Friday, February 23, 2018 • by Brooke Frederickson, RMISA
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo.—Denver’s Amelia Smart and New Mexico’s Vegard Busengdal won the women’s and men’s slalom races to open the RMISA Championships/NCAA West Regional on Friday evening.
Denver leads the meet after two races with 185 points, followed by Montana State (149), Colorado (148), New Mexico (134.5) and Utah (89) in the top five. Alaska Anchorage stands sixth (87.5) followed by Westminster (79) and Colorado Mountain College (39).
On Saturday, Feb. 24, the Nordic teams continue with the RMISA Championships with the women's and men's 5- and 10-km classic races. Alpine will step away from the meet on Saturday to compete in the season's second RMISA giant slalom qualifier. The RMISA alpine qualifier races do not count towards any team scoring and are used as an extra opportunity for skiers to earn qualification points for the NCAA Championships at the end of the season.
Women’s Slalom
- Amelia Smart, Denver
- Andrew Komsic, Denver
- Jocelyn McCarthy, Montana State
- Nora Christensen, Colorado
- Stephanie Gartner, Montana State
- Tuva Norbye, Denver
- Rebecca Fiegl, New Mexico
- Ann-Kathrin Breuning, Utah
- Mia Henry, Montana State
- Benedicte Lyche, Montana State
- Race points: Denver 104, Montana State 85, Colorado 60, New Mexico 59.5, Alaska Anchorage 56.5, Utah 35, Westminster College 20, Colorado Mountain 13
- Denver’s Amelia Smart earned her first victory of the season and her third podium of the year.
- Denver’s Andrea Komsic returns from her Olympic experience to finish second, her fourth podium of the year.
- Montana State’s Jocelyn McCarthy earned her third podium finish of the season.
- Colorado’s Nora Christensen earned her fifth top-five finish of the year.
- Montana State’s Stephanie Gartner picked up her first top-five finish of the year.
- Montana State’s Mia Henry earned her first top-10 finish of the season.
Men’s Slalom
- Vegard Busengdal, New Mexico
- Ola Johansen, Colorado
- Garret Driller, Montana State
- Tobias Kogler, Denver
- David Ketterer, Colorado
- Nick Santaniello, Denver
- Raffael Breu, Westminster
- Jett Seymour, Denver
- Max Luukko, Colorado
- Huston Philp, Utah
- Race points: Colorado 88, Denver 81, New Mexico 75, Montana State 64, Westminster College 59, Utah 54, Alaska Anchorage 31, Colorado Mountain 26
- New Mexico’s Vegard Busengdal earned his second win of the season and his fifth podium. Both of his wins this year have been in the slalom.
- Colorado’s Ola Johnasen earned his league-leading seventh podium of the year.
- Montana State’s Garret Driller has four podium finishes this year, third in the league.
- Denver’s Tobias Kogler earned his fourth top-five finish of the year.
- Colorado’s David Ketterer has two top-five finishes this year.