat, not advancing to the final, and Koch was third in his semifinal heat and the final lucky loser into the semifinals where he was sixth in his heat. Jones was fourth in his quarterfinal heat.

The Buffs did place two more in the top 20 of the RMISA standings and NCAA qualification with Johannes Flaaten finishing 34th in the qualifier, picking up a 15th place RMISA finish, and Alexander Maurer was 40th overall, 18th in the RMISA. Luka Riley did not start the race.

UP NEXT: The Buffs remain in Utah for another week and will have some time off to rest and train before the start of the Utah Invitational Friday and Saturday. Teams will take part in a 7.5K freestyle races Friday and 10K classic races Saturday. Alpine teams will then take center stage and finish both the Westminster and Utah Invitationals over four days from January 17-20.
...
"

Full results - https://cubuffs.com/documents/2024/1/8/SKI_RESULTS_-_2024_-_02_-_Qualifiers-2.pdf
 
Articles after this Friday and Saturday's action for the Nordic Group at the Utah Invitational. (After being in action for almost 2 weeks, the Nordic group takes a break until 2/2 and the Alpine Group opens its season with 4 straight days of racing beginning this Thursday.)

Good to see improvement, especially on the women's side, as the 2 prior NCAA Championship competitors are back from European racing, and another top Buff who has been coming back from injury seems to be improving each week.

For Friday's freestyle sprint races - https://cubuffs.com/news/2024/1/12/skiing-koch-dietze-impress-in-utah-invite-freestyle-races

"

Koch, Dietze Impress In Utah Invite Freestyle Races​

By: Curtis Snyder, Associate AD/Athletic Communications
MIDWAY, Utah – Senior Will Koch and fifth-year Anna-Maria Dietze both impressed with third and fourth place finishes, respectively, as the Colorado Buffaloes Ski Team got action underway at the Utah Invitational here Friday at Soldier Hollow.

Despite tough conditions with fresh snow falling along with wind, the Buffs were nothing if not consistent, scoring 72 points in the men's race and 71 in the women's for 143 points, good for fourth place but just five points out of second. Utah leads with 187 points while Alaska Fairbanks (148) and Denver (145) essentially shifted roles in the two races to finish a few points ahead of the Buffs. UAF scored 99 points in men's race and DU 91 in the women's race. Behind the Buffs are Alaska Anchorage (116), Montana State (103) and Wyoming (66) in that order.

In the women's race, Dietze was impressive with her fourth-place finish coming less than 48 hours after arriving in Utah from Europe. She picked up where she left off last season when she had nine top five finishes, and she now has 16 career such finishes. Weronika Kaleta picked up another top 10 in ninth place, her 20th career top 10 finish and she has now finished in the top 10 in every race since the end of her sophomore season in 2022. Hanna Abrahamsson took 14th, her best finish of the season, as she continues to improve from illness and injury. She keeps her top 20 streak alive as she has finished in the top 20 in each of her 26 career races.

"The conditions were really tough today with a lot of snow and wind," CU coach Jana Weinberger said. "The women did well, it's good to have Anna-Maria back, Wera had a good race and Hanna seems to be coming back to form."

On the men's side, Koch's third place finish is his second podium in the last three starts and fifth of his career. He was fifth at the first split and move up to second at the second split and missed out on a win by just 6.2 seconds. Flaaten had to start first and set the pace, not to mention deal with more snow than those behind him, and after a slow start he improved each split, moving up from 22nd to 15th and finally 11th. He now has three 11th place finishes and four straight top 15 finishes to start his career. Magnus Boee finished an uncharacteristic 15th place but hit a milestone with his 50th career top 20 finish in 51 career races.

"On the men's side, Will was close to a win, he lost a little in the end, but a podium is great," Weinberger said. "Johannes started a little slow, he's still getting used to the altitude and Magnus struggled with the conditions today but I expect him to be better tomorrow."

UP NEXT
The Buffs close out the Nordic portion of the Utah Invitational Saturday with the 10K Classic pursuit races, and thus over two weeks of racing at Soldier Hollow. Saturday will be an interval start race, each skier starts in the order they finished Friday and however many seconds behind the winner they were, they start and the and first to cross the finish line wins. With more snow expected, Weinberger believes it's not as much of an advantage to start early in the field as it normally would be. Alpine teams open their 2024 season on Wednesday with four days of racing to close out both the Westminster and Utah Invitationals.
...
"




Full results - https://cubuffs.com/documents/2024/1/13/SKI_RESULTS_-_2024_-_03_-_Utah_-_Day_1.pdf

______________________________________________________________________________________

For Saturday's 10K classical races - https://cubuffs.com/news/2024/1/13/skiing-five-top-10s-move-buffs-into-second-at-utah-invite

"

Five Top 10s Move Buffs Into Second At Utah Invite​

By: Curtis Snyder, Associate AD/Athletic Communications

MIDWAY, Utah – Seniors Will Koch and Weronika Kaleta each finished in fifth place and the Colorado Buffaloes Ski Team used five top 10 finishes to propel them from fourth to second at the conclusion of the Nordic races here at Soldier Hollow Saturday in the Utah Invitational.

With team scoring almost identical to Friday's freestyle races, the nature of the close event allowed the Buffs to move up two spots into second place with 289 points, passing both Denver (280) and Alaska Fairbanks (275) during the two races. Utah continues to lead with 382 points, a healthy 93-point advantage headed into next week's alpine races. CU scored 74 points in the men's race and 72 in the women's for 146 on the day and in the four races the past two days scored between 71 and 74 team points in each of them.

The races were pursuit races, meaning each skier started based on their finish placement and time behind the leader from Friday's freestyle races, but first across the finish line wins. CU had a solid day moving up a combined 23 spots between the two races and were one of just two teams to move up 10-plus spots in both races.

On the women's side, Kaleta led the way moving up four spots from ninth to fifth while Hanna Abrahamsson had the biggest improvement of the skiers in the top 10, moving from 14th to ninth place. Anna-Maria Dietze slipped a little but her 10th place finish gave the Buffs three in the top 10. The Buffs scored 72 points and moved past Denver in the team standings through three events.

The men followed and CU men had a similar experience to the women with Johannes Flaaten moving up three spots from 11th to eighth and Magnus Boee used the 10th fastest race to move up four spots from 17th to finish 13th. Koch slipped two spots but still had the fourth-fastest classic time and held on for his third top five finish of the season. The men scored 74 points and move past Denver into second place in the final Nordic standings.

UP NEXT: Nordic teams will have two-and-a-half weeks off before the start of CU's own invitational, the Spencer James Nelson Memorial Invitational, the first week of February in Steamboat Springs, the same venue that the Buffs will host the 2024 NCAA Ski Championships in March. Alpine teams are up next and will start their season with four races over four days from Jan. 17-20 to close out both the Westminster and Utah Invitationals at Olympic Park in Park City, Utah.
...

TEAM STANDINGS (Through 4 of 8 Races): 1. Utah 382; 2. Colorado 289; 3. Denver 280; 4. Alaska Fairbanks 275; 5. Alaska Anchorage 240; 6. Montana State 218; 7. Wyoming 112.

