Wednesday, March 9
Steamboat Springs, CO
9 a.m.
Montana State University
vs
2016 NCAA Championships - Giant Slalom
The MSU Alpine team put the Cats atop the NCAA Skiing Championships, Wednesday afternoon.
Montana State Skiers Lead NCAA National Championships
3/9/2016 6:25:00 PM | Men's Skiing, Women's Skiing, Skiing
The Montana State ski team sits atop the collegiate ski world after an outstanding effort by its alpine squad to open the 63rd Annual NCAA Skiing Championships, Wednesday afternoon hosted by the University of Colorado.
The Montana State ski team sits atop the collegiate ski world after an outstanding effort by its alpine squad to open the 63rd Annual NCAA Skiing Championships, Wednesday afternoon hosted by the University of Colorado.
The Bobcat men's team set the tone early as David Neuhauser finished runner-up in the giant slalom with a two-run total of 1:50.93. The Austrian native posted the fastest second run of the event with a clocking of 54.92.
Freshman Morten Bakke was the first out of the gate for Montana State and clocked the third fastest first run in 55.78. Bakke finished fourth overall in 1:51.8. Garret Driller finished MSU's scoring placing 19th in 1:53.34.
"The snow surface setup perfectly overnight and when we arrived the courses were set and everyone was excited to rip it," said MSU Alpine Coach Kevin Francis. "Morten ran first and skied the best I've seen all year. He's been skiing well, but today he skied fast. He radioed up to Garret and David waiting in the start and gave them a great report. He told them it was easy coming off the steeps and to send it on the bottom.
"David came next and he gave me a heart attack on almost every gate," Francis continued. "He was carrying speed, but was wild and on the edge. He was happy with a sixth place first run, but had some big mistakes on the way down. He promised to ski a little more solid second run. Garret skied well but was a little off the pace.
"In between runs we just talked about focusing on the fundamentals and improving on the skiing from the first run," Francis said. "As the second run started the sky opened up and it started snowing hard. Garret came down early and had a better second run moving up to 19th. David was next and he skied solid, but he did not back off at all. In fact he sent it harder and it paid off."
Utah's Endre Bjertness won the men's individual giant slalom crown in 1:50.84.
The Bobcat women were not to be outdone as Benedicte Lyche continued her torrid winter finishing runner-up in 1:58.59. The Oslo, Norway product had the second fastest totals in both runs.
The surprise of the day came from freshman Stephanie Gartner, who placed fourth overall with a two-run time of 1:59.67. Gartner had the third fastest opening run. Another freshman, Jocelyn McCarthy, placed 30th in 2:09.76.
"In the women's race, we knew Benny was fast," Francis said. "She has been training well against the rest of the teams this week and she is coming off of a win at the RMISA/NCAA West Regional Championships. She came out first run and didn't ski her best, but that still put her in second place. She got a little treatment on her back between runs. Benny had a better second run and almost beat the eventual winner, but in the end Haugen was too good today."
Denver's Kristine Haugen won the women's giant slalom title in 1:58.00.
"Stephanie Gartner surprised us coming in third on the first run," Francis said. "She absolutely ripped the first run skiing extremely solid. That is a tough combination. Despite skiing extremely well on the second run, Steph dropped a little time to come in fourth."
For their top five finishes, Neuhauser, Bakke, Lyche and Gartner garnered First-Team All-America honors.
Both the MSU men's and women's teams had the top showing in their disciplines to put the Bobcats atop the team standings with 148 points. MSU is followed by Denver 138, Utah 123, Dartmouth 92, Colorado 88.5, New Mexico 80.5, Vermont 76, Alaska Anchorage 68, New Hampshire 63, Middlebury 48, Colby 25, St. Michael's 23, Williams 11 and Plymouth State 8.
For the first time in school history the Bobcats lead the NCAA Skiing Championships at any point in the eight event meet. MSU is just the tenth different school to lead after day one in 34 co-ed championships, and the first one since Northern Michigan accomplished the feat in 2007 in Nordic action.
