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Sophomore Sandra Gredig
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Feb. 22, 2005
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THIS WEEK:
The University of Utah ski team is fueled up and ready to ski in the West Regional Championships, Feb. 25-26. This year's events will be hosted by the Bobcats of Montana State University.
The cross country events will be held at the Bohart Ranch XC Ski Center and the alpine venues will be held at Bridger Bowl, Mont. Events will be held all day.
REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE:
Alpine: February 25 - Women's/Men's GS February 26 - Men's/Women's SL 10:00 am Start Times - All EventsNordic: February 25 - Women's 5-km CL - Int. Start (9:30 am) Men's 10-km CL - Int. Start (10:30am) February 26 - Women's 15-km FS - Mass Start (9:30 am) Men's 20-km FS - Mass Start (11:00 am)
LAST WEEK:
The Utes didn't compete last week, but are currently in fourth-place at the New Mexico Invitational after six events. Due to weather conditions, the men's giant slalom and women's slalom were postponed. The two alpine events will be skied before the Regional Championships in Bozeman, Mont.
The alpine team had a dynamite weekend as the men won the SL and the women tied for first in the GS. Senior Mark Heinrich-Wallace led the Utes with his second-place finish, while All-American Ben Thornhill finished third.
Senior Rowena Hyldahl headlined the women's team, winning the SL. All-Americans Lina Johansson (7th) and April Mancuso (8th) rounded out the Utes' scoring.
The cross country team has been struggling with illness, but managed to come away with several great results. Sophomore Daniel Sonntag didn't compete in the CL, but made up for it by winning the 10-km FS skate race. Casey Simons finished the weekend with two top-15 finishes. Simons skated to ninth in the FS and 14th in the CL.
Sandra Gredig skied exceptionally well, placing fourth in the CL and seventh in the FS. Junior Linda Pettersson skated to a career best seventh-place performance in the CL.
WRAPPING UP UNM INVITE:
The men's giant slalom and women's slalom will be skied on Thursday, Feb. 24, at Bozeman, Mont., prior to the Regional Championships. The UNM Invite will be finalized after the scores are tallied for the alpine events.
The men's GS opening run will begin at 9:30 am, followed by the second at 11:00 am. The first run of the women's SL will begin at 1:00 pm followed by the second at 2:30 pm.
2005 SKI RACING MAGAZINE PRESEASON RANKINGS:
Utah 144 Denver 141 New Mexico 139 Colorado 131 Vermont 117 Alaska-Anchorage 78 Middlebury College 59 Dartmouth College 58 Nevada 44 Alaska-Fairbanks 9
INJURY REPORT:
Junior Andi Weiser will miss the rest of the 2005 season due to a knee injury sustained during a training run prior to the Utah Invite. The Nova Gorica, Slovenia, native will rejoin the team next season.
QUOTING COACH SWEENEY:
Quoting Regional Championships: "The team is very fired up for the Western Regional Championships. We have struggled as a team putting solid scores together in all disciplines for most of the season, but I anticipate this to change. I feel it! We are very close. In fact, this is a good place to be as the NCAA's are drawing near. We have had some fantastic results in the previous meets so I know we are a strong team."
Quoting The Team's Performance: "We have had a good week of training and most of those suffering with illness and injury are slowly getting back on track. It is my intention to charge hard at Regionals. We have some very close decisions to make in regards who will ski at the championships so this will be an important weekend. Montana usually hosts good quality races and the weather forecast looks good. This is going to be an impressive weekend as we will be racing the same races and distances that will be [at the NCAA Championships] in Stowe, Vt. Everybody, coaches and athletes, are going to give it their best."
SKIERS OF THE WEEK (DU INVITE):
Alpine Nordic
Men NA Andre Haugsboe, DU
Women NA Muriele Hueberli, CU
RETURNING NCAA CHAMPIONS:
Senior and two-time GS champion Ben Thornhill will be returning for his fourth-season with the Utes. Fellow senior Lina Joansson rejoins the team after skiing to a first-place podium spot in the SL at the 2003 NCAA Championships.
RETURNING ALL-AMERICANS:
Barbro Hatlevik (third in the FS), Rowena Hyldahl (ninth in the GS) and April Mancuso (sixth in the GS/eighth in the SL) all received All-American honors at the 2004 NCAA Skiing Championships.
UTE NEWCOMERS:
-Nordic Recruits: Magnus Carlsson and Nicole Naef -Alpine Recruits: Mark Heinrich-Wallace, Matic Ramus and Kim Stephens
INVITED TEAMS:
Below is the list of schools with ski teams that count in the final scoring of invitational meets:
University of Alaska, Anchorage University of Nevada Reno Montana State University University of Utah University of Colorado Western State College University of Denver Whitman College University of New Mexico Boise State University
NEXT WEEK:
Utah will have almost a two-week repreive before skiing in the 2005 NCAA National Championships in Stowe, Vt., March 9-12. Events will be held all day.
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