WOMEN'S 10K CLASSIC (35 collegiate finishers): 1. Kendall Kramer, UAF, 51:24.7; 2. Sydney Palmer-Leger, UU, 52:00.0; 3. Tilde Baangman, MSU, 52:19.1; 4. Karianne Dengerud, UU, 53:03.2; 5. Weronika Kaleta, CU, 53:06.9. Other CU Finishers: 9. Hanna Abrahamsson, 53:42.5; 10. Anna-Maria Dietze, 54:04.8; 25. Karolina Kaleta, 56:12.6; 28. Elena Grissom, 57:56.3; 29. Sophie Spalding, 58:05.7; 31. Kili Lehmkuhl, 59:05.5.

MEN'S 10K CLASSIC (40 collegiate finishers): 1. Joe Davies, UU, 44:15.8; 2. Brian Bushey, UU, 44:33.5; 3. Andreas Kirkeng, DU, 44:49.7; 4. Florian Knopf, DU, 44:50.4; 5. Will Koch, CU, 44:52.8. Other CU Finishers: 8. Johannes Flaaten, 45:44.7; 13. Magnus Boee, 46:22.0; 18. Hugo Hinckfuss, 47:01.8; 19. Alexander Maurer, 47:16.0; 26. Luka Riley, 48:07.0. Did Not Start: Trey Jones.
"

Full results - https://cubuffs.com/documents/2024/1/14/SKI_RESULTS_-_2024_-_03_-_Utah_-_Day_2.pdf
 
Looks like a GREAT start to one Buff frosh's Alpine skiiing career, but too many ski outs overall in TOUGH condiftions for the Buffs to score big in their 1st Alpine day of racing this season.

Article - https://cubuffs.com/news/2024/1/17/skiing-wahlqvist-wins-first-collegiate-race-at-westminster-invite

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Wahlqvist Wins First Collegiate Race At Westminster Invite​

By: Curtis Snyder, Associate AD/Athletic Communications

PARK CITY, Utah – Freshman Filip Wahlqvist became just the fifth skier in Colorado Buffaloes Ski Team history to win his first career men's alpine race, taking the gold medal in the slalom race at the Westminster Invitational here Wednesday at Olympic Park.

Wahlqvist joins Lou Hassell (1956, Aspen, Downhill), Roche Bush (1961, Wyoming, GS), Tim Hansen (1992, Utah, GS) and Drew Roberts (2007, Utah, Slalom) as the only skiers to accomplish the feat. He also did it in dramatic fashion, starting 16th overall and moving up to ninth before jumping into first with the third-fastest second run.

The conditions were less than ideal, with heavy snow throughout the day. That along with a new rule where you're not allowed to hike in a slalom race, and both the men's and women's race had more racers not finish than any in recent RMISA history. Less than 50 percent of the skiers in both races finished, with 17 of 38 women and 26 of 55 men completing the race.

Wahlqvist was one of just two CU skiers able to finish on the men's side, joined by fellow freshmen Etienne Mazellier, who was one of just two skiers faster than Wahlqvist in the second run, using the second-fastest time to move all the way from 28th to 16th in the final standings. The other five CU men didn't finish, perhaps none as heartbreaking as Louis Fausa, who had the fastest first run in the field and there was a momentary glimmer of hope for a 1-2 finish until he skied out on his second run.

The women had similar issues, with only two of seven skiers finishing the race. Julia Toiviainen, who like Wahlqvist started in 16th position, moved up to 10th after the first run and like Mazzelier, she also had the second-fastest second run and moved up to sixth place. Caroline Jones just missed out on starting behind Toivianen and instead because of the seeding process started 32nd and moved all the way up to 17th after the first run then up to ninth after her second run to pick up a top 10 finish.

Having just two skiers score in both races hurt the Buffs in the team standings, as CU slipped from third to fifth place as both Alaska Anchorage and Montana State had impressive days in the tight standings. The Buffs, however, kept fairly equal with first place Utah (477 points) and second place Denver (419). Alaska Anchorage moved up from sixth to third and has 398 points with Montana State (375) three points ahead of the Buffs (372). Just 47 points separate second through fifth places entering the final races of the meet on Friday.


UP NEXT: The second of four days at Olympic Park will keep skiers in the same discipline but a different meet, as the Utah Invitational slalom races are on tap for Thursday with women's first run scheduled for 9 a.m. and men's first run at 10 a.m. Action will continue at Olympic Park with giant slalom races, first to close out the Westminster meet Friday then the Utah meet on Saturday.
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"
 
Articles after 3 more days of skiing, which found Mr. Wahlqvist, and then yesterday fellow frosh Sargett also won his 1st race EARLY in his Buff career. (Due to allbuffs limits, I will be posting the article after day 3 in a separate post.)

Teamwise, CU finished 4th at the Westminster Invitational and 3rd at the Utah Invitational, which both ended with separate giant slalom races the last couple of days.

Next up is the team's only regular season "home" meet (In Steamboat) taking place over 2 days Feb. 2nd-3rd (with an additional qualifying race day on Feb. 1).

After Thursday - https://cubuffs.com/news/2024/1/18/skiing-wahlqvist-wins-second-straight-slalom-at-utah

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Wahlqvist Wins Second Straight Slalom At Utah​

By: Curtis Snyder, Associate AD/Athletic Communications

PARK CITY, Utah – Freshman Filip Wahlqvist joined several elite lists in the history of the Colorado Buffaloes Ski Team by winning his second straight race, taking the slalom gold again Thursday here at Olympic Park, this time as part of the Utah Invitational.

The team, however, struggled a bit again for the second straight day with half of CU's skiers not finishing between the men's and women's race. CU slipped from second to third in the team standings and sit just 19 points behind Denver (416-397) while holding off both Montana State (370) and Alaska Anchorage (361). Utah is in the lead with 533 points.

"It's a tough couple of days for the team scores," CU alpine coach Ian Lochhead said. "We've had a bit of an injury bug going around and a few skiers. We will finish out as strong as we can here and then focus on getting healthy before our home meet in early February."

Wahlqvist is just the third men's alpine skier in CU history to win the first two possible races of a season, joining Buddy Werner in 1963 and Spider Sabich in 1967, and both of those two U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Famers were in their senior seasons. The only time both a skier and a freshman won their first two races of the season was John Skajem in 1986. It's believed he did not compete in the season opening Nevada Invitational but in his first two college meets at Montana State and Western State, he swept the GS and slalom races at each, winning his first four races.

Wahlqvist is the 11th known men's alpine skier to win back-to-back slalom races and the list is a who's who of CU, collegiate and US Skiing legends, including Frank Brown, Buddy Werner, Bill Marolt, Mark Ford, Stephen Heinzsch, John Skajem, Toni Standteiner, Scott Wirth, Brad Hogan and David Ketterer in chronological order. Ketterer is the last skier to win the first two slalom races of a season in 2017 and the most recent skier to win the first two races of a season in any gender or discipline was in 2020 when Mikaela Tommy won the first two races that season, both giant slalom contests.

