(above) DU cross country skiers Antja Maempel & Mari Elden on the podium on Thursday
(above) DU's Lief-Krista Haugen won the Men's Giant Slalom on Wednesday
Day Two of the four-day NCAA Skiing Championships kicked off this morning in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. The University of Denver was even more dominant in the morning session than yesterday, with two Pioneers on the podium in Nordic Cross Country Skiing. In the Men's Cross County event the University of Colorado moved back into contention, but DU finishes of 18th, 19th & 23rd kept the Pioneers safely out in front of the CU.
Friday, March 12thMen's Cross Country - DU skiers Kristian Soerlund finished 18th, Andrew Doughtery came in 19th and Harald Loevenskioldr crossed the line 23rd.
5:15 PM MST - Men’s Slalom (first run) – Howelsen Hill
6:30 PM MST - Women’s Slalom (first run) - Howelsen Hill
(left) DU's Golden Girl Antje Maempel won the NCAA 5K Classical Cross Country Skiing Championship for the second year in a rowWomen's Nordic Cross Country - The University of Denver ski team is making a mockery of the NCAA Skiing Championships in Steamboat Springs Colorado. DU's Antje Maempel won the Women's Nordic Cross Country Championship for the second year in a row. She has also now won three consecutive NCAA cross country championships in a row. DU's Mari Elden finished third and Kate Dolan came 13th.
Maemple's margin of victory this morning was by an astounding 43 seconds. In a sport winning is sometimes by a tenth of a second and ties have occurred, 43 seconds is massive margin in a 5K race.
(left) DU's Lief-Krista Haugen, who skied in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics for Norway, won the NCAA Giant Slalom Championship yesterday in SteamboatThe Men's Giant Slalom yesterday - DU's Lief-Krista Haugen won the Men's Giant Slalom to pace the University of Denver's ski team to a massive opening day at the NCAA skiing Championships in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Haugen's teammates A.J. Arvin & Andreas Kilde finished 5th and 8th respectively.
(left) DU's Lindsey Cone finished 2nd in the Giant Slalom yesterdayWomen's Giant Slalom - The University of Denver Skiing Team was in 1st place after the Women's Giant Slalom yesterday morning. Lindsey Cone paced the DU skiers with a 2nd place overall finish, while her teammates Ida Dillingoen and Jennifer Vanwagner finished 5th and 9th. Dillingoen's performance was particularly impressive since she was seeded 23rd in the event.
15 comments:
DU is off to an unusually strong start. Usually DU has been trailing in recent years after the first day.
All eyes will be on DU's Antje Maempel as she tries to defend her NCAA Nordic Cross Country title this morning. Needless to say she's not going to be able to sneak up on anyone or get any favors from the other competitors.
This is exciting as I don't believe DU won a single meet all season.
True.
Haugen was probably away alot preparing for the Olympics.
I think DU only won one meet last all year as well.
Qualifying 12 skiers was key this year. Last year DU only had 11 and DU couldn't afford any mistakes because they were minus one "throw-out."
DU doesn't care about winning any meet but the NCAAs. They design the season to peak when it counts.
DU's Mari Elden leads as the first group of skiers are going around the course.
DU considers Steamboat to be their "home" mountain. Article below...
"They were sore from biking and hiking up mountains, not to mention sleeping on the ground in tents for two straight nights. And they were cold and wet and sleepy, with the 5 a.m. wakeup call coming much too early.
But when University of Denver skiers trudged up Howelsen Hill last October to take in a Sunday sunrise, there's little question a bond was formed – one they hope will propel them to even grander heights in their quest for a three-peat at this week's 57th NCAA Skiing Championships at Steamboat Springs.
"When we brought up (the idea), everybody was slightly against it," said DU sophomore A.J. Avrin, citing the iffy weather on that weekend retreat to Steamboat Springs for alpine and Nordic team members.
"But once we got to the top and the sun started coming out and the colors started to change, sitting there as a team, looking over the town, you knew it was something pretty special, something you don't get to share with too many people."
While the University of Colorado (located in Boulder) will serve as host for the championships, the two-time defending champion Pioneers of the University of Denver have let it be known they feel every bit as comfortable in Steamboat Springs this week.
"We knew come March we'd be racing in Steamboat, so we all spent enough time there to consider it our home hill," Avrin said."
Lindsay Cone (who finished 2nd yesterday) is in her first season with DU after transferring from St. Lawrence University (where she won gold in giant slalom last year).
She transferred to DU so she could also compete on DU's top-caliber golf team.
Antje Maempel did it again winning by 43 seconds. A massive margin in a 5K race.
DU 1st, 3rd & 13th.
D-Rah for Antje and the Women's Nordic team. 1st and 3rd--that's impressive!
That's another 121 points for Denver, with UU, UVM, and UNM (2nd-4th place in overall standings) did not have particularly strong showings.
This will widen the gap quite a bit between DU and 2nd place. Hopefully the Mens XC can get at least 1 top 20 finish.
Go DU!
2 Top 20 finishes for the Nordic men--18th and 19th, but they are Top 20.
Makes one wonder how far the gap would be if DU actually had top 10 level men's XC skiers this year...
Got to figure the DU coaches are thrilled to be leading by 69 points at the halfway mark of the event.
Go DU! Maepel will surely do well on Friday, and if Cone and Haugen have podium finishes tomorrow, we should be in good shape. Always have to be careful in the alpine, though. One DQ or fall can set the team back.
Holy $&*@....DG, who's your friend picturerd on the right, of this homepage? With friends like that.....any friend of yours is a friend of MINE! Good Gravy honey..... GO DU indeed!!!!
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