MSU's 10-point lead over Denver is the smallest first day lead since New Hampshire in 2006. (UNH led by 1 ½ ).
Thursday, the Nordic teams will take to the Howelsen Hills course with freestyle races.
The Bobcat men's team set the tone early as David Neuhauser finished runner-up in the giant slalom with a two-run total of 1:50.93. The Austrian native posted the fastest second run of the event with a clocking of 54.92.
Freshman Morten Bakke was the first out of the gate for Montana State and clocked the third fastest first run in 55.78. Bakke finished fourth overall in 1:51.8. Garret Driller finished MSU's scoring placing 19th in 1:53.34.
"The snow surface setup perfectly overnight and when we arrived the courses were set and everyone was excited to rip it," said MSU Alpine Coach Kevin Francis. "Morten ran first and skied the best I've seen all year. He's been skiing well, but today he skied fast. He radioed up to Garret and David waiting in the start and gave them a great report. He told them it was easy coming off the steeps and to send it on the bottom.
"David came next and he gave me a heart attack on almost every gate," Francis continued. "He was carrying speed, but was wild and on the edge. He was happy with a sixth place first run, but had some big mistakes on the way down. He promised to ski a little more solid second run. Garret skied well but was a little off the pace.
"In between runs we just talked about focusing on the fundamentals and improving on the skiing from the first run," Francis said. "As the second run started the sky opened up and it started snowing hard. Garret came down early and had a better second run moving up to 19th. David was next and he skied solid, but he did not back off at all. In fact he sent it harder and it paid off."
Utah's Endre Bjertness won the men's individual giant slalom crown in 1:50.84.
The Bobcat women were not to be outdone as Benedicte Lyche continued her torrid winter finishing runner-up in 1:58.59. The Oslo, Norway product had the second fastest totals in both runs.
The surprise of the day came from freshman Stephanie Gartner, who placed fourth overall with a two-run time of 1:59.67. Gartner had the third fastest opening run. Another freshman, Jocelyn McCarthy, placed 30th in 2:09.76.
"In the women's race, we knew Benny was fast," Francis said. "She has been training well against the rest of the teams this week and she is coming off of a win at the RMISA/NCAA West Regional Championships. She came out first run and didn't ski her best, but that still put her in second place. She got a little treatment on her back between runs. Benny had a better second run and almost beat the eventual winner, but in the end Haugen was too good today."
Denver's Kristine Haugen won the women's giant slalom title in 1:58.00.
"Stephanie Gartner surprised us coming in third on the first run," Francis said. "She absolutely ripped the first run skiing extremely solid. That is a tough combination. Despite skiing extremely well on the second run, Steph dropped a little time to come in fourth."
For their top five finishes, Neuhauser, Bakke, Lyche and Gartner garnered First-Team All-America honors.
Both the MSU men's and women's teams had the top showing in their disciplines to put the Bobcats atop the team standings with 148 points. MSU is followed by Denver 138, Utah 123, Dartmouth 92, Colorado 88.5, New Mexico 80.5, Vermont 76, Alaska Anchorage 68, New Hampshire 63, Middlebury 48, Colby 25, St. Michael's 23, Williams 11 and Plymouth State 8.
For the first time in school history the Bobcats lead the NCAA Skiing Championships at any point in the eight event meet. MSU is just the tenth different school to lead after day one in 34 co-ed championships, and the first one since Northern Michigan accomplished the feat in 2007 in Nordic action.
MSU's 10-point lead over Denver is the smallest first day lead since New Hampshire in 2006. (UNH led by 1 ½ ).
Thursday, the Nordic teams will take to the Howelsen Hills course with freestyle races.
Players Mentioned
Alpine
/ Men's Skiing
Alpine
/ Men's Skiing
Alpine
/ Women's Skiing
Alpine
/ Women's Skiing
Alpine
/ Women's Skiing
Alpine
/ Men's SkiingWednesday, June 10
Thursday, September 27
Thursday, September 27
Thursday, September 27
