BOULDER, Colo. — A great week by both Sydney Staples and Mateja Robnik was capped off on Wednesday when they were both honored by the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association (RMISA). Staples was named the RMISA Skier of the Week for the Spencer James Nelson Memorial University of Colorado Invitational. Robnik was named the same for the giant slalom qualifying events, which were also completed in Colorado.
Along with Staples from the CU Invitational, Trevor Philp of Denver earned the men’s alpine award, Mads Stoem of Colorado won the men’s Nordic award, and Veronike Mayerhofer of Utah won the women’s Nordic honor. Colorado’s Roger Carry earned the men’s alpine award for the RMISA giant slalom qualifiers.
Staples finished fifth in both the slalom and the giant slalom at Eldora, although for Skier of the Week and RMISA MVP points, she was credited with third place (Westminster’s skiers aren’t eligible for the awards). The two fifth place finishes continued a superb sophomore season for the native of Bountiful, Utah. Staples, who entered the season with just one top-10 finish to her credit, now has five top-10s in six races this season. She currently is sixth in RMISA MVP points with 152, 23 behind the leader.
“I was really happy with my results in Eldora,” said Staples. “I’m excited to keep building off of them. I feel lucky to have such great and supportive teammates, and to be in an environment where we are always pushing each other to improve.”
That leader is her teammate Mateja Robnik. Mateja, from Slovenia, finished tied for second and fourth in the two giant slalom qualifiers this season (with the fourth adjusted to third-place points for RMISA scoring purposes). Robnik has not finished lower than fourth in any of the four giant slaloms this season, and she is just three points ahead of Colorado’s Brooke Granstrom Wales and five ahead of Denver’s Monica Hübner.
The Lobos will be hosting the Jade Enterprises/UNM Invitational on Friday and Saturday with the slaloms taking place at Red River and the Nordic events at Enchanted Forest.
CU Invitational Skiers of the Week:
Men’s Alpine – Trevor Philp, DU (1st SL, 9th GS)
Women’s Alpine – Sydney Staples, UNM (3rd SL, 5th GS)
Men’s Nordic – Mads Stroem, CU (2nd CL, 2nd FS)
Women’s Nordic – Veronike Mayerhofer, UU (1st CL, 3rd FS)
RMISA Alpine Qualifiers Skiers of the Week:
Men’s Alpine – Roger Carry, CU (3rd, 3rd)
Women’s Alpine – Mateja Robnik, UNM (2nd GS, 3rd GS)