PARK CITY, Utah – Just a day after finishing second in an FIS giant slalom race in Park City, Mateja Robnik repeated that performance, tying for second in the first official collegiate race of the year, a Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association Giant Slalom qualifier, tying with Kristiina Rove of Utah and finishing just 0.08 seconds behind winner Chloe Fausa of Utah.
The tie for second equals Robnik’s second-best career finish, having won an RMISA Giant Slalom qualifier in Colorado last year. For the 2015 season, there are two extra RMISA Giant Slalom qualifiers needed because the Jade Enterprises/UNM Invitational will once again host two slaloms and no giant.
No team scores are kept in the qualifiers, but if they were, UNM would have been a tight third behind Utah and Colorado, and those three teams should see plenty of shuffling around during the season.
Robnik led all competitors after the first run, clocking in at 1:13.55, but three runs before he second go, eventual winner Fausa posted a blistering 1:11.40 after the entire track sped up over the course of the day. Robnik needed a 1:12.37 for first or a 1:22.45 for second, and she came in right at the second number, tying with Rove. Brooke Wales of Colorado was 0.26 back in fourth.
Perhaps the most pleasing set of runs went to Sydney Staples, whose high bib number of 25 looks out of place among the top 10. Staples had her second-highest finish ever with a seventh place showing, getting her 2015 off to a great start. It’s just the second top-10 of the sophomore’s young career.
Karoline Myklebust had a pair of solid runs to finish in 12th, and Courtney Altringer was right behind in 13th place. The lone women’s alpine newcomer Sara Ottesson was consistent in finishing 23rd. Taylor Grauer did not finish her second run.
The qualifier now takes a one-day break with a schedule change as the men’s Giant Slalom qualifier will now be run Thursday at 9:30 a.m. The Lobo men’s alpine squad did run in an FIS slalom race, with Juho-Pekka Penttinen finishing fifth, Sean Horner 21st, and newcomer Patrick Brachner 23rd. Mark Miller recorded a DNF.
NOTES: Altringer’s top-20 finish was her 22nd of her career, one behind Robnik for most on the current squad … Myklebust’s run was her first since the NCAA Championships, when she missed a gate and walked and skied back uphill in order to finish the race and not get a DQ. That effort pushed the Lobos into third place at the NCAAs … The updated schedule for the weekend is as follows:
RMISA Qualifier
Jan. 8 – Men’s giant slalom (tentative 9:30 a.m. start)
Utah Invitational
Jan. 9 – Women’s giant slalom (tentative 9:30 a.m. start)
Jan. 10 – Men’s giant slalom (tentative 9:30 a.m. start)
Jan. 11 – Women’s 5-km classical (11:00 a.m. start); men’s 10-km classical (10:00 a.m. start); men’s and women’s slalom (tentative 9:30 a.m. start)
Jan. 12 – Men’s 15-km freestyle (9:30 a.m. start); women’s 10-km freestyle (10:45 start)