Feb. 28, 2002
Results
The University of Denver two-time defending national champion ski team finished third at the 2002 Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Skiing Association Regional Meet today at Kincaid Park and Mt. Alyeska. After winning every invitational of the season, Denver scored 530 points, trailing winner Colorado (559) by 29 points and second-place Utah (539) by nine points.
After a treacherous day on the snow the first day that saw Denver in fourth place, the Pioneers regrouped to earn two individual titles and finish 1-2 in the men's 15K freesyle race on the second and final day of competition. Wolf Wallendorf (Schonau, Germany) won the individual title in a time of 39:19.4, followed by teammate Ola Berger (Trondheim, Norway) in 39:27.2. Dylan Prosser (Anchorage, Alaska) completed the scoring in the event, finishing 13th. Three-time national champion Pietro Broggini (Gallarate, Itay), still recovering from an illness, finished 21st.
"We are confident that we will compete well in the upcoming National Championship Meet," head nordic coach Knut Nystad said. "We have good, capable skiers who will ski fast. We have to be allowed to have bad days, sometimes things just don't go the way we plan. We wouldn't have changed anything and we won't change anything going forward."
The women's nordic squad finished 3-10-16 after fighting through a couple misfortunes. Karin Camenisch (Kloster, Switzerland) led the Pioneers, finishing third in a time of 30:32.0, just nine tenths of a second behind CU's Muriele Huberli who finished second. CU's Mari Storeng won the event in a time of 30:25.5 and the Buffs won the women's 10K decisively with 86 points (Denver totaled 64 in the event). Niina Karvonen (Suomussalmi, Finland) was 10th after fighting through the crowds and Tara Hamilton (Anchorage, Alaska) recovered from a fall to cross the line 16th.
"We had hoped for a better result from the women, but again, that is how fragile this competition is," Nystad added. "Tara fell down and Niina got tangled up a few times too, but that is what happens in a mass start and our skiers know to position themselves better, and they will."
Dominik Schweiger (Wangle, Austria) had the fastest time of the day in his second run at 50.67 and won the giant slalom event with two solid runs. David Lamb (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) finished fifth and Cain Mahan (Glenwood Springs, Colo.) was 10th to help the men win the event with 76.5 points.
The alpine women had another tremendous performance in the giant slalom finishing 3-4-11 after turning in a 1-6-9 finish Wednesday in the slalom. Barbara Knor (Umhausen, Austria) had the fastest time of the day in her first run (55.91) and earned a two-run time of 1:49.87, but was just edged out by Alaska's Aurore DeMaulmont who finished in 1:49.73 for second place. Sophie Ormond (Thones, France) was close behind her teammate to finish fourth, and Christina Metzger (Barrie, Ont. Canada) finished 11th. Three-time All-American Julia Delich (Fernie, British Columbia) finished a disappointing 12th and Kristin Kreizel (Stowe, Vt.) was 20th.
"We had a tough time getting acclimated to the weather and climate and things didn't go our way on the first day," said Kurt Smitz, director of skiing and head alpine coach. "This is a wake-up call for us. We might lose this fight, but win the battle, and that's what we will work to do."
Team Scores: 1. Colorado 559.0, 2. Utah 539.0, 3. Denver 530.0, 4. New Mexico 492.5, 5. Alaska 413.0, 6. Nevada 355.0, 7. Western State 320.5, 8. Montana State 134.0, 9. Whitman 52.0 .
