ELDORA, Colo. — Mateja Robnik finished fourth and Sydney Staples capped off a marvelous week in Colorado by finishing sixth in the second and final RMISA Giant Slalom Qualfier, held at the site of the Spencer James Nelson Memorial University of Colorado Invitational.
Therewere no team scores kept in the qualifier, which is used to accumulate RMISA and NCAA qualification points. The qualifiers are in effect (there are two) when UNM hosts the alpine portion of the Jade Enterprises/UNM Invitational because UNM’s Red River course can only be the slalom, which is run twice. To balance out five slaloms and three giant slaloms, two qualifiers are run.
In finishing fourth, Robnik now has four giant slalom finishes of second (tied), fourth, fourth and fourth, showcasing that she is a major candidate for a potential podium finish at NCAAs and the RMISA championships. She was fourth after her opening run and stayed there despite slipping a bit in the second run. For Staples, it was a fourth top-10 finish this season in the GS, and fifth overall, remarkable considering she had one career top-10 entering the season. Sydney, like Mateja, was sixth after the first run and held firm in her second.
On the women’s side, Courtney Altringer and Sara Ottesson finished 13th and 14th respectively, with both skiers using strong second runs to improve on their standing. Karoline Søvik Myklebust suffered a third straight DNF, and Taylor Grauer also recorded the same fate.
On the men’s side, Sean Horner was the top finisher, coming in low at on uncharacteristic 16th. He slowed in his opening run after a bobble that put him 2.27 back of the leader, and although his second run was in a minute of the top slot, there was too much to overcome. Juho-Pekka Penttinen finished 19th, Carl-Johan Öster was 22nd and Mark Miller with 27th as UNM’s men’s team struggled on the whole.
Both teams head back to New Mexico without a lot of time to think about things as the Jade Enterprises/UNM Invitational at Red River awaits on Friday and Saturday. Both days will feature slalom racing for the alpine squads of the RMISA, and the Nordic races will be in nearby Enchanted Forest. Full times will be posted on Wednesday.
UNM is the defending champion of their own meet, and last year’s win was the first for the team since winning the Jade in 2011.
SCORING: There is no scoring in the giant slalom qualifiers.
Notes: Staples was the only alpiner on the women’s side to finish in the top-6 in all three races.