Wahlqvist's path to victory Thursday was almost the opposite of Wednesday when he was ninth after the first run and edged out each of the top eight skiers in the second run for victory. Thursday he had the fastest time in the field after the first run and demolished the competition, not only holding onto his lead with the sixth-fastest second run, but winning by an astonishing 1.95 seconds.
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Full results -
cubuffs.com

SKI RESULTS 2024 03 Utah Day 3 - University of Colorado Athletics

SKI RESULTS 2024 03 Utah Day 3
cubuffs.com cubuffs.com
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After Friday (End of Westminster Invitational) - https://cubuffs.com/news/2024/1/19/skiing-wahlqvist-dingsleder-lead-buffs-in-westminster-gs

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Wahlqvist, Dingsleder Lead Buffs In Westminster GS​

By: Curtis Snyder, Associate AD/Athletic Communications

PARK CITY, Utah – The Colorado Buffaloes Ski Team had strong performances from Filip Wahlqvist and Denise Dingsleder, using a total of five top 10 performances to end the Westminster Invitational on a strong note, finishing fourth in the closest top five team scores in an RMISA meet under the current scoring system.

Just 58 points separated first through fifth places, the closest RMISA meet in 15 years, and the Buffs did pass Alaska Anchorage on the final day of racing while the top five dramatically tightened. Utah won the invitational with 579 points followed by Denver (557), Montana State (536), the Buffs (525) and Seawolves (511). Further, if you added the top alpine only team (Westminster, 254 points) and top Nordic only team (Alaska Fairbanks, 260), they would put a sixth team in that range with 514 combined points.

The men began the day and Wahlqvist again had an astonishing day, moving up from a starting position of 33rd to finish on the podium in third place. He moved all the way from 33rd to 11th after the first run and then had the seventh-fastest second run to move up eight more spots. He picked up his third podium appearance in as many races to continue the hot start to his collegiate career.

As a team, the Buffs definitely had the best moving day of any team in the field, as Ryder Sarchett started in 36th, moved up to 18th after the first run and then had the third-fastest second run to move into the top 10 in seventh place. Similarly, Jack Reich started 26th, moved up to 15th and had the fourth-fastest second run to come in just behind Sarchett in eighth.

On the women's side, the Buffs had five skiers with a top six run time in either the first or second run, again showing the team's depth. Denise Dingsleder was able to take advantage of her starting position of third and maintained that position on the first run, then had the 10th fastest second run to finish in fifth place. Julia Toiviainen had the sixth-fastest first run and then slipped one spot to seventh in the final standings. Emma Hammergaard had the fifth-fastest first run but was unable to finish her second run.

Ashley Campbell and Caroline Jones had similar results to the men's team, as Campbell started the race in 39th, moved up to 23rd and then on the strength of the second-fastest second run, ended up in 15th position while Jones started 37th, sat in 26th after the first run and then had the third-fastest second run to move up to 18th.

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TEAM STANDINGS (Final): 1. Utah 579; 2. Denver 557; 3. Montana State 536; 4. Colorado 525; 5. Alaska Anchorage 511; 6. Alaska Fairbanks 260; 7. Westminster 254; 8. Wyoming 134; 9. Colorado Mountain 108; 10. Nevada 101.

MEN'S GIANT SLALOM (34 Collegiate Finishers): 1. Gianluca Boehm, MSU, 2:10.59; 2. Leon Nikic, UAA, 2:11.69; 3. Filip Wahlqvist, 2:11.91; 4. Isak Staurset, MSU, 2:11.95; 5. Jeremie Lagier, WMC, 2:12.02. Other CU Finishers: 7. Ryder Sarchett, 2:12.32; 8. Jack Reich, 2:12.40. Did Not Finish First Run: Louis Fausa. Did Not Finish Second Run: Etienne Mazellier, Chase Seymour.

WOMEN'S GIANT SLALOM (27 Collegiate Finishers): 1. Hannah Sethereng, WMC, 2:16.97; 2. Liv Moritz, DU, 2:17.17; 3. Evelina Fredricsson, WMC, 2:17.41; 4. Justine Lamontagne, MSU, 2:17.55; 5. Denise Dingsleder, CU, 2:17.57. Other CU Finishers: 7. Julia Toiviainen, 2:18.35; 15. Ashley Campbell, 2:19.71; 18. Caroline Jones, 2:21.13; 25. Elena Exenberger, 2:23.21. Did Not Finish Second Run: Emma Hammergaard.

Full results - https://cubuffs.com/documents/2024/1/20/SKI_RESULTS_-_2024_-_01_-_Westminster_-_FINAL.pdf
 
Article After Saturday's racing - https://cubuffs.com/news/2024/1/20/skiing-sarchett-wins-gs-race-buffs-third-at-utah-invite

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Sarchett Wins GS Race, Buffs Third At Utah Invite​

By: Curtis Snyder, Associate AD/Athletic Communications
PARK CITY, Utah – Ryder Sarchett won the men's giant slalom as part of the Utah Invitational Saturday to successfully close four days of alpine racing for the Colorado Buffaloes Ski Team here at Olympic Park. The men's alpine team won today's race and took gold in three of the four races here this week.

Sarchett was able to put two solid runs together, having the fifth fastest first run despite starting 18th and then having the third-fastest second run to get the win. The Buffs dominated the second run, holding the second through fifth fastest runs. Louis Fausa, who has battled some nagging injuries, finally broke through and he had the second-fastest second run to move all the way from 19th to seventh in the final standings.

Filip Wahlqvist had the fifth-fastest second run and finished fourth overall, actually the lowest finish of his young college career that now includes two wins, three podiums and four straight top five finishes. Etienne Mazellier struggled a bit in the first run, sitting in 22nd, but had the fourth-fastest second run to move up to 13th. Sophomore Jack Reich also secured a top 20 finish in 20th, giving CU five of the top 20 finishers.

The Buffs scored 96 team points and briefly moved into second place ahead of Denver. CU was down 19 points to the Pioneers and outscored them 96-58 to move 19 points ahead with the women's race left. The Pioneers somewhat flipped the script on the Buffs in the women's race, however, scoring 94 points and outpacing CU 94-66 to go back into second place by just nine points through all eight races. CU did secure more Day 4 and giant slalom points than any team in the field with 162, 10 ahead of the Pioneers.

Utah won the meet with 657 points followed by the Pioneers (568) and Buffs (559) with Montana State (500) and Alaska Anchorage (465) rounding out the top five.

In the women's race, the Buffs were again paced by Denise Dingsleder and Julia Toiviainen, who each picked up their second straight top 10 GS finish in as many days. Dingsleder finished sixth and Toiviainen eighth, each sitting in those exact positions after the first run and maintaining those positions in the second run. Elena Exenberger was CU's third team scorer in 17th place with Caroline Jones two spots back in 19th, giving CU nine total top 20 finishes in the two races.

