LAKE PLACID, N.Y. — The University of Colorado ski team put individual accomplishments aside Saturday, skiing with a strategy with limited risks to get all of its racers through the slalom, and the end result delivered the title to the Buffaloes.
Colorado carried a seven-point lead over Utah into the slalom races. But in the end, the Buffs pulled away and won with 505 points, besting defending champion Denver by 27 points, as the Pioneers made a run with five top-five finishes and ended with 478 points. Utah slipped to third with 471, while Vermont (443) and New Mexico (402) rounded out the top five.
Colorado pulled off the win with just two top-10 efforts — Thea Grosvold (sixth) and Jessica Honkonen (seventh) — Saturday, but all six of its skiers finished in the top 15, earning the Buffs enough points to hang on.
“It’s absolutely great,” said CU coach Richard Rokos, who broke a tie with former ski coach Bill Marolt and current cross country coach Mark Wetmore for most school championships with No. 8. “It’s always a great feeling, and this one was even more because it was very dramatic until the very end. There was no room for error. We displayed a great deal of discipline, but they (the Buffs) made 12 mistake-free runs. That’s so unique in slalom, it’s almost unprecedented.”
Denver made a valiant charge, with Monica Huebner and Kristine Haugen claiming first- and third-place finishes among the women and Trevor Philip, Espen Lysdahl and Sebastian Brigovic finishing second, third and fourth, respectively, among the men.
“Monica skied her heart out this week and deserved today’s win,” Pioneers coach Andy LeRoy said.
Next year’s NCAA skiing championships will be held in Steamboat Springs for the seventh time.
