(CU Independent graphic/Adam Milner)
Talk about the same old story.
Events for the first day of the 57th Annual NCAA Ski Championships kicked-off with the giant slalom for the men and women on Wednesday as the Buffs topped the same spot they finished after the first day of competition only four years prior, when the Buffaloes also hosted the event.
During the tournament, the Buffs rallied back to win the National Championship, despite not bringing in a full team, which they accomplished for this season’s Championship.
“It’s great to look back to 2006 and see how we rallied, but we were hoping to learn from our past mistakes,” said CU head coach Richard Rokos. “We repeated the same mistakes again, and it’s inexcusable. The strategy was to finish without making mistakes and to finish the two runs. We made mistakes today, and those cost us 70 points, if not more.”
The women’s team started the morning with junior Katie Hartman taking third place with a time of 1:55.86. Freshman teammate Erika Ghent took 12th place with a time of 1:57.90, and junior Carolina Nordh placed 25th with 1:59.04.
A frequent skier at Steamboat Springs, Hartman said the venue is like a second home.
“I know I didn’t have a great finish here two weeks ago, but that’s ski racing, it happens,” Hartman said. “You can’t dwell on that. I was just excited to be back here. It was exciting.”
Men’s Giant slalom proceeded afterward, experiencing slightly different results.
Junior Gabriel Rivas placed the highest for CU at 16th place with a time of 1:51.04, while freshman Spencer Nelson followed at 21st place with a time of 1:51.46. Senior Drew Roberts was unable to clinch a top 30 spot, settling for 31st with a time of 1:58.81.
With only two of the eight events completed today, the team stands in sixth place with 142 points. The women scored 87 of those points, with the men snatching up 56.
The University of Denver sits atop the competition in first place with 239 points, a significantly higher number than second place Utah’s 196.5 points. Vermont came in third place with 178.5 points.
The Championship continues tomorrow as the Buffs compete in the Classical Nordic events in Steamboat Springs.
Contact CU independent Staff Writer Gina Yocom at Gina.yocom@colorado.edu.