UP NEXT: The Utah and Westminster meets are now complete, and the Western Region skiers will take a two week break before visiting Colorado for a pair of meets including CU's Spencer James Nelson Memorial Invitational, set for Steamboat Springs Feb. 1-3, quickly followed by the Denver Invitational Feb. 5-10. In Steamboat, alpine teams will take place in an extra GS qualifier on Feb. 1 followed by a second GS race as part of the team meet on Feb. 2, both at Mt. Werner, and then a night slalom at the iconic Howelsen Hill on Feb. 3. Nordic teams will ski in 7.5K freestyle races Feb. 2 and 20K classic races on Feb. 3 both also at Howelsen Hill. Alpine teams will have one day off before DU hosts two slalom races as part of its invitational at Loveland Ski Area Feb. 5-6 and Nordic teams will head to Maloit Park for the Nordic portion of the Invitational Feb. 9-10.
...

TEAM STANDINGS (Final): 1. Utah 657; 2. Denver 568; 3. Colorado 559; 4. Montana State 500; 5. Alaska Anchorage 465; 6. Westminster 289; 7. Alaska Fairbanks 275; 8. Nevada 128; 9. Colorado Mountain 117; 10. Wyoming 112.

MEN'S GIANT SLALOM (39 collegiate finishers): 1. Ryder Sarchett, CU, 2:03.51; 2. Leon Nikic, UAA, 2:04.10; 3. Gianluca Boehm, MSU, 2:04.29; 4. Filip Wahlqvist, CU, 2:04.32; 5. Jeremie Lagier, WMC, 2:04.44. Other CU Finishers: 7. Louis Fausa, 2:04.58; 13. Etienne Mazellier, 2:05.19; 20. Jack Reich, 2:05.84. Did Not Finish Second Run: Chase Seymour.

WOMEN'S GIANT SLALOM (28 collegiate finishers): 1. Liv Moritz, DU, 2:09.20; 2. Hannah Saethereng, WMC, 2:09.54; 3. Evelina Fredriccson, WMC, 2:09.96; 4. Kaja Norbye, UU, 2:10.34; 5. Sara Rask, DU, 2:0.47. CU FINISHERS: 6. Denise Dingsleder, 2:10.72; 8. Julia Toiviainen, 2:10.98; 17. Elena Exenberger, 2:12.63; 19. Caroline Jones, 2:12.63. Did Not Start Second Run: Emma Hammergaard. Did Not Finish First Run: Ashley Campbell.
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Full results - https://cubuffs.com/documents/2024/1/21/SKI_RESULTS_-_2024_-_03_-_Utah_-_FINAL.pdf
 
Tomorrow is the start of 3 days of racing hosted by CU at Steamboat Springs. Tomorrow are men's and women's giant slalom (individual) RMISA qualifying races, and then Friday and Saturday the annual "Colorado Spencer James Nelson Memorial Invitational" will be held.

Live timings for tomorrow's GS races:
Men's (1st runs scheduled to start at 8:30 AM) - https://www.live-timing.com/race2.php?r=258016
Women's (1st runs scheduled to begin at 12:30 PM MT) - https://www.live-timing.com/race2.php?r=258018
(Per the above timing links, a live stream of the racing is also supposed to be available at http://www.sswsc.org/events/cuinvitational .)
 
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With my travels, fallen way behind on Olympic sports news. For skiing:

Looking back, it was a great Buff hosted invitational at Steamboat, as the team won its 1st overall team competition in MANY years, with the return of alpine skier Magdalena Luczak from the World Cup circuit and a couple big wins from Hanna Abrahamsson a couple keys to the Buff's improvement. (I believe skiers for many teams were missing while they competed internationally. Included in this was Buff alpine skier Ryder Sarchett, who was busy winning a junior world championship as noted in the https://www.allbuffs.com/threads/fr...orld-championship-in-the-giant-slalom.158175/ thread.)

Article after the 1st (of 2) day of competition - https://cubuffs.com/news/2024/2/2/skiing-dietze-luczak-win-buffs-lead-own-invitational-at-midpoint

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Dietze, Luczak Win, Buffs Lead Own Invitational At Midpoint​

February 02, 2024 | Skiing

By: Curtis Snyder, Associate AD/Athletic Communications
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. – Fueled by wins from Anna-Maria Dietze and Magdalena Luczak and 13 total top 10 performances, the Colorado Buffaloes Ski Team is in the lead after the first day and midpoint of its own Spencer James Nelson Memorial Invitational Friday here at Mt. Werner and Howelsen Hill.

With the 7.5K freestyle races at Howelsen Hill and giant slalom races at Mt. Werner, Friday's schedule is one of the few times this season that both alpine and Nordic teams are in action on the same day. The Buffs responded with their best day of the season to date while also at one of their home venues and the site of this season's NCAA Championship by placing at least three skiers in the top 10 in each of the four races.

When the snow settled and the team scores were tallied, CU finished the day with 350.5 points, 23.5 ahead of second place Denver and 65 ahead of Utah. Montana State (89.5 back) and Alaska Anchorage (140.5 back) round out the top five.

"Today was a very good day for the Buffs," Coach Jana Weinberger said. "For Nordic, four in the top six for the guys is always a great result. Anna-Maria's win is huge, and two others in the top 10. The alpine teams were also impressive, and Magda's win is huge. Overall, that's a great result for us today and good preparation for NCAA's. The athletes know the courses better now and where they lost some time and where they can pick up time. This is definitely a confidence boost and they know they can race well on these courses."

With the men's first giant slalom run underway at Mt. Werner, the men's 7.5K freestyle race was first on tap at Howelsen Hill, and the Buffs wasted no time as the Buffaloes stampeded to a third, fourth, fifth and sixth place finish in the race. Hugo Hinckfuss picked up his first career podium in third place and his first career top 5 freestyle finish. Magnus Boee was just behind Hinckfuss in fourth to pick up his 36th career top five finish, moving into the top five in CU history. Will Koch was fifth, his third straight top five and fourth of the season and Johannes Flaaten was sixth, the best finish of his young career.

Dietze's win in the women's 7.5 freestyle race is the second of her career, and second straight freestyle win on this course, as her first career win was last season in the 10K freestyle race at Howelsen Hill. She won by an impressive 17.9 seconds over Utah's Sydney Palmer-Leger, who was another 17 seconds up on third place. Weronika Kaleta was eighth and Hanna Abrahamsson 10th, and those two were just 6.8 seconds apart and both were less than 30 seconds off the podium as 28.9 second separated third through 10th places.

At Mt. Werner, the men's field was in the midst of the second run and all three team scorers wound up in a tie, including Louis Fausa and Etienne Mazellier both tying for fourth while Filip Wahlqvist tied for eighth with Utah's Gustav Voello. Fausa and Mazellier got to the same two-run time in dramatically different fashions as Fausa sat in second place after the first run and Mazellier in 16th. Fausa slipped a little in his second run while Mazellier had the fastest run in the field to move up 12 spots.

In the afternoon, the women's GS took center stage and Luczak was special. She had the fastest first run in the field and held a 57-hundredths lead over Utah's Madison Hoffman. Luczak needed most of that cushion in the second run as Hoffman threw down the fastest run and the two finished just four-hundredths of a second apart, flipping positions from Thursday's GS qualifier here on the same hill.

