Lager Sixth in Slalom on Second Day of CU Invitational

Thursday, January 15

Eldora, Colo.

All Day

University of Utah

Colorado Invitational (Alpine)

Lager Sixth in Slalom on Second Day of CU Invitational

1/15/2009 12:00 AM | Skiing

Jan. 15, 2009

Day 2 Results in PDF Format

ELDORA, Colo. - Hermann Lager's sixth-place finish in the slalom led all Ute skiers on the second day of the Colorado Invitational on Thursday, Jan. 15, as Utah stands in fifth-place.

"Today was a tough day - conditions are extremely tough and the whole field had problems," head alpine coach Jaka Korencan said. "However, I am satisfied with the skiing itself. The travel has taken is toll on us and we need to get some rest and more training back home, which will help us gain consistency and we should be fine from there on. I am really proud of the whole group. They are focused and know they can improve."

Lager and Scott Veenis both earned top 10 finishes in the men's slalom. Lager's time was 1:44.97 for sixth while Veenis finished in eighth-place with a run of 1:45.60. Torjust Krogdahl placed 13th with a time of 1:46.43. Rounding out the Utah skiers was Thomas Zumbrunn in 27th (1:57.40). Both Kyle Kung and Nick Cohee came away with DNF's.

"Hermann has taken such a huge step up from last season," Korencan said. "He has finished every slalom race so far. He is one of the best talents on the college circuit and he is putting together two strong runs. Torjus also had two solid runs with few mistakes. Kyle is doing really well after crashing yesterday, he was slightly sore but was still trying hard to help with the team scoring."

On the women's side, Mikaela Grassl placed ninth in the women's slalom with a time of 1:46.78. The remainder of the women's team struggled, with Chelsea Laswell placing 21st (1:58.05) and Chirine Njeim finishing 22nd (2:00.61). Eva Huckova and Sofia Smith both did not finish.

"The women were standing really well after the first run, but during the second run when they flipped the starting order Eva and Chelsea struggled with the course pretty beaten up and they just crashed," Korencan said. "I'm so proud of Chelsea though, she's a senior and this is the first time she's really closed out some races. It's a huge confidence booster for her and a great way to close out her college career. Mikaela had the second-fastest time on her second run. That was a huge confidence booster for her."

With the men's alpine team earning 66 points and the women walking away with 47, Utah stands in fifth-place with 239.5 points. Leading the meet is New Mexico (282 points) followed by Colorado (270.5), Denver (267) and Alaska-Anchorage (245).

The Nordic team begins action in the CU Invitational on Friday, Jan. 16, with the men's and women's 5 and 10-km classical races. In addition, the alpine teams will compete in a Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association qualifier tomorrow, featuring a men's and women's slalom race. This race will not count in the CU Invite standings.