Cohee Wins Second Race of Season at RMISA Qualifier

Thursday, February 5

Winter Park, Colo.

All Day

University of Utah

RMISA Alpine Qualifier

Cohee Wins Second Race of Season at RMISA Qualifier

2/6/2009 12:00 AM | Skiing

Feb. 6, 2009

WINTER PARK, Colo. - Utah freshman Nick Cohee earned his second giant slalom victory of the season to lead the Utes at the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association qualifier on Thursday, Feb. 5.

Cohee, who also won a GS race at the Seawolf Invite in