Emma Hammergaard finished sixth, picking up her second straight top 10 and picking up valuable qualification points, and Denise Dingsleder was eighth as the Buffs third team scorer.
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After the 2nd day -




Direct link - https://cubuffs.com/news/2024/2/4/skiing-abrahamsson-wins-buffs-take-own-invitational

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STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. – Hanna Abrahamsson took gold in the women's classic race and a herd of Buffaloes stampeded on Howelsen Hill Saturday as the Colorado Buffaloes Ski Team won its own Spencer James Nelson Memorial Invitational, the first full meet victory for CU in five years.

The Buffs have knocked on the door a few times the past five years including taking second at the 2023 NCAA Championships, and took a Nordic-only meet at Alaska Fairbanks in 2022, but this is the first full team, alpine and Nordic, victory since the 2019 Montana State Invitational. Additionally, it's CU's first win in its SJN Memorial since the Buffs perfect season in 2015.

Colorado brought a 22.5 point lead over Denver into the day at the midpoint of the meet and threw the hammer down in the morning's Nordic races, as Abrahamsson picked up her second college victory and Anna-Maria Dietze her second straight podium, quickly extending its lead over Denver to 60.5 points. The Pioneers charged back in the men's Nordic race, but the Buffs kept pace with Magnus Boee taking second and Will Koch third, and the two tied with 94 points each and the baton was handed off to the alpine teams with that 60.5 point lead.

The women's alpine team dominated the second run under the lights, as CU had the first, second, fourth, seventh, eighth and 12th fastest times in the second run. Magdalena Luczak hit the podium in second place despite starting in 34th and Julia Toiviainen finished ninth with six Buffs taking the top 17 spots. Always strong in alpine, DU outscored the Buffs by two points in the race to make the margin 58.5 points with just the men's slalom remaining.

The men's team had a bit of bad luck with Chase Seymour not able to start, Louis Fausa skiing out in the first run and Filip Wahlqvist, who had gold on his mind after having the second fasted first run, skiing out about two-thirds down the course in the second run. Still, Etienne Mazellier took eighth and Jacob Dilling 10th while Jack Reich did well to finish despite having a high bib to secure the victory for the Buffaloes.

As a team, the Buffs scored 671.5 points, scoring 90 or more in half races and 78 or more in seven of the eight races in the meet. It's the most points the Buffs have scored since the 2017 RMISA Championships (672) and the fourth most under the current scoring system. The Buffs held off Denver (635, 36.5 points back) and beat third place Utah (586.5) by 85 points. Montana State (495) and Alaska Anchorage (428) round out the top five teams.

With snow falling overnight, it affected both disciplines Saturday, as the women's 20K classic race took over 67 minutes to complete. Abrhamsson pushed the pack the first two laps, broke away near the end of the third lap and held of MSU's Tilde Baangman on the final lap, winning by 15.6 seconds. Dietze was another 12.3 seconds back in third place, giving the Buffs two podiums in the race and Weronika Kaleta finished ninth as the third team scorer.

The men were up next, and the Buffs again placed two in the top three with Magnus Boee taking second and Will Koch third, the two just three-tenths of a second apart. Johannes Flaaten finished eighth also near the lead pack, just over 12 seconds behind Boee and Koch.

Due to the field sizes, the first runs of both slalom races were held mid afternoon and then after about a three-hour break, the skiers came back for the second runs under the lights at the storied racing hill. Magdalena Luczak was able to throw down the ninth fastest first run despite starting 34th in extremely difficult conditions. She then moved up to finish second after the second run. The women's team dominated the second run, with six of the top 12 times overall, including Ashley Campbell's top time in the second run, helping her move up from 28th to 14th place. Luczak had the second fastest second run while Emma Hammergaard had the fourth-fastest to move up from 24th to 17th. Caroline Jones had the seventh fastest second run, moving up six spots to 16th, and Elena Exenberger had the eighth fastest second run to move up three spots to 13th. Julia Toiviainen had the 12th fastest time in both runs and finished ninth.

The men's race saw Louis Fausa not finish the first run and after throwing down the second fastest first run, Filip Wahlqvist skied out in the second run with a third straight slalom win on his mind. Still, the men placed two in the top 10 led by Etienne Mazellier in eighth and Jacob Dilling in 10th. Chase Seymour didn't start the race and Jack Reich was the Buffs third scorer, finishing 29th despite starting 51st. The Buffs were also without freshman phenom Ryder Sarchett, who won a GS world title earlier in the day in France at the FIS Junior World Championships.
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Full Colorado Invitational results - https://cubuffs.com/documents/2024/2/4/SKI_RESULTS_-_2024_-_03_-_Colorado_-_FINAL.pdf
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Continuing Buff skiing news:

Then, this past Monday and Tuesday the Alpine group competed in 2 different slaloms to complete their portion of DU's Invitational (the end of the regular season for them), and the Buffs sit 3rd halfway through.

The Nordic group finishes off CU's regular season with DU Invitational races tomorrow and Saturday in Minturn. (The conference (RMISA) Championships and NCAA Western Regionals, hosted by Montana State this season,are scheduled to begin Feb. 22nd with alpine group qualifying races.)

Article after the 1st day - https://cubuffs.com/news/2024/2/5/skiing-luczak-wins-wahlqvist-podiums-at-du-meet

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Luczak Wins, Wahlqvist Podiums At DU Meet​

By: Curtis Snyder, Associate AD/Athletic Communications

GEORGETOWN, Colo. – Magdalena Luczak won the women's slalom and Filip Wahlqvist took second in the men's slalom race, propelling the Colorado Buffaloes Ski Team to second place after the first day of the Denver Invitational here Monday at Loveland Ski Area.

Luczak picked up her second win of the season, third of her career and first in slalom racing. In the last four races, her first four of the season, she has two wins and two runner-ups, one each in both GS and slalom, solidifying outstanding NCAA qualification points in both disciplines.

The Buffs won the women's race with Caroline Jones finishing fifth, her best as a Buff and 10th career top five finish, and Julia Toiviainen finishing 11th, the three skiers racking up 89 points to edge out Utah (87) and Denver (82).

On the men's side, Wahlqvist's second place finish is his fourth podium and fifth top five finish in his first eight college races. He's now won two slalom races and taken second in the third to lead the RMISA slalom MVP and NCAA qualification lists. He was joined in the team point scoring by Etienne Mazellier, who finished tied for 11th and Louis Fausa, who struggled a bit by his standards to finish 26th.
...
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Article after the 2nd day - https://cubuffs.com/news/2024/2/6/skiing-buffs-third-after-du-invite-alpine-portion-complete

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Buffs Third After DU Invite Alpine Portion Complete​

By: Curtis Snyder, Associate AD/Athletic Communications

GEORGETOWN, Colo. – Three skiers earned top seven finishes in the men's and women's slalom races to close out five days of racing in the past week as the Colorado Buffaloes close out the alpine portion of the Denver Invitational in third place.

Utah took control of the meet, scoring 197 points in the two races to take the meet lead with 350 points, 23 ahead of host Denver (327) and 62 points up on the Buffs (288). Westminster (242) and Alaska Anchorage (225) round out the team scoring.

