LOVELAND SKI AREA, Colo. – The Denver Pioneers ski team posted a second consecutive strong day in alpine slalom on Tuesday with the start of the Colorado Invitational.
Graduate student
Sara Rask won women's slalom for the second time in as many days to start the 2026 campaign, and all six DU women that finished placed in the top 15. Senior
Adrian Minde Hunshammer recorded another career best in men's slalom, and freshman
Caman Beauregard vaulted up the leaderboard in run 2 to place into the top 10 in the final day of racing at Loveland Ski Area.
"I thought we had a lot of good adjustments from yesterday," said Otto Tschudi Head Alpine Skiing Coach
Joonas Rasanen. "Obviously, the girls did an amazing job both days, and I think the boys took a step forward. It's not where we want to be, but I'm super, super happy for Adrian for him to ski the way he's been skiing in training and Caman punching it in there from 30th is super cool. We have more to come."
Denver won the women's team event once again, garnering 102 points, but trail the CU Buffaloes by just seven points for the overall meet lead (180-173). The teams switched spots from the previous day, as Pios have an eight-point advantage over the Buffs in the DU Invitational that began on Monday with slalom at Loveland.
Utah is 26 points back of DU in third place in the CU meet standings (147) while Alaska Anchorage (109), Montana State (99.5) and Nevada (97.5) are also all within 100 points of the Buffaloes.
Rask didn't hold back in either of her runs for her ninth-straight slalom victory and 17th overall win of her collegiate career. She led after run 1 (44.86) and posted the second-best mark in run 2 (45.19) to beat teammate
Mia Hunt in second place and Colorado's Louison Accambray in third.
She finished on the podium in all eight career races on the Pioneers' home course at Loveland Valley, posting five victories, two runner-up placements and one third-place result. The individual win for Rask was the 17th of her career, tying her with men's Nordic's
Andreas Kirkeng and Pietro Broggini for the second-most all-time by a DU skier.
After tying for third on Monday,
Hunt took a step up the podium and recorded another career high in the runner-up spot, coming 51-hundredths of a second behind Rask.
Fellow senior
Josephine Trueblood had one of the best runs of her collegiate career as she placed sixth for her first career top 10; her previous best was a 13th-place finish as a freshman in the 2023 Alaska Anchorage Invitational. Trueblood was ninth-fastest after run 1 and her eighth-quickest run 2 time was enough for her to climb three spots in the standings.
"The conditions were really good," Trueblood said. "I'm really excited to finish top 10, first one my career. I just skied. I don't know, I felt good today, my body felt good, and I was really excited to be out here. I love skiing slalom here (at Loveland), so that was really nice."
Sophomore
Stella Buchheister registered her second career top 10 in as many days in seventh, while freshman
Cecilia Pizzinato came in 12th in her second-ever collegiate race and senior
Nicola Rountree-Williams placed 14th. Rookie
Elisabeth Creighton did not finish her first run.
Hunshammer appears to have brought the momentum he's gained from a solid preseason racing in giant slalom to the more technical slalom course as he joined classmate Hunt in posting a new best for the second-straight day. After recording his first top 10 in eighth in Monday's DU Invite slalom, he moved up two spots for a sixth-place finish on Tuesday.
"I've been working a lot on my head (mentally), and I think it's been getting better and I'm starting to ski the way I've been doing in training,"
Hunshammer said. "Just don't think that much, and I've been able to go. I think that's been different than from past years."
Beauregard had the most impressive jump from run 1 to run 2 across the two days of slalom at Loveland. Wearing bib 43 after not finishing his debut on Monday, the Steamboat Springs, Colorado, native was 30th after run 1 but clocked the fastest time in the afternoon to move into a final position of eighth.
His run 2 time of 41.58 was more than half a second faster than the next fastest skier in the run (0.56), and he held the top spot for 22 other men's finishers before Hunshammer topped him with six more competitors to go.
"[I was] just thinking of a certain technical [change I made from the previous day], and then just flowing and having the run of my life,"
Beauregard said.
Graduate student
Eirik Kveno was DU's other men's scorer in 14th, while seniors
Christian Soevik and
Thomas Hoffman placed 16th and 21st, respectively. Sophomore
Pietro Motterlini DNF'd his second run.
Utah's Johs Herland won his second straight men's event before three CU Buffs followed in Stanley Buzek in second, Filip Wahlqvist in third and Feb Allasina in fourth. Herland and Rask won the overal slalom titles after winning both days.
Tuesday marked the final collegiate race on the Pioneers' home course the team's large seniors and grad-student class: Hoffman, Hunshammer, Hunt, Kveno, Rask, Rountree-Williams, Soevik, Trueblood.
UP NEXT: The Pioneers and the rest of the skiers on the RMISA circuit now head to Aspen Highlands for two days of giant slalom race, beginning with the conclusion of the alpine portion of the Denver Invitational on Wednesday. The CU Invite's GS is Thursday to wrap up the four days of season-opening alpine events.
DENVER WOMEN SLALOM INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
1.
Sara Rask, 1:29.70 (44.86/44.84)
2.
Mia Hunt, 1:30.21 (45.02/45.19)
6.
Josephine Trueblood, 1:31.63 (46.24/45.39)
7.
Stella Buchheister, 1:31.64 (46.13/45.31)
12.
Cecilia Pizzinato, 1:32.12 (47.12/45.00)
14.
Nicola Rountree-Williams, 1:32.31 (46.15/46.16)
DNF:
Elisabeth Creighton (Run 1)
DENVER MEN SLALOM INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
6.
Adrian Minde Hunshammer, 1:26.30 (43.74/42.56)
8.
Caman Beauregard, 1:26.53 (44.95/41.58)
14.
Eirik Kveno, 1:26.95 (43.96/42.99)
16.
Christian Soevik, 1:27.03 (44.13/42.90)
21.
Thomas Hoffman, 1:27.48 (43.94/43.54)
DNF:
Pietro Motterlini (44.71/DNF run 2)
TEAM STANDINGS (through 2-of-8 events): 1. Colorado 180;
2. Denver 173; 3. Utah 147; 4. Alaska Anchorage 109; 5. Montana State 99.5; 6. Nevada 97.5; 7. Westminster 67; 8. Colorado Mountain 59.
WOMEN'S SLALOM TOP 10 (33 finishers): 1. Sara Rask, DU, 1:29.70; 2. Mia Hunt, DU, 1:30.21; 3. Louison Accambray, CU, 1:30.64; 4. Ella Bromee, UAA, 1:30.83; 5. Erica Lynch, NEV, 1:31.61;
6. Josephine Trueblood, DU, 1:31.63; 7. Stella Buchheister, DU, 1:31.64; 8. Tea Kiesel, MSU, 1:31.76; 9. Alexa Brownlie, CU, 1:31.92; 10. Christina Jacobsen, UU, 1:32.01.
MEN'S SLALOM TOP 10 (40 finishers): 1. Johs Herland, UU, 1:25.12; 2. Stanley Buzek, CU, 1:25.15; 3. Filip Wahlqvist, CU, 1:25.38; 4. Feb Allasina, CU, 1:25.90; 5. Lucas Ellis, CMC, 1:26.07;
6. Adrian Minde Hunshammer, DU, 1:26.30; 7. Pierick Charest, UU, 1:26.43;
8. Caman Beauregard, DU, 1:26.53; 9. Harry Hoffman, UU, 1:26.56; 10. Justin Bigatel, CU, 1:26.63.
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