NCAA Championship Results Through Day Three
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. — Night time wasn’t exactly the right time for the New Mexico Ski team, but it worked well enough as the men’s slalom team picked up three top 20 finishes and the women’s team got a top 20 finish from Sydney Staples as UNM dropped one spot to seventh after three days of the NCAA Championships, which are being hosted by the University of Colorado.
For the men, it marked the third time in seven slaloms this season that UNM scored three top 20 finishes, and all three times it has been the triumvirate of Carl-Johan Öster, Rob Greig and Tyler Theis.
Öster was 12th after his opening run, and that time basically held up for him despite his glove hitting the ground near the hairpin turn late in his second run, which cost him just a slot in the final standings as he came in third. Greig was 20th after his opening run, and a solid 14th –best run in the second couldn’t move him up any further.
The big mark came from Theis, who was 34th out of the chute in the opening run. He did well enough there, coming in 26th after the opening run. However, he absolutely blistered the second run in a time of 44.46, the fourth-best in the second, which pushed him into a tie with Greig for 20th.
The men’s times were packed in tight and the skiers all handled the course well, with just one ski out on the men’s side.
The women’s race was much, much trickier.
While every skier finished save for one, there were issues all around as the conditions on the left-side slope (the one under the lights) seemed to get tougher as the night wore on. Five skiers either fell or missed a gate in the second run. That actually helped UNM as Katharine Irwin, who was 34th after a slight bobble at the bottom of her first run, was able to jump up and steal a point, coming in 30th.
Sydney Staples was UNM’s top skier however on the women’s side. She was 12th after her first run, with thoughts of a solid second run and sneaking up into the top 10, but it wasn’t meant to be. She caught an edge which slowed her up around the same spot that knocked out several other skiers. Staples however showed tremendous resolve in just letting it cost her a fraction of a second, sliding down into 17th. Courtney Altringer in her final race had a solid run in the second go, moving up three slots to 21st in her final official collegiate race.
UNM picked up 64 points on the day, but it wasn’t quite enough to hold onto sixth place, as UNM slid to seventh. The Lobos will need a big day in Nordic to catch either Dartmouth or Vermont for sixth place in the championships. The men’s 20K Classic race starts at 9 a.m. and the women’s 15K classic is at 11 a.m.
Notes: New Mexico’s men’s slalom team in 2015 scored just 19 points, but Carl-Johan Öster scored 18 by himself, and overall UNM’s men scored 39 … UNM picked up just one alpine All-America this season, it’s fewest since getting just one in 1988.
Women’s Slalom Team Scores
Denver 79, Dartmouth 68, Colorado 60, Utah 57, Vermont 45, Colby 40, Montana State 33, New Mexico 25, Alaska Anchorage 24, New Hampshire 22, Williams 22, Plymouth State 19, Middlebury 5, St. Michael’s 0
Men’s Slalom Team Scores
Montana State 75, Colorado 66, Denver 63.5, Dartmouth 63, Vermont 51, Utah 41, New Mexico 39, St. Michael’s 27, Alaska Anchorage 26.5, New Hampshrie 21, Middlebury 17, Williams 12, Plymouth State 0
NCAA Standings (through 6 of 8 events)
Denver 405.5, Montana State 390, Utah 362, Colorado 340.5, Dartmouth 257, Vermont 250, New Mexico 207.5, Alaska Anchorage 174.5, Northern Michigan 122, New Hampshire 118, Middlebury 103, Colby 70, Williams 52, St. Michael’s 50, Alaska-Fairbanks 38, Plymouth State 27, Michigan Tech 19, St. Scholastica 6, Bates 0, Green Bay 0, Harvard 0.