Jan. 12, 2007
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The University of New Mexico ski team continues the 2007 collegaite season this weekend with the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association’s Utah Invitational on Jan. 13-14. The Univeristy of Utah will host the two-day event. Nordic teams will be competing in their first collegaite action of the season in Heber, Utah. Saturday will feature cross country spint classic races with at 20K pursuit on Sunday. The Alpine teams will be racing in Park City, Utah, and will follow their usuaul format of giant slalom runs on Saturday and slalom races on Sunday.
Colorado has the early lead int he RMISA standings, winning last week’s men’s slalom and finishing second in the women’s slalom at Montana State. The MSU giant slalom races had to be cancelled due to bad weather, but will be made up at a later date. The Lobos are currently in fourth place overall after placing fourth in the women’s slalom and tying for third on the men’s side.
ALPINE TEAM NOTES
The Alpine team was hit with the stomach flu that slowed most of the 12 skiers on the roster at the Montana State Invite last weekend. It was almost a good this that the giant slalom races were cancelled on Saturday because the Lobos only had five able-bodied skiers on the first day. Day two wasn’t much better as five Lobo men fell during their slalom runs, tying for third in the race. The women finished fourth in thier slalom race.
ALPINE INDIVIDUAL NOTES
Lars Loeseth (Sr.) – Fell on his second run at MSU…won a USSA giant slalom training race in Park City earlier this week. Alex Mach (Sr.) – 5th in the slalom at MSU Peter Roering (Sr.) – Fell on his first run at MSU Tor Fodnesbergene (So.) – 4th in the slalom at MSU Gary Beresford (Fr.) – Fell on his second run at MSU Olivier Lacaille (Fr.) – 37th in the slalom at MSU Jon Masdal (Fr.) – Fell on his second run at MSU Amy Beresford (Jr.) – 18th in the slalom at MSU Lene Kaasa (Jr.) – 28th in the slalom at MSU Karin Ohlin (So.) – 5th in the slalom at MSU Jessica Dakers (Fr.) – 34th in the slalom at MSU Malin Hemmingson(Fr.) – 17th in the slalom at MSU
NORDIC TEAM NOTES
The Nordic team is still looking for its first collegiate action of the 2007 season.
NORDIC INDIVIDUAL NOTES – Returning Letterwinners
Jedd Young (Sr.) – Placed 32nd in the CL and 22nd in the FR at the NCAAs…Posted one top-10…Ranked 23rd in the CL and 20th in the FR in the RMISA. Casey Dyck (So.) – Qualified for the NCAAs but did not compete…Finished the regular season ranked 24th in the CL and 23rd in the FR…Academic All-NCAA. Rick Grahn (So.) – Competed in every event in the regular season, ranking 38th in the CL and 43rd in the FR in the RMISA…Academic All-NCAA. Laura Van Alst (Jr.) – All-American in the FR, placing 10th at the NCAAs…Finished 21st in the CL at the NCAAs…Four top-10s in 12 races this season…All-RMISA, ranking eighth in the FR and 18th in the CL in the RMISA…Academic All-NCAA…Nordic women’s team MVP. Crystin Jaques (So.) – Finished 16th in the CL and 23rd in the FR at the NCAAs…Posted six top-10s this season…Ranked ninth in the CL and 15th in the FR in the RMISA…Academic All-NCAA. Melanie Zemp (So.) – Qualified for the NCAAs but did not compete…Posted one top-10…Ranked ninth in the CL and 25th in the FR in the RMISA.
2007 SEASON OUTLOOK
The 2007 season is already assured to go down as a memorable one. The reason is longtime Lobo head coach George Brooks has announced that this will be his last year at the helm of Lobo skiing. Brooks has spent the last 36 years, the entire history of UNM’s program, as the head man for New Mexico skiing. His resume includes the Lobos’ only NCAA title in any sport, the 2004 NCAA Skiing Championship, and two other second place finishes in 1992 and 2006. He has coached more than 125 All-Americans and nearly the same number of Academic All-NCAA award winners. It might appear that Brooks is ready to coast into retirement, but one look at the team he and Nordic coach Fredrik Landstedt have put together for the upcoming season and it is clear that the Lobos might just send off their coach in championship fashion.
New Mexico skied to a strong second place finish in 2006, just the second runner-up trophy in school history. Over the last three years no other team has scored more points at the NCAA Championships than New Mexico. UNM returns eight of the 12 skiers who participated in last year’s NCAA Championships, including five All-Americans. Seven other lettermen also return to go along with eight talented newcomers to the team.
“We are pretty much in the same situation as 2004,” stated UNM head coach George Brooks. “We return a solid core of athletes and we got everyone we were recruiting. I think we have a strong enough team on paper to be in the top three in the country. Now we’ve just got to go out and perform.”