Filip Wahlqvist finished fifth for the Buffaloes, slipping a bit on his second run after leading the past in the first run. Louis Fausa did the opposite, sitting in 19th place after the first run but using the fourth-fastest second run to move up 13 spots to sixth just behind Wahlqvist. Jacob Dilling rounded out the team scoring in 11th place.

In the women's race, Caroline Jones led the way in seventh place for the Buffs in seventh place, moving up three spots in the second run for her top 10 finish. Denise Dingsleder finished 15th and Julia Toviainen 18th as the second and third team scorers.
...
"

Full results after alpine was completed - https://cubuffs.com/documents/2024/2/8/SKI_RESULTS_-_2024_-_04_-_Denver_-_Day_2.pdf
 
Even short-handed (although I assume this probably was the case for other teams) due to many participating at other competitions, the Nordic crew had a solid day today in the penultimate day of the regular season.

Article - https://cubuffs.com/news/2024/2/9/skiing-buffs-in-second-in-tight-team-battle-at-du-invitational

"

Buffs In Second In Tight Team Battle At DU Invitational​

By: Curtis Snyder, Associate AD/Athletic Communications

MINTURN, Colo. – Hanna Abrahamsson and Hugo Hinckfuss hit the podium and the Colorado Buffaloes Ski Team had a solid day of Nordic action here Friday at Maloit Park, moving up one spot to second place as yet another three-way battle ensues in the team standings in the Denver Invitational.

Behind Abrahamsson and Hinckfuss, both the men's and women's team won their respective 10K classic mass start races, moving the Buffs past Utah, and within 24 points of Denver with two races remaining in the Pioneer's home meet. DU leads with 482 points, with Colorado (458, -24) and Utah (452, -30) still in the mix. Alaska Anchorage (361) and Montana State (340.5) round out the top five.

But it was the Buffs that ruled the day, scoring 170 points in the two races, 86 in the men's race and 84 in the women's, picking up 15 points on the Pioneers and 68 on the Utes.

The men kicked things off in the first race of the day and Hinckfuss was joined by Johannes Flaaten in the top five in fifth place while Alexander Maurer finished eighth. Hinckfuss matched his career best finish, Flaaten got his career best and Maurer was within one spot of his career best finish. And the Buffs accomplished the team race win shorthanded, skiing without Magnus Boee, who is recovering from illness, Will Koch who is participating in World Cup races, and Trey Jones, who's skiing at the at the Junior World Championships.

On the women's side, the Buffs were also short-handed without Anna-Maria Dietze, who had two podium appearances at the CU Invitational before traveling to compete on the World Cup. Abrahamsson's second place finish is her second straight podium after winning the classic race at the CU Invitational and Weronika Kaleta's sixth place finish is her 13th straight top 10 finish dating all the way back to the 2022 season.

Karolina Kaleta finished 12th as CU's third team scorer and both Elena Grissom and Sophie Spalding finished in the top 20 in 18th and 19th, respectively. Kili Lehmkuhl also finished 22nd for the Buffaloes.

UP NEXT: Colorado returns to action to close out the regular season Saturday with the 7.5K freestyle races back at Maloit Park, also closing out the DU Invitational. After that teams will have two weeks off before heading to Montana State for the RMISA Championships Feb. 22-25.

WHAT IT MEANS: The Buffs aren't the only team short-handed in the Denver meet, but nonetheless it's encouraging that CU battled back into the meet standings, especially on the men's side with only three skiers in the race and all three picking up top eight finishes to win the race. Several Buffs helped their NCAA qualification, perhaps none more than Abrahamsson who picked up her second top two finish in classic.
...

TEAM STANDINGS (Thru 6 of 8 Races): 1. Denver 482; 2. Colorado 458; 3. Utah 452; Alaska Anchorage 361; 5. Montana State 340.5; 6. Westminster 241.5; 7. Nevada 118; 8. Colorado Mountain 116; 9. Alaska Fairbanks 100; 10. Wyoming 62.
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"


Full results - https://cubuffs.com/documents/2024/2/10/SKI_RESULTS_-_2024_-_04_-_Denver_-_Day_3.pdf


 
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NIICCCEEEE!!!!!!

The team came back and earned its 2nd straight overall Invitational win as they overtook DU to win the Pios' Invitational earlier today on the Nordic trails.

Way to go Buffs!

Article - https://cubuffs.com/news/2024/2/10/skiing-comeback-gives-buffs-du-meet-title-rmisa-championship

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Comeback Gives Buffs DU Meet Title, RMISA Championship​

By: Curtis Snyder, Associate AD/Athletic Communications

MINTURN, Colo. – The Colorado Buffaloes Ski Team polished off a comeback for the ages Saturday and on the strength of five top six finishes, not only came back to win the Denver Invitational, but also took home the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association Regular Season Championship in the process with the 5K freestyle races here at Maloit Park.

Entering the day, in the DU Invitational standings, the Buffs had moved ahead of Utah but remained 24 points behind the Pioneers after Friday's Classic races. Saturday, the Buffs did what they needed to do as Weronika Kaleta (fourth), Hanna Abrahamsson (fifth) and Karolina Kaleta (sixth) brought home top six finishes in the women's race and Hugo Hinckfuss (fourth) and Johannes Flaaten (fifth) did the same in the men's race. Alexander Maurer finished 11th as the final CU team scorer.

Montana State won both the men's and women's races, but the Buffs finished second in both and well ahead of both the Utes and Pioneers to win the meet. CU scored 87 points in the women's race and 81 in the men's, outscoring Utah 168-97 on the day and Denver 168-133.

Meanwhile the regular season also concluded, and the regular season championships standings have never been this close. Utah took a commanding lead through the first two meets, but both DU and the Buffs closed the gap significantly after last week's Colorado Invitational. Utah and Denver extended leads over the Buffs in the alpine portion of the DU Invitational before CU's performance Friday brought the Buffs back into the picture.

Even so, entering Saturday's final day of the regular season, with 30 of 32 races complete, Utah continued to hold a 61-point lead over the Buffs with DU 28.5 points ahead. CU beat Utah by 71 and DU by 35 Saturday claim the regular season championship, easily the closest in RMSIA history with just 10 points separating the three teams after all 32 races were calculated. It's the Buffs first regular season championship in six years and seventh overall since the RMISA began being awarded a regular season title in 2006. Utah had won the previous five and seven of the previous eight regular season titles.
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Full DU Invitational results - https://cubuffs.com/documents/2024/2/10/SKI_RESULTS_-_2024_-_04_-_Denver_-_FINAL.pdf

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

A little atmospheric video of last weekend's action in Steamboat -

 
Wanted to mention that tomorrow MAY*** be the unofficial start to the conference (RMISA) Championships (which also count as the NCAA Western Regional), hosted this season by Montana State.
*** Tomorrow was/ is scheduled to be individual giant slalom qualifying races for the men's and women's alpine skiers (the races would only count for individual qualifying points for the NCAA Championships, with the finishes NOT counting at all towards the conference championship TEAM battle). I could have sworn I saw them on CU's schedule before, but it's not appearing there any more on the cubuffs.com official schedule, so don't know if they've been scrapped or not?
Going against that, host Montana State's preview article dated today ( https://msubobcats.com/news/2024/2/21/mens-skiing-bobcat-skiers-embark-on-championship-season.aspx), and the below tweet, do still reference the qualifiers.




