March 10, 2005
STOWE, Vt. - Newcomer Rene Reisshauer (Oberhof, Germany) won the men's 10K Classical race with a time of 30:49.1 to earn his first NCAA title and Denver's fifth classical title overall since 1996 this morning at the NCAA Championships at the Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, Vt. Freshman John Stene (Trondheim, Norway) finished right behind Reisshauer in second place to help the Pioneers take the lead with 369 points, while host Vermont trails in second place with 348 points after the second day of competition.
"I am really proud at the way our athletes raced today," said Director of Skiing Operations Kurt Smitz. "We talked about not being the way you start, but the way you finish and I think these guys really stepped up with great performances. We have been in the situation before after alpine and I know we are capable in this area to get it done to put us in a great position entering tomorrow's slalom event."
The men dominated the 10K classical race and won the event title with 122 points. Reisshauer and Stene finished first and second earning 42 and 41 points, respectively, while newcomer Haavard Selseng (Sogndal, Norway) contributed to the Pioneers success and placed fourth with a time of 31:21.4, earning 39 points. This is the third consecutive classical race three Pioneers finished in the top-five and Reisshauer's fourth individual event title this season. All three Pioneers earned All-America honors for their performance and their finish in the 10K Classical race was a key factor in edging Vermont for the lead heading into day three of competition.
On the women's side, senior Tara Hamilton (Anchorage, Alaska) had her best finish ever at the NCAA Championships in sixth place, earning All-America honors, with a time of 18:05.2 to earn 37 points. Freshman Julia Swieder (Oberhof, Germany) finished in 20th place earning 23 points and newcomer Bodil Ryste (Trondheim, Norway) rounded out the scoring for the Pioneers with 14 points in 29th place. Alaska Anchorage's Mandy Kaempf won the title with a time of 17:19.3. Overall, the Denver women finished in fifth place with 79 points behind Northern Michigan (102), Alaska-Anchorage (104), New Mexico (86) and Dartmouth (77).
Denver will be back in action for the culmination of the alpine events as 2004 NCAA slalom champion Pia Rivelsrud (Aalesund, Norway) looks to defend her title with the first run of the slalom at 8:30 a.m. MT. The men's slalom first run will begin at 7:30 a.m. MT.
NCAA Championship Team Scores - 1. Denver, 369; 2. Vermont, 348; 3. Dartmouth, 296; 4. Utah, 289; 5. New Mexico, 274; 6. Colorado, 231; 7. Alaska-Anchorage, 231 8. Colby, 186; 9. Northern Michigan, 186; 10. Nevada, 170; 11. Middlebury, 163; 12. Williams, 142; 13. Montana State, 125; 14. New Hampshire, 110; 15. Alaska-Fairbanks, 84; 16. Bosie State, 44; 17. Whitman, 44; 18. Michigan Tech, 36; 19. Western State, 29.0; 20. UW-Green Bay, 21; Bates College, 24; 22. St. Lawrence, 22.
Men's 10K Classical 1. Rene Reisshauer, DU, 30:49.1; 2. John Stene, DU, 31:10.9; 3. Henrik Hoye, CU, 31:16; 4. Haavard Selseng, DU, 31:21.4; 5; Bryan Cook, NMU, 31:34.2; 6. Dirk Grimm, NMU, 31:38.9; 7. Magnus Carlsson, Utah, 31:43.0; 8. Zachary Violett, UAA, 31:46.1; 9. Benjamin Sonntag, UAA, 31:52.4; 10. Jed Kallen-Brown, UAF, 32:01.4.
Women's 5K Classical 1. Mandy Kaempf, UAA, 17:19.3; 2. Lindsay Williams, NMU, 17:29.1; 3. Martina Stursova, UNM, 17:49.3; 4. Allison Crocker, DAR, 17:51.2; 5. Laura Valaas, WHT, 18:04.4; 6. Tara Hamilton, DU, 18:05.2; 7. Kristina Owen, MTU, 18:09.1; 8. Lindsey Weier, NMU, 18:12.1; 9. Trine Lundamo, UNM, 18:14.5; 10. Sarah Hansen, 18:15.7. Other Denver Finishers: 20. Julia Swieder, 19:01.1; 29. Bodil Ryste, 19:16.9.
