Skiing Notebook: A Look at the Buffs in the RMISA

BOULDER – With four meets complete and the RMISA Championships next on the docket for the Buffaloes, we dive into where the University of Colorado ski program stands entering the championship portion of the season.

Left on CU's schedule is the RMISA Championships, being held Feb. 24-26 at Beaver Creek (alpine) and Minturn (Nordic), and the NCAA Championships, March 8-11, hosted by the University of New Hampshire at Cannon Mountain in Franconia, N.H. Colorado is seeking a 28th RMISA Championship and 21st NCAA National Championship to add to its illustrious history.

- Overall RMISA Standings
Colorado won the first two meets to open the season and Utah followed by taking the next two. The Utes collected the most overall points ahead of regionals and are followed by Denver with the Buffs in third.

2017 RMISA Regular Season Team Standings
1. Utah – 2,482.5
2. Denver – 2,409
3. Colorado – 2,373
4. New Mexico – 1,890
5. Montana State – 1,806.5
6. Alaska Anchorage – 1,627
7. Alaska Fairbanks – 976
8. Westminster College – 495
9. Wyoming – 218
10. Colorado Mountain College – 215

- RMISA MVP
Freshman David Ketterer won the RMISA Most Valuable Skier award for men's alpine by earning the most points ahead of regionals this year. Ketterer's 284 points edged New Mexico's Vegard Busengdal by 23 points to take the top position. He had four race victories – all in slalom races – and finished sixth or better in all nine of his races this year on the collegiate circuit.

This is a second consecutive season that a Buff has won the RMISA MVP award on the men's alpine side. Ola Johansen won it in 2015, also as a freshman, and the last Buff before him to win it was as freshman as well with Andreas Haug in 2011.

Max Luukko was third in this year's men's alpine standings with 252 points while on the women's alpine side Tonje Trulsrud came in second with 241 points and Nora Christensen finished fifth with 208.

For the Nordic teams, sophomore Petter Reistad finished second in the points standings on the men's side with 227 while for the women Christina Rolandsen came in third behind a two-way tie for first between New Mexico's Krista Niiranen and Utah's Guro Jordheim. Senior Jesse Knori was fourth in the points standings with 168.

- Mads Stroem Returns for the Buffs
Senior Mads Stroem, the three-time NCAA Champion and reigning National Skier of the Year, made his first appearance of the season in Alaska for the UAA and Seawolf Invitationals last week. He missed the first two meets of the season after having surgery to remove his appendix on Jan. 7. In his first action returning to competition, he helped the Buffs win the mixed gender relay at the Seawolf Invitational. He also had a ninth place showing in the freestyle sprint there and placed 16th in the 10K classic race as a part of the UAA Invitational.

"He's still recovering from surgery basically," head Nordic coach Bruce Cranmer said Sunday after the conclusion of the UAA Invitational. "He's still not all the way back. NCAA's are over three weeks away, so there is plenty of time for everybody to be healthy and strong, hopefully the whole team will be close to 100 percent by then and Mads will come around."

- Nordic Outlook
CU's women's Nordic teams has been very strong this season, earning the most points of all schools 3 of 4 meets this year and its overall point total of 632 leads all RMISA programs by 109 points. The Buffs have four individual wins in events, three from Petra Hyncicova and one from Knori, and a total of eight podium appearances in the seven races this year (not counting the mixed gender relay). Along with Hyncicova and Knori, Rolandsen has been sound for the Buffs, finishing inside the top 10 in every race with three podiums.

On the men's side, Reistad has anchored the Buffs with his four podium finishes and one victory, which came in the MSU Invitational in the 20K classic race. Overall, with Stroem missing time, CU is behind on the men's Nordic side compared to its RMISA counterparts. Colorado is tied for third with Alaska Fairbanks in the men's Nordic point standings with 432 points. Stroem, who over his career has reached the podium in 26 of 35 races with 14 victories, will no doubt help add to the Buffs' point total. Then CU looks for a consistent third scorer. Freshman Andrew Potyk has come on in that department, and over the last weekend in the UAA Invitational posted his first two top 20 finishes of the season.

- Alpine Outlook
CU ranks third in the overall combined alpine point standings with 1,165. Denver leads with 1,216 and Utah is second with 1,192.5. CU's men's team has been strong all year and relatively healthy, having won 3 of 4 meets. The men's team has 11 podium finishes from three different skiers –Johansen, Ketterer and Luukko - and leads the alpine standings with 654 points, a 63-point advantage on Montana State in second.

Trulsrud, with her eight top 10 and four podium finishes, and Christensen, who has one podium and six top 10 finishes, have led the women's alpine team. CU is still looking for a consistent third scorer on the women's alpine side, which ranks fourth among RMISA schools in scoring this year with 511 points. Senior Katie Hostetler has four top 20 finishes, Megan McGrew has three and Andrea Arnold has two. Isabella Fidjeland has yet to race this year as she recovered from a non-skiing injury sustained in the fall, but the Buffs are hopeful she will be back for the RMISA Championships.

RMISA Championship Outlook
- As we saw in the first two meets of the season, when healthy the Buffs have an elite team. CU won its first two meets, but in the last two up in Alaska, the Buffs finished third with inconsistencies and missing pieces. Injuries or illness has caused five different Buffaloes to miss competitions this season. Still with over a full week until the RMISA Championships and three until the NCAA Championships, the Buffs are hopeful everyone will be back.

Players Mentioned

Andrea Arnold

Nora Christensen

Isabelle Fidjeland

Katie Hostetler

Petra Hyncicova

Ola Johansen

David Ketterer

Jesse Knori

Max Luukko

Megan McGrew

Andrew Potyk

Petter Reistad

Christina Rolandsen

Mads Stroem

Tonje Trulsrud