From the above linked to MSU preview, the general schedule for the next 4 days is :

"
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Before the RMISA Championships get under way, a NCAA giant slalom qualifier will run Thursday at Big Sky Resort beginning at 10 a.m. No team scores are kept during the qualifier but individual performances count towards NCAA qualification.

The RMISA alpine events begin Friday, Feb. 23 at Big Sky Resort with giant slalom, and finish Saturday with slalom. Crosscut Mountain Sports Center hosts the Nordic races beginning Saturday with the 7.5km freestyle at 11 a.m. and concluding Sunday with the 20km classic at 9:30 a.m.
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"

And, a MSU tweet with that info -

 
Preview at cubuffs.com now available for this week's Championships - https://cubuffs.com/news/2024/2/21/skiing-ski-team-heads-to-rmisa-championships
(I'm still not seeing any direct links to live timing for today's individual qualifiyng giant slalom races, or any for any of the later days. On the Alpine side, they are usually available at https://www.live-timing.com/races.php , and in a DU preview I found I also see a link to that general page, but I'm not seeing any direct links right now.)

Note - IF for any reason live timings are not found, assume they'll eventually be linked to in cubuffs.com articles after they're completed. In addition, the conference website has links for all completed races at https://www.rmisaskiing.com/schedule.php .


"

Ski Team Heads To RMISA Championships​

By: Curtis Snyder, Associate AD/Athletic Communications

BOZEMAN & BIG SKY, Mont. – Fresh off a regular season championship, the Colorado Buffaloes Ski Team has traveled north to Montana to take part in the 2024 RMISA Championships Feb. 22-25 at Big Sky Resort (alpine) and Crosscut Mountain Sports Center (Nordic), the final meet ahead of the NCAA Championships in early March.

The meet serves multiple purposes, most notably the final chance to earn qualification points for the NCAA Championships, which the Buffs will host in Steamboat Springs March 6-9. Teams are only allowed to qualify up to 12 skiers for the championships, meaning this will be the end of the season for at least 60 percent of the team.

Montana State is serving as the host of the conference and regional championship, and the Bobcats will also host an extra giant slalom qualifier race, which will take place Thursday kicking things off at Big Sky Resort. Teams will race a second GS Friday to open the RMISA Championships, and then Saturday will see action in both disciplines as slalom races will end the alpine portion of the meet and the 7.5K freestyles races will open the Nordic competition. The meet concludes Sunday with the 20K classic races.
DateRaces
Thursday, March 22Men's & Women's GS (Extra Qualifier)
Friday, March 23Men's & Women's GS (RMISA Championships
Saturday, March 24Men's & Women's 7.5K Freestyle/Men's & Women's Slalom
Sunday, March 25Men's & Women's 20K Classical

...

On the qualification front, a few Buffs will need some key results to not only secure qualification, but also better seeding for the NCAA Championships.

In men's alpine, there are two GS races left to qualify and CU is in solid position with four of the top 11 in the qualification standings and at least two others that could significantly improve their standings. In men's slalom, the Buffs are not in as good of position except for Filip Wahlqvist, who sits atop the qualification standing. With just one slalom race remaining, CU has nobody else in the top 15 but has three skiers with one result significantly better than the other, meaning the ability to move up the list after the final race is still a possibility.

In women's alpine action, in GS the women's team is similar to the men's with four ranked in the top 11 and outside of Magdalena Luzcak, who's in a four-way tie for first place, a top five or podium will be required for the others to move up significantly. In women's slalom, the women are a little ahead of the men with Luczak in good position in third place and two others in the top 12. Similar to the GS, it will take a high finish to significantly move up.

On the Nordic side, three women are safely qualified and all rank in the top nine. The good news is all three have room to move up and improve even further should they garner one or two more solid finishes this week. The men's Nordic team has five skiers currently qualified including four safely qualified in the top nine.

In all four disciplines, the main goal is to qualify a full team, and the Buffs for the most part are in good shape on that front, although the other teams have similar goals and mathematically could still spoil that for the Buffs. The next, and sometimes more important, goal in terms of chances to win the NCAA Championship, is seeding. Every skier competing for the Buffs the next four days has opportunity to improve their seeding, and doing so will be key not only to determining which skiers represent the Buffs, but also how good of a chance the Buffs have to make a run at the title in two weeks in Steamboat.
"
 
With 2 podiums and ~8 in the top 12, looks to have been a good day on the slopes - https://cubuffs.com/news/2024/2/22/skiing-wahlqvist-dingsleder-hit-podium-in-qualifier-races

"

Wahlqvist, Dingsleder Hit Podium In Qualifier Races​

By: Curtis Snyder, Associate AD/Athletic Communications

BIG SKY, Mont. – Colorado's Filip Wahlqvist and Denise Dingsleder hit the podium as the Buffaloes ski team competed in giant slalom qualifier races at Big Sky Resort Thursday, one day ahead of the start of the 2024 RMISA Championships.

With no team scoring, the races serve as an extra chance to qualify for the NCAA Championships, which the Buffs will host in Steamboat Springs March 6-9, and officially brings the regular season to a close.

Several Buffs took advantage of the extra race, including Wahlqvist and Dingsleder, who both had their career-best GS finishes, Wahlqvist taking second in the men's race and Dingsleder third in the women's.

For Dingsleder, it was her 23rd career GS race in college and the first time she hit the podium in GS. She now has six overall podium appearances, the other five coming in slalom. She was joined by Emma Hammergaard in fifth place while Elena Exenberger took 11th, Julia Toiviainen 12th and Caroline Jones 15th, giving CU five in the top 15.

Wahlqvist hit the podium in GS for the second time, also taking third at the Westminster Invitational earlier this season. He now has five podiums this season. He was joined in the top 10 by a trio of other Buffs with Etienne Mazellier taking fifth, Louis Fausa sixth and Jacob Dilling seventh, and Jack Reich just outside in 11th, giving CU five of the top 11 finishers. Ryder Sarchett sat third after the first run but had a mishap on his second run and finished 22nd and Chase Seymour finished 48th.

UP NEXT: The Buffs will continue GS action at Big Sky Friday, these races as part of the RMISA Championships. Saturday alpine action closes out with slalom races and Nordic action kicks in with the 7.5K freestyle races and the championships will end Sunday with the 20K classic races. CU will then host the NCAA Championships March 6-9 in Steamboat Springs.
...

MEN'S GIANT SLALOM (49 Collegiate Finishers): 1. Mikkel Solbakken, UU, 1:53.25; 2. Filip Wahlqvist, CU, 1:53.47; 3. Tanner Perkins, MSU, 1:53.86; 4. Sindre Myklebust, UU, 1:54.07; 5. Etienna Mazellier, CU, 1:54.08. Other CU Finishers: 6. Louis Fausa, 1:54.13; 7. Jacob Dilling, 1:54.25; 11. Jack Reich, 1:54.59; 22. Ryder Sarchett, 1:55.08; 48. Chase Seymour, 1:58.70.

