Buffs finish strong, place second in NCAA Championships

Colorado Buffaloes skiing finished as the national runner-ups after a riveting championship weekend in Utah. (Photo via CUBuffs.com)

The Colorado Buffaloes had a tremendous time at the NCAA Championships in Park City and Midway, Utah. The alpine events took place at Utah Olympic Park in Park City, while the Nordic events took place in Soldier Hollow. The Buffs finished second overall behind Utah, just short of a second national title in three years.

On Wednesday, the Buffs had a strong finish in both the men’s and women’s Giant Slalom races. Louison Accambray started the Buffs championships off. She had a great race, finishing second overall. Cathinka Lunder and Paige DeHart finished eighth and 20th, respectively. 

The men were led by Filip Wahlqvist, who started third. Wahqvist had decent runs, finishing seventh. Feb Allasina threw down two great runs. Starting from 10th, he briefly occupied the leader’s position until a winning run from Utah’s Johs Herland knocked him into second. After Day 1, the Buffs led Utah in the championship by four points. Both Accambray and Allasina both earned All-American Honors after their strong finishes.

Thursday was an eventful day for the Buffaloes. Led by Storm Pedersen, they competed in the 7.5K Classic. Pedersen started the day off with a starting bib of second. However, he ran into some difficulties on the final part of the race and was only able to finish fourth. Johannes Flaaten and Jakob Moch both placed within the top 10 placing ninth and eighth, respectively.

The women were led by Tilde Baangman, who managed a difficult course and finished fourth. Selma Nevin had a tremendous race, moving from 32nd all the way up to 14th. Astri Lunde moved up from her starting position of eighth to sixth place.

For the Buffs' efforts, Pedersen and Baangman were named First Team All-American, while Moch, Flaaten, and Lunde were named Second Team All-American. The Buffs wrapped up the day 11 points behind Utah.

To wrap up the Alpine events on Friday, there was the slalom race. Accambray again started the day off for the Buffs. She had two great runs, moving up from her starting bib of sixth to third. With the finish, Accambray broke the CU record for podiums in a season with 15. Paige Dehart and Cathinka Lunder both finished in the top 20, placing 19th and 20th, respectively. 

The men were led by Feb Allasina. Allasina had great luck and drew bib No. 1, but some mistakes led him to fall to fifth. In a rare event for ski racing, Allasina tied Wahlqvist for fifth. Wahlqvist struggled on the first run, though his second run placed him in fifth. Justin Bigatel had a great run, moving up from 30th to 20th.

Accambray and Allasina both earned All-American honors after their performances. The Buffs flipped the table on Utah in the standings, finishing the day first, 6.5 points above Utah.

The Buffs went into Saturday just ahead of the Utes with two runs to go, the women’s and men’s 20K Freestyle races. The women started off the competition with Baangman,  who finished ninth. She was followed by Lunde, who finished 11th and Nevin, who finished 17th.

Jakob Moch paced the men, finishing fourth, Colorado’s highest finish of the day. Flaaten and Pedersen finished 11th and 14th, respectively. However, Utah had outscored the Buffs and won the championship by one of the tightest margins in NCAA history.

Moch was named First Team All-American, and Baangman was named a Second Team All-American.

While it is not the finish the Buffs hoped for, they still had a great showing in Utah. They kept it close with the home team until the very end, making sure that the championship came down to the last race. This end-of-season performance should give Buff fans hope that they’ll come into next season stronger than ever and ready to chase the title.