Feb. 26, 2005

Bozeman, Mont. - The Denver Pioneers won the NCAA Western Regional Championships today with a total of 560 points. Last year's National Champion New Mexico finished second with 530 points and Colorado placed third with 486.5 points. With the victory, Denver completed a sweep of all meets this season. The alpine squad placed first overall with 278 points while the nordic squad placed third overall with 282 points, one point behind second place finisher, Alaska-Anchorage while New Mexico won with 293 points.

Pia Rivelsrud (Aalesund, Norway) won the slalom race with a combined time of 1:30.46. Florence Roujas (Embrun, France) placed third with a combined time of 1:31.07. Karine Falck-Pedersen placed 16th with a combined time of 1:35.99. The Denver women finished second in the event with 74 points behind Colorado (81).

The men also finished second in the slalom race with 59 points behind Nevada (68). David Lamb (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) was Denver's top finisher in second place with a combined time of 1:38.09. Dominik Schweiger (Wangle, Austria) came in 14th with a combined time of 1:40.55, while Sean Higgins (Sun Valley, Idaho) came in 19th with a combined time of 1:42.65.

In the women's 15K freestyle race Denver finished in third place with 64 points behind New Mexico (74) and Alaska-Anchorage (68). Bodil Ryste (Trondheim, Norway) led the way for the Pioneers with a sixth-place finish (46:08.3). Tara Hamilton (Anchorage Alaska) finished in 11th place with a time of 46:50.4, while Julia Swieder (Oberhof, Germany) came in right behind her in 12th place with a time of 46:52.3.

The men's Nordic team finished in second place with 70 points behind New Mexico (84) in the 20K freestyle race. Haavard Selseng (Sogndal, Norway) was Denver's top finisher in sixth place with a time of 53:44.7. Rene Reisshauer (Oberhof, Germany) finished eighth with a time of 53:56.9, while John Stene (Trondheim, Norway) finished ninth with a time of 54:34.1.

Denver will try to win its fourth National title in seven years March 9-12 in the NCAA Championships in Stowe, Vermont.

NCAA West Regional Team Scores--1. Denver 560; 2. New Mexico 530; 3. Colorado 486.5; 4. Alaska-Anchorage 449.5; 5. Utah 406.5; 6. Montana State 354; 7. Nevada 334; 8. Whitman 237; 9. Western State 221.5; 10. Boise State 72.

Women's 15K Freestyle--1. Mandy Kaempf, UAA, 43:54.7; 2. Martina Stursova, UNM, 44:50.1; 3. Muriele Huberli, CU, 45:40.1; 4. Nicole DeYong, UAA, 45:42.9; 5. Laura Valaas, Whit., 45:56.3; 6. Bodil Ryste, DU, 46:08.3; 7. Pirkko Pulkkanen, UNM, 46:09.3; 8. Emily Robins, MSU, 46:09.9; 9. Nicole Naef, Utah, 46:10.3; 10. Trine Lundamo, UNM, 46:36.8. Other DU Finishers: 11. Tara Hamilton, 46:50.4; 12. Julia Swieder, 46:52.3; 19. Kara LaPoint, 48:28.5; 31. Katie Ronsse, 52:09.0; 33. Courtney Dauwalter, 52:36.7.

Men's 20K Freestyle--1. Dirk Grimm, UNM, 53:36.4; 2. Kjetil Dammen, UAA, 53:40.4; 3. Geir Rogn, UNM, 53:41.1; 4. Erling Christiansen, CU, 53:42.0; 5. Inge Kristoffersen, UNM, 53:43.4; 6. Haarvard Selseng, DU, 53:44.7; 7. Henrik Hoye, CU, 53:50.8; 8. Rene Reisshauer, DU, 53:56.9; 9. John Stene, DU, 54:34.1; 10. Zach Violett, UAA, 55:20.2. Other DU Finishers: 18. Andre Haugsboe, 56:54.1; 26. Dominic Henriques, 58:49.0; 27. Hennie Kashiwa, 58:53.0.

Men's Slalom--1. Luke Patterson, UNR, 1:37.60; 2. David Lamb, DU, 1:38.09; 3. David Duncan, UAA, 1:38.13; 4. Cameron Barnes, UNR, 1:38.21; 5. Hannes Zirknitzer, Whit., 1:38.33; 6. Cory Harris, MSU, 1:38.50; 7. Alex Mach, UNM, 1:38.82; 8. Gregory Besse, 1:38.92; 9. Lars Loeseth Sunde, UNM, and Benjamin Thornhill, UU, 1:39.17. Other DU Finishers: 14. Domink Schweiger, 1:40.55; 19. Sean Higgins, 1:42.65; 20. Ian Dunlop, 1:43.15; 21. Benjamin Kuruvila, 1:44.58. (DNF: Lars Ola Kjos)

Women's Slalom--1. Pia Rivelsrud, DU, 1:30.46; 2. Lucie Zikova, CU, 1:30.55; 3. Florence Roujas, DU, 1:31.07; 4. Rachel Roosevelt, CU, 1:31.56; 5. Quincy Young, UNR, 1:32.08; 6. Erika Hogan, CU, 1:32.16; 7. Rowena Bright, Utah, 1:32.20; 8. Kristin Taylor, CU, 1:32.22; 9. April Macuso, Utah, 1:32.66; 10. Margit Walter, BSU, 1:33.64. Other DU Finishers: 16. Karine Falck-Pedersen, 1:35.99; 20. Lindsay McClure, 1:39.53. (DNF: Jacqueline Marceau)