WOMEN'S GIANT SLALOM (31 Collegiate Finishers): 1. Sara Rask, DU, 1:56.26; 2. Nora Brand, DU, 1:57.30; 3. Denise Dingsleder, CU, 1:57.38; 4. Giulia Tintorri, WMC, 1:57.54; 5. Emma Hammergaard, CU, 1:57.75. Other CU Finishers: 11. Elena Exenberger, 1:58.93; 12. Julia Toiviainen, 1:59.08; 15. Caroline Jones, 1:59.17. Did Not Finish Second Run: Ashley Campbell.
"

Full results -
cubuffs.com

SKI RESULTS 2024 Qualifiers GS - University of Colorado Athletics

SKI RESULTS 2024 Qualifiers GS
cubuffs.com cubuffs.com


 
Looks like it was a solid day on the slopes for the Alpiners.

Special congrats to Ms. Dingsleder for the individual win!

Article - https://cubuffs.com/news/2024/2/23/skiing-dingsleder-wins-rmisa-gs-buffs-in-second

"

Dingsleder Wins RMISA GS, Buffs In Second​

By: Curtis Snyder, Associate AD/Athletic Communications

BIG SKY, Mont. – Colorado's Denise Dingsleder won the Individual RMISA Giant Slalom Championship and the Buffaloes sit in second place Friday after the first day of competition in the 75th Annual RMISA Championships at Big Sky Resort.

The Buffs are just seven points behind Denver with two of eight races completed in the championship. CU won the women's GS race with 85 points and was third in the men's race with 79. The Pioneers finished second in both but hold the overall lead with 171 points to CU's 164. Utah is third with 147, 17 back of CU and 24 behind Denver as it appears it will be a three-team race for the title.

Dingsleder picked up her first career GS win in her 24th career race a day after picking up her first podium in GS Thursday. She does have two race wins and four podiums in slalom action in her career. This is her second RMISA championship, as she also claimed the slalom championship in 2022 skiing for Westminster.

Three other women's skiers finished in the top 10 for the Buffaloes with Emma Hammergaard taking eighth, Elena Exenberger ninth and Julia Toiviainen 10th while Caroline Jones (12th) and Ashley Campbell (19th) also finished in the top 20. The Buffs won the race 85-82 over Denver with no other team scoring more than 66 points.

On the men's side, Filip Wahlqvist and Etienne Mazellier finished fourth and fifth, respectively, Mazellier using the third-fastest first run to earn his top five finish while Wahlqvist had the second fastest second run to move up from sixth to fourth after the first run. Jacob Dilling was the third team scorer in 13th place with Ryder Sarchett just behind in 14th. Jack Reich also took home a top 20 in 18th position and Chase Seymour finished 30th. Louis Fausa did not finish his first run.

As important as the team standings for the conference and regional championship are the NCAA qualification lists, and with the GS races now complete, it was Dingsleder that made the most of her two GS races in Montana and she now sits in sixth position on the qualification list. Magdalena Luczak, who is not with the team in Montana, is in a five way tie for first ahead of Dingsleder, and four more Buffs are on the top 20 of that GS list.

The GS list will be combined with the slalom list after Saturday's races to put together the overall qualification list from the RMISA. Half of the field's 34 skiers at NCAA Championships will come from the RMISA, and no team can qualify more than three skiers across both disciplines, so among the seven alpine teams, the league will be four short of fully qualifying three skiers from each team.

UP NEXT: The RMISA Championships continue with slalom races concluding the championship at Big Sky Resort and the 7.5K freestyle interval start races opening up Nordic competition at Crosscut Mountain Sports Center. Nordic teams will close out the championship Sunday with 20K classic mass start races.

WHAT IT MEANS: The ultimate goal is winning an NCAA Championship, so ensuring you qualify a full team for the NCAAs is paramount, as only a handful of teams have won the title short-handed. With one set of slalom races remaining, the Buffs seem to be in good shape qualifying a full team on the alpine side. But almost as important is securing good seeding, better starting positions, for each race, and that's where the Buffs could use a good day in men's slalom. The Buffs have four in the top nine of the men's GS list but just one in the top 15 on the men's slalom list.
...

TEAM STANDINGS (Thru 2 of 8 Races): 1. Denver 171, 2. Colorado 164, 3. Utah 147; 4. Montana State 132; 5. Westminster 114; 6. Alaska Anchorage 78; 7. Colorado Mountain 64; 8. Nevada 62.

WOMEN'S GIANT SLALOM (31 Collegiate Finishers): 1. Denise Dingsleder, CU, 1:53.40; 2. Sara Rask, DU, 1:53.98; 3. Nora Brand, DU, 1:54.49; 4. Kristiane Bekkestad, MSU, 1:54.87; 5. Nicola Rountree-Williams, CMC, 1:54.94. Other CU Finishers: 8. Emma Hammergaard, 1:55.18; 9. Elena Exenberger, 1:55.20; 10. Julia Toiviainen, 1:55.63; 12. Caroline Jones, 1:55.77; 19. Ashley Campbell, 1:56.80.

MEN'S GIANT SLALOM (45 Collegiate Finishers): 1. Mikkel Solbakken, UU, 1:52.94; 2. Christian Soevik, DU, 1:53.06; 3. Sindre Myklebust, UU, 1:53.14; 4. Filip Wahlqvist, CU, 1:53.22; 5. Etienne Mazellier, CU, 1:53.58. Other CU Finishers: 13. Jacob Dilling, 1:54.26; 14. Ryder Sarchett, 1:54.46; 18. Jack Reich, 1:54.64; 30. Chase Seymour, 1:56.57. Did Not Finish First Run: Louis Fausa.
"

Full results -
cubuffs.com

SKI RESULTS 2024 05 RMISA Day 1 - University of Colorado Athletics

SKI RESULTS 2024 05 RMISA Day 1
cubuffs.com cubuffs.com

Note - Since qualifying points were getting mentioned so much in the above quoted article, was curious, and found that the link to find the current individual standings for each type of race, as well as the combined Nordic, standings can be found at https://www.rmisaskiing.com/ncaaq.php . (Yesterday's and today's giant slaloms are not included yet in the ratings for that race yet.)

Edit -

 
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Link to live timings for today's 7.5km (shorter distance for the Nordic folk) freestyle interval races - https://my.raceresult.com/278890/
(Per CU's schedule, the women are scheduled to begin racing at 11:00 AM MT and the men at 12:30 PM MT.)

And, still not seeing any links for timings for today's slaloms (which per an earlier MSU tweet are scheduled to begin at 10:00 AM). Assume / hope links will pop up at https://www.live-timing.com/races.php before race-time. (Although, for Thursday's qualifiers, live timing never happened, but from that link they did post links to documents after the fact showing bib #s assigned and results after the 1st and 2nd runs, etc..)
 
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