(CU Independent graphic/Adam Milner)
The Colorado Buffaloes will have a full team for the NCAA Ski Championships.
The CU ski team qualified 12 skiers to nationals and won the 2010 Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association Championships on Saturday in Steamboat Springs. The RMISA Championships also doubles as the NCAA West Regional and the CU Invitational.
Colorado finished with 902 points with Alaska-Anchorage a far second with 764 points. Rounding out the top five is New Mexico in third, Utah in fourth and Denver in fifth.
Twelve Buffs finished in the top ten and seven finished in the top five in four events on Saturday with senior Matt Gelso leading the way with a win in the men’s 20-kilometer freestyle cross country race. Junior Jesper Ostensen finished third and sophomore Reid Pletcher finished fourth for CU in the race as well.
In the women’s 10k freestyle race, junior Alexa Turzian was the highest placed CU skier in third while sophomore Eliska Hajkova finished sixth.
Junior Gabriel Rivas finished second in the men’s slalom while junior Carolina Nordh finished third and sophomore Sara Hjertman finished fourth in the women’s slalom race.
Next for the Buffs are the NCAA Ski Championships. CU will be hosting event from March 10-13 in Steamboat Springs, Colo. The last time the Buffs hosted was in 2006, which was also the last time that CU won the national championship.
Contact CU Independent Sports Editor Ron Knabenbauer at Ronald.knabenbauer@colorado.edu.
