Forejtek, Brudevoll Win Slalom Races As Westminster Stays In The Lead At CU

Wednesday, January 13, 2021 • by Curtis Snyder, RMISA

NEDERLAND, Colo.—Utah's Bjorn Brudevoll and Colorado's Filip Forejtek won men's slalom races and the Westminster Griffins remained in the team lead Wednesday at Eldora Mountain Resort to conclude the alpine portion of CU's Spencer James Nelson Memorial Invitational.

In the first race, Brudevoll used the fastest second run in the field (by over three-tenths of a second) to move up from fifth place after the first run. He was in bib 17 in his first collegiate slalom races and was impressive moving up the field.

Unfortunately, after a solid first run in the second race of the day, Brudevoll didn't finish the second run. Forejtek was on the opposite path, having won the second race after not finishing the first, putting a stop to the podium's being very similar the first three days of the season where each gender skied in two races on the same day due to COVID-19 protocols.

For Forejtek, it's his first collegiate win, but he's been knocking on the door for a while with six career second place finishes, including taking second at the RMISA Championships by one-hundredth of a second and second at the NCAA Championships by two-hundredths to close out last season, and finishing second and third in the two GS races Monday in Aspen.

Brudevoll, meanwhile, wins his first collegiate slalom race in his first try, an impressive start for the rookie to RMISA racing. He also finished 13th in the first GS race on Monday at the DU Invitational.

Behind Brudevoll in the first race was Westminster's Mikkel Solbakken and Montana State's Louis Muhlen-Schulte, both picking up podium appearances, while the Griffins' Francesco Gori took fourth and the Bobcats' Aage Solheim fifth.

It was fitting with both Montana State and Westminster having two skiers in the top five that both schools would tie for the team lead with 88 points in the race. Westminster remained in first place and Montana State passed Utah for second place adding totals of women's slalom action on Tuesday in the CU Invitational standings.

In the second race, Forejtek was followed up by Gori in second place and Utah's Wilhelm Normannseth in third for the podium and Solheim and Solbakken rounding out the top five.

Westminster added Martin Arene in sixth place for three in the top six and a race win with 93 points, ahead of Colorado's total of 80.5, following quickly by Utah (77.5) and Montana State (75).

When the dust settled and the alpine racing was complete for the CU meet, Westminster held a solid lead of 60 points with 362. Montana State held off Utah for second place, 302-301.5 and Colorado moved past Alaska Anchorage into fourth place with 271 points to 242.5 for the Seawolves. Colorado Mountain (174) and Denver (17) round out the team scoring.

After just four days of racing, the regular season for alpine skiers is now half over and alpine teams will now take about a month off before competition resumes in mid-February in Utah. Over the course of two weeks in Utah, the final two regular season meets and the RMISA Championships will take place.

Meanwhile, action shifts focus to the Nordic team, which have yet to start in 2021. Over the next three weeks, three meets will take place, first with an RMSIA Invitational at Soldier Hollow on Sunday-Monday, Jan. 17-18. Following that, the DU meet will conclude Jan. 22-23 at Maloit Park near Vail and then Feb. 5-6 the CU meet will conclude in Aspen.

TEAM STANDINGS (Thru 4 of 8 events): 1. Westminster 362; 2. Montana State 302; 3. Utah 301.5; 4. Colorado 271; 5. Alaska Anchorage 242.5; 6. Colorado Mountain 174; 7. Denver 17.

MEN'S SLALOM #1 (20 collegiate finishers): 1. Bjorn Brudevoll, UU, 1:27.51; 2. Mikkel Solbakken, WMC, 1:27.87; 3. Louis Muhlen-Schulte, MSU, 1:28.09; 4. Francesco Gori, WMC, 1:28.27; 5. Aage Solheim, MSU, 1:28.42; 6. Louis Fausa, CU, 1:30.06; 7. Dawson Yates, MSU, 1:30.10; 8. Michael Soetaert, UAA, 1:30.23; 9. Moro Bamber, 1:30.59; 10. Max Bervy, CU, 1:30.60. Other CU Finishers: 16. Alex Birkner, 1:31.71; 18. Sky Kelsey, 1:42.66. Did Not Start First Run: Joey Young. Did Not Finish Second Run: Filip Forejtek, Bobby Ryan, Chase Seymour.

MEN'S SLALOM #2 (25 collegiate finishers): 1. Filip Forejtek, CU, 1:28.30; 2. Franesco Gori, WMC, 1:28.49; 3. Wilhelm Normannseth, UU, 1:28.86; 4. Aage Solheim, MSU, 1:29.00; 5. Mikkel Solbakken, WMC, 1:29.10; 6. Martin Arene, WMC, 1:29.45; 7. Gustav Voello, UU, 1:29.52; 8. Gustav Dalmalm, WMC, 1:30.26; 9. Louis Muhlen-Schulte, MSU, 1:30.29; 10. Max Bervy, CU, 1:30.72; Other CU Finishers: 14. Alex Birkner, 1:31.24; 17. Louis Fausa, 1:31.80; 20. Bobby Ryan, 1:34.10; 21. Chase Seymour, 1:34.13. Did Not Start First Run: Joey Young. Did Not FInish First Run: Sky Kelsey.