The University of Colorado ski team came back to win the RMISA Championship in Alaska this past weekend on February 27th and 28th. Freestyle and giant slalom were the events on Friday, with classical and slalom following on Saturday. The alpine events (giant slalom and slalom) took place at the Alyeska Resort in Girdwood, Alaska. Nordic events (freestyle and classical) took place at Kincaid Park in Anchorage, Alaska.
Utah held an eight point advantage over Colorado going into the second day, but Colorado rallied and eventually took first place with 651 total points. Utah came in second with 609, followed by New Mexico (550), Denver (542), Montana State (513), Alaska Anchorage (474) and Colorado Mountain College (73). In the alpine events, the Buffs came in second place with a total of 314 points. In nordic events, the team took first place with 337 points. Colorado also had the highest point total for men’s events and the third highest for women’s events.
In giant slalom, Jessica Honkonen grabbed a fourth place finish with a time of 2:39.21. On the men’s side, Adam Zika secured a sixth place finish with his time of 2:33.21. The team tallied 63 point in men’s giant slalom and 76 in women’s giant slalom.
Over at Kincaid Park, Teammates Mads Stroem and Rune Malo Oedegaard finished one and two, respectively in men’s freestyle. Stroem’s time of 22:49.3 was enough to take first in front of Oedegaard’s 23:08.1. Petra Hyncicova took third place in women’s freestyle with a time of 13:51.1. Colorado team points came in at 98 for men’s freestyle and 70 for women’s freestyle.
The next day, Jessica Honkonen grabbed a first place finish in the slalom (1:25.93). Adam Zika improved from his sixth place giant slalom finish with a fourth place finish in the slalom. His time of 1:22.45 was just behind DU’s Sebastian Brigovic, who took third place. Team points for the Buffs slalom racers were 79 for men and 96 for women.
Mads Stroem and Rune Malo Oedegaard again went 1-2, this time in men’s classical. Stroem edged out Oedegaard with a time of 50:20.2. Oedegaard finished just behind at 50:20.5. Behind the two leaders, Colorado took 97 points for men’s classical.
However, Oedegaard won’t be complaining. With his finish, he moves into a tie for the most podium finishes of all-time for Colorado skiing. Oedegaard has 19 first place finishes, 12 second place finishes, and three third place finishes. He is one win shy of being the second skier in CU history to win 20 races.
In women’s classical, Petra Hyncicova (43:14.6) took fourth place. The team ended with 72 points for this event.
Full results of the 2015 NCAA West Regional/RMISA Championships can be found here
Next up on the agenda for Colorado skiing is the NCAA Championships. The championships , which take place in Lake Placid, New York, begin on March 11th and run through March 14. The Buffs will look to continue their success and defend their top ranking.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Cannon Casey at cannon.casey@colorado.edu.