Utes In Second After Three Days of NCAAs

Friday, March 12

Reno, Nev.

TBA

University of Utah

NCAA Championships (Alpine)

3/12/2004 12:00 AM | Skiing

March 12, 2004

DONNER'S SUMMIT, Calf. -- The defending NCAA champion Utah was on fire today, skiing to a second-place finish on the third day at the NCAA Championships. Currently, Utah stands at a 457.5 overall score and is steadily moving up in the standings. The alpine squad tallied five scores in the top 20, competing in the men's and women's slalom.

A major turn of events occurred as New Mexico moved into first place, while Utah rallied to second. Former leader Denver has fallen to third after leading throughout the contest. Vermont skied fourth and Middlebury has made a strong showing to claim fifth so far.

"We are very excited and looking forward to tomorrow's action," said Head Alpine Coach Aaron Atkins. "This was a crazy day, but we are in contention and we really have a shot at winning the whole thing. We were very nervous coming in, but the team pulled it together and really performed well."

The Utes are skiing exceptionally well, especially after taking fifth in the giant slalom the opening day of events. Utah will head into the final day of the NCAAs tomorrow, March 13, skiing in the 15/20-km classical event at the Auburn Ski Club. The Ute skiers are making head way and are hoping to repeat as champions, bringing home their 12th National Championship.

"This has been an intense week of skiing," remarked Head Coach Kevin Sweeney. "We skied very solid and consistent today. Ben and April really led the team and it is a great feeling to do well on both sides of the alpine events. Tomorrow will be wide open and we are going to give it our best shot."

The men's alpine team had yet another great day, placing all three scores in the top 20. This year's giant slalom champion Ben Thornhill led the Utes once again, skiing sixth with a time of 1:15.9. Freshman Gaspar Perricone skied strong, rallying from a 30th-place first run to finish 12th overall with a two-run time of 1:16.90. Sophomore Will McDonald struggled in the second run, but managed to finish 18th in 1:18.52.

"The men really came through" added Atkins. "We didn't capitalize as much as we wanted to, but overall we did great. Ben is having a great week of skiing. Gaspar really came through after a tough opening run and Will had some bad luck, but ended up finishing well."

All-American April Mancuso scorched the slopes, skiing to an eighth-place performance with a time of 1:25.38. Teammate Rowena Hyldahl dowsed her way to 19th in 1:27.16. Freshman Lauren Lattimer still isn't fully recovered from her knee injury, but climbed to a 24th-place finish with an overall time of 1:28.50.

"The women are skiing great," added Atkins. "April has been awesome through the championships and Rowena is putting up good scores as well. Lauren had a huge mistake opening up late, but did a great job of finishing strong."

Conditions have been sunny and warm as they have been all week in the Truckee Meadows. There was a light wind in the morning and by afternoon the temperatures were even warmer, giving spectators and recreational skiers terrific conditions. The conditions, however, were not quite as favorable for the competitors.

Tomorrow, March 13, Utah will conclude the fourth and final day of the NCAAs, headlining with the men's and women's 15/20-km classical events, starting at 9:00 a.m.

NCAA Championship Results:1. New Mexico           488.02. Utah                 457.53. Denver               455.04. Vermont              423.05. Middlebury           396.56. Dartmouth            363.07. Colorado             357.58. Alaska Anchorage     319.09. Nevada               258.010. Colby               210.511. Williams            164.012. Alaska-Fairbanks    132.013. New Hampshire       130.014. Montana State        95.015. Western State        83.016. Northern Michigan    77.017. Boise State          67.018. Whitman              62.019. Bates                18.020. Harvard              17.021. Michigan Tech         2.022. Wisconsin-Green Bay   1.0