COPPER MOUNTAIN, Colo. — On day two of the USSA Surefoot Colorado Ski Cup giant slalom event, The University of New Mexico ski team was looking to get a little bit of improvement in the first races of the season.
Mission accomplished.
The Lobos quartet of Juho-Pekka Penttinen, Sean Horner, Patrick Brachner and Mark Miller all scored top-30 finishes in a strong 110-person field on day two of the giant slalom, with Penttinen leading the way with a 17th place finish.
Horner came in 19th, giving him two top-20s at Surefoot. Brachner finished 28th for his first official finish (he DNF’ed on Monday) and Mark Miller finished 30th.
In a great sign, three of the four Lobos improved their times and places in their second runs on the mountain. Penttinen, who didn’t finish his second run on Monday, was 23rd after a 58.58 in the first go, but he shaved over a half-minute in the second run, clocking in at 57.96, the 14th-best second run. That was enough to catapult him to 17th.
Sean Horner was 18th after his opening run at 58.32, and basically repeated himself with a 58.40 in the second run, dropping one place to 19th, giving the two-time 2014 All-American his second top-20 of the event.
Perhaps a key racer moving forward, rookie Patrick Brachner learned from his mistakes of Monday, and much like Penttinen, bullied his way to more than a half-second better time in the second go. He was sitting in 37th after a 59.63, but he was solid in the second run with a 59.06, a great sign for a collegian competing in his first weekend with the squad. That moved him from 37th to 28th.
Mark Miller, from nearby Dillon, was 38th after a 59.64, and despite a shade slower run in the second at 59.67, he zipped up to 30th, giving the Lobos four in the top-30.
Michael Ankeny of the U.S. Alpine Team won the event and Charlie Raposo of the British National Giant Slalom Team, who won it Monday, was third. The event features many of the top giant slalom racers from around the globe and in the U.S., giving the Lobo contingent a strong field in their opening runs of the season.
UNM’s official season doesn’t start until January 6-7 with RMISA giant slalom qualifiers in Park City before the University of Utah Invitational January 9-12.