The group that jumps out first is the men’s Alpine team. Boasting four All-Americans and the 2006 NCAA Slalom team title, the Lobo men’s Alpine squad will be one of the top teams in the country this season. Seniors Alex Mach, Lars Loeseth and Peter Roering, along with sophomore Tor Fodnesbergene have all won All-American honors in their careers. Mach was the top slalom skier in the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association last season, while Fodnesbergene led the league in the giant slalom and was second in the slalom. Fodnesbergene also won both races at the 2006 NCAA West Regional in Reno, Nev. Loeseth is a three-time All-American and one of the top skiers in the country over the last three years. Roering has recovered from a broken leg he suffered in February and hopes to return to his All-American form from the 2004 season. The Alpine men also welcome three freshmen in Gary Beresford, Olivier Lacaille and Jon Masdal. All three will provide depth to an already loaded team.
“We’ve got five guys who can win a race on any given day on the Alpine side,” stated Brooks. “With the return of last year’s skiers and the addition of Jon, we should have one of the strongest groups in the country.”
The women’s Alpine squad also returns a trio of talented athletes, including 2006 All-American Karin Ohlin. Ohlin, a sophomore from Malung, Sweden, finished fifth in the slalom at the NCAA Championships last season and was ranked fifth in the same category throughout the RMISA season. Junior Amy Beresford returns after qualifying and competing at the NCAAs last season, her first in a Lobo uniform. Beresford finished in the top-20 in both the slalom and giant slalom in 2006. Junior Lene Kaasa is also back for her third year at UNM. She is looking to qualify for her first trip to the NCAA Championships. Joining the team this fall are two talented freshmen in Jessica Dakers and Malin Hemmingson. Dakers, a native of Calgary, Alberta, is a member of the Canadian National Team and could push for one of the top spots on the team. Hemmingson comes to UNM from Hallen, Sweden, and is expected to be one of the top skiers in the RMISA in 2007.
“We have three strong skiers on the women’s Alpine side in Amy, Karin and Malin,” stated Brooks. “However, both Lene and Jessica are capable of scoring points for us this season. We will need all five of them to ski consistently for us to be successful.”
With the return of two NCAA participants, including 2006 All-American Laura Van Alst, the Lobo Nordic women are poised for another strong season. Van Alst had a surprising 10th place finish in the freestyle at the 2006 NCAA Championships, earning All-American honors in the event. The junior from New Paltz, N.Y., was also an All-RMISA performer and had four top-10s last season. Sophomore Crystin Jaques returns after competing at the NCAAs last season where she posted a pair of top-25 finishes. The Canmore, Alberta, native also had six top-10s in the 2006 season. Other returning letterwinners for the Nordic women include junior Tiffany Callahan and sophomore Melanie Zemp. Callahan did not ski competitively last season while Zemp qualified for the NCAAs but did not compete as a freshman. Freshman Polina Ermoshina is the lone newcomer to the women’s team, but could have the biggest impact of any of the new faces in 2007. Ermoshina, a native of Moscow, Russia, was invited to join the Russian Junior National Team before coming to UNM. She will challenge for one of the top three spots on the team and could be one of the top Nordic women in the country this season.
“If Polina skies to her potential, the Nordic women will be very strong,” stated Brooks. “Fredrik has put together another talented team and they could be very good. They’ve got a solid group coming back, led by Crystin and Laura, and should do very well this season.”
The Nordic men are also looking strong with the return of three lettermen in senior Jedd Young and sophomores Casey Dyck and Rick Grahn. Young, a four-year letterwinner, competed at the 2006 NCAAs, placing 22nd in the freestyle. Dyck qualified for the NCAAs but did not compete as a freshman while Grahn skied in every RMISA event last season. Joining the team are two very talented newcomers in sophomore Erlend Saetre and freshman Vsevolod Soloviev. Saetre comes to UNM from Tromso, Norway, and is a former winner of the sprint classic and runner-up in the freestyle at the Norwegian Championships. He should be one of the top skiers on the team this season and could be among the best in the RMISA. Soloviev, a native of Petrosavodsk, Russia, is a former winner of the Russian Youth Championship and could be one of the Lobos’ top three Nordic skiers. He has the potential to be among the best in the RMISA.
“The Nordic men also have the potential for success this season,” added Brooks. “We will need the new guys to perform and the returners to step up, but the talent is there to be a top team in the RMISA.” Based on the talent that Brooks and Landstedt have put together for 2007, there will be no cruising into retirement for the ol’ coach. Brooks would like nothing more than to go out with another NCAA title. Even with all of the awards, accolades and honors he has received over the past 36 years, Brooks could surely find one more spot on the mantle for another gold trophy. If the Lobos look as good on snow as on they do on paper they just might send Brooks out with his second NCAA championship.