Lobos Move Up to 6th at NCAA Skiing Championships

NCAA Championship Results Through Four Events

OFFICIAL SCHEDULE
 

NCAA Championship Notes | Lobo Skiing Record Book

STOWE, Ver. — When you are a slalom heavy team like The University of New Mexico is in skiing, the goal at the NCAAs in the slalom is don’t lose ground, and if you can move up in the standings, that’s a big win.  Despite no All-America finishes, UNM picked up a significant win, scoring enough points to move up one spot to sixth place at the halfway mark of the NCAA Championships, with the better of UNM’s alpine events, the slalom, still to come.
 
The Lobos now have 147 points, 30 clear of seventh place Northern Michigan, and 45 over Alaska-Anchorage.  UNM will have to pick up a lot of points to gain ground on fifth place Colorado, which has 218 points.  Dartmouth has a slim 6.5 point lead over Utah at the top.
 
The women’s runs preceded the men’s runs both times, and due to the impending weather, the schedule was tightened up with the women’s runs at 9 am Eastern and noon Eastern and the men going at 10 am and 1 pm.  It was frosty again at Stowe Mountain, with the temperature on the mountain at the start at zero degrees.
 
Rebecca Fiegl, UNM’s top seed in the race, was consistent in just missing Second Team All-America honors (finishing at least 10^th to earn that).  Fiegl was 12^th after the opening run at 59.19, and on her second run, right at the end coming out of the last gate she was able to cut the corner enough, and stay down enough, to cross at 1:04.32.  That was 14^th best eventually, but it was just 0.03 seconds faster than Steph Currie of Dartmouth, keeping her 12^th.  Fiegl earned 19 points for the team.
 
Sona Moravcikova was the Lobo that would end up splitting the difference and moved up.  Sitting 15^th after her opening run, she turned in the 13^th-best run in the second run, moving her from 15^th to 14^th.  That picked her up one extra point, scoring 17 in her first NCAA race.  Moravcikova, who was second team All-RMISA, much like Fiegl, has several podiums in the slalom.
 
UNM’s third scorer was Antonia Wearmouth, who during the season actually scored the fewest points among the six Lobo women, but that was mostly because she either finished as the fourth skier for UNM, or she excelled in the qualifiers, of which no team points are accrued.  Racing in her first NCAAs, Wearmouth was also consistent, coming down 21^st in the first run and 20^th in the second.  She overall was 21^st, picking up a much needed 10 points. 
 
Overall, UNM’s 46 points were good for seventh in a women’s giant slalom.  UNM was one of just four schools to score three skiers, which was a key.
 
For the men, they were just one of three teams to score all three, as there were more crashes and ski-outs on the men’s side (eight in all).  Dartmouth, skiing on familiar turf, took places one, three and four in nearly sweeping the meet.
 
The key for the men’s side was after the first run, UNM was sitting with just 20 points, but all three skiers were able to move up a little in the standings, and overall UNM picked up 27 points for eighth place.
 
Vegard Busengdal, a threat for a national title in the slalom, as are any of UNM’s men’s alpiners, went out first for the Lobos, and he came in 17^th after a harrowing run that saw him cut several gates close.  Busengdal, an NCAA veteran having qualified three times, had an excellent second run, coming in 14^th, and that moved him up two slots to 15^th, scoring 16 points.
 
Olav Sanderberg was UNM’s second man out, but as conditions toughened as the day wore on, his placement in the draw hurt.  Sanderberg finished his opening run 27^th, and he was able to move that up to an overall 25^th place finish, scoring six points.
 
Teammate Alex Barounos, who was not projected to make the NCAA team until he tore it up in 2019 with four top 10s, his first four of his career, sat 29^th after his opening NCAA run.  His second run was much better, 21^st overall, and that was able to shuttle him all the way up to 26^th, scoring five points, giving UNM three scorers.
 
Overall, head coach Joe Downing was happy with the results, knowing the team moved up in the standings, and UNM’s better event is ahead.
 
“The mountain wasn’t easy for us, but I’m proud of how our team handled the conditions, and it says something to be a team that scored everyone,” said Downing.  “I’m really excited to see how we respond to this and come out on Saturday.  I think we will be ready.”
 
NOTES:  UNM’s 147 points are nearly equal to the 188.5 the team scored in the 2017 championships … of UNM’s six alpine racers, only one, Wearmouth, did better in the giant slalom this season than the slalom … Busengdal now has 917.5 career points … Friday’s Nordic races will be mass starts, with the women’s 15K race starting at 10 a.m. ET/8 a.m. MT followed by the men’s race starting at Noon ET/10 a.m. MT.