The Colorado Buffaloes ski team made a run for it, but they fell short.
Trailing by 75 points heading into final day of the Utah Invitational, the Buffs rallied and came within 29 points from the winner’s circle, finishing in third place with 821 points in Soldier Hollow, Utah. New Mexico won with 850 points while Denver placed second with 835.
Four CU male skiers finished in the top 10 of the men’s 20-kilometer freestyle, led by senior Matt Gelso. Alaska’s Michael Schallinger won in one hour, 36.7 seconds, while Gelso trailed him by three seconds as runner-up.
Sophomore Eliska Hajkova was also a runner-up as she crossed the finish line in 53:58.3 in the women’s 15k freestyle. Trailing Hajkova was teammate Alexa Turzian (54:24.6). Denver’s Antje Maempel won in 53:19.4.
The Buffs will take two weeks off before they hit the slopes again on Feb. 5 through 6 in the New Mexico Invitational.
Contact CU Independent Sports Editor Cheng Sio at Cheng.sio@colorado.edu.
