University of Colorado ski coach Richard Rokos didn’t have a television in 1964 when Billy Kidd and Jimmie Heuga became the first American men to win Olympic medals in alpine skiing, but he heard about their breakthrough on the radio and was deeply inspired.
“Those guys were my heroes,” said Rokos, who was then a teenage ski racer in the former Czechoslovakia. “And I was fortunate later in my life to know them and become friends with them.”
Kidd will be rooting for CU this week when the top-ranked Buffaloes host the NCAA championships in Steamboat Springs, but Heuga passed away Feb. 8 after a 40-year battle with multiple sclerosis.
Rokos was extremely devoted to Heuga in recent years, taking him to the CU running track countless times so Heuga could “train” and do time trials on his hand-cycle. Heuga raced for CU and was reigning NCAA slalom champion when he won his Olympic bronze medal in that discipline.
Now the Buffs will try to win their 17th NCAA champ-ionship in his honor.
“The team decided to dedicate the season to Jimmie’s memory right after he passed away,” Rokos said. “We are all making a solid effort to honor him in the best possible way. He was an inspiration to all of us, and he was an incredible athlete with great sportsmanship and morals.”
The Buffs won the last time the NCAAs were held in Steamboat, in 2006, and have won three of the five meets held in the West this season. Second-ranked New Mexico won the other two.
Senior nordic racer Matt Gelso of Truckee, Calif., won four races for CU this season and finished second twice.
Junior Gabe Rivas of St. Jean De Maurienne, France, is back to defend the NCAA slalom title he won last year — CU’s first men’s individual NCAA title in alpine since Andy LeRoy won the slalom in 2000. LeRoy now coaches the Denver Pioneers.
DU won the past two NCAA titles and is ranked fourth in the nation, but the Pioneers have not won a regular-season meet in two years. The Pioneers are hoping to add to their NCAA-record 20 team titles in skiing.
DU junior Antje Maempel of Steutzerbach, Germany, is attempting to defend both individual nordic titles she won a year ago and has won seven of 10 races this season. Alpine racer Leif Kristian Haugen is back from the Vancouver Olympics, where he represented his native Norway and finished 28th in giant slalom.
John Meyer: 303-954-1616 or jmeyer@denverpost.com
Powder powers
The NCAA ski championships return to Steamboat Springs this week. Colorado and the University of Denver are in the hunt to win another title:
NCAA rankings
by Ski Racing magazine
1. Colorado
2. New Mexico
3. Dartmouth
4. Denver
5. Vermont
NCAA winner, runner-up
2009: Denver, CU
2008: Denver, CU
2007: Dartmouth, Denver
2006: CU, New Mexico
2005: Denver, Vermont
2004: New Mexico, Utah
2003: Utah, Vermont
2002: Denver, CU
2001: Denver, Vermont
2000: Denver, CU
Championship totals
Denver 20, Colorado 16
Championships schedule
At Steamboat Springs
Today, Mount Werner
* Women’s giant slalom, 9 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.
* Men’s giant slalom, 12:30 p.m. and 2:15 p.m.
Thursday, Howelsen Hill
* Women’s 5-kilometer classical, 9:30 a.m.
* Men’s 10K classical, 11:30 a.m.
Friday, Howelsen Hill
* Men’s slalom, 5:15 p.m. and 8:15 p.m.
* Women’s slalom, 6:30 p.m. and 9:15 p.m.
Saturday, Howelsen Hill
* Men’s 20K freestyle, 10 a.m.
* Women’s 15K freestyle, noon
