Irwin’s National Runner Up Finish Paces Lobos
Thursday, March 8
NC Skiing: Classical
9 a.m. MT/11 a.m. ET Women’s 5K | 11 a.m. MT/1 p.m. ET Men’s 10K
http://www.ncaa.com/live/player?vid=2018/3382&date=2018/03/08
Friday, March 9
NC Skiing: Slalom
6:45 p.m. MT Women’s First Run | 7:30 p.m. MT Men’s First Run | 9 p.m. MT Women’s Second Run | 9:30 p.m. MT Men’s Second Run
http://www.ncaa.com/live/player?vid=2018/3384&date=2018/03/09
Saturday, March 10
NC Skiing: Freestyle
9 a.m. MT/11 a.m. ET Men’s 20K | 11 a.m. MT/1 p.m. ET Women’s 15K
http://www.ncaa.com/live/player?vid=2018/3387&date=2018/03/10
Photo Gallery | Official Results
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. — The last time Katharine Irwin was sitting in eighth place after the opening run of the giant slalom, she blitzed the field on the second run and won the whole thing.
She almost did it again, this time at the NCAAs.
Irwin turned in a spectacular run in the second go, and just missed a national title, coming in second place by just 0.04 seconds. That run was enough to make her the national runner up, and she combined with teammates Rebecca Fiegl and Haley Cutler to pull in 74 points, placing the women’s alpine team second in the NCAA giant slalom, finishing just behind Denver.
Overall, UNM is sixth after day one of the championships with 94 points, and only a horrid break to skier Rob Greig kept UNM for possibly leading the championships through day one.
Irwin was sitting eighth after the first run, with Cutler 19th and Fiegl 20th. With the field flipped for the second run, Fiegl was the first Lobo out of the gate, and she came down at 59.36, handling the upper portion of the course with ease. Fiegl came down with the best run at the time, and it actually ended up 10th in the second run. Cutler, another NCAA rookie, was next out of the chute and had the 12th-best run, the two skiers flip-flopping in the standings.
Skiing 20th, Amelia Smart of Denver turned in a 58.51 to take the lead, and two skiers later it was Irwin’s turn. Keeping a tight line at the top part of the course, her intermediate time with basically even with Smart. Irwin flew down the bottom portion, and didn’t catch nearly as much air as other skiers on the small ridge known as Outlaw’s Ridge.
That let her race down on a smooth line to the bottom, and she was just 0.04 seconds behind Smart for second. With seven skiers left, Irwin was guaranteed some sort of All-America honors. Usually skiing eighth that run wouldn’t have up, but hold it did. The closest anyone got was Vermont’s Paula Moltzan, who finished just 0.02 seconds behind Irwin.
Her second-place finish was good for 37 points, and Fiegl scored 19 points and Cutler scored 18, giving UNM 77 points. That total was second to Denver’s 83.
On the men’s side, an unlucky break cost UNM a possible national title for Rob Greig. Greig finished his opening run in second, giving Greig a great shot as earning All-America on the same hill he earned it on in 2016 in the giant slalom. Greig handled the top part of the mountain in fine order, and hit the intermediate mark with the top split time. However, after coming around one gate a little wide to the right, he went low to try and regain some ground, and hit hand hit the ground, causing him to slide just enough to zip past the gate just 20 seconds or so from the finish.
That DNF hurt UNM’s totals as Vegard Busengdal finished 21st and Tyler Theis finished 22nd on his home mountain, giving UNM 19 points. Had Greig stayed up and won a national title (the lone skier ahead of him, MSU’s Addison Dvorecak bobbled on nearly the same gate), UNM would have had the lead in the championships through two events.
As it is, the Lobos still are right in the thick of the race, sitting in sixth with 93 total points. The Lobos sit just 3.5 points behind fifth-place Dartmouth. Vermont leads the championships through the first two events with 134 points. Last year UNM finished seventh with just 188.5 points, meaning UNM is already just about halfway to last year’s total.
NOTES: Irwin earned All-American honors in the giant slalom for the second straight season … Irwin’s finish is the best for a Lobo in the women’s giant slalom since Estelle Pecherand-Charmet … UNM’s last women’s giant slalom national title was Jennifer Delch in 2004 … Irwin becomes the ninth two-time giant slalom All-America, and she will have a shot next year at becoming UNM’s first three-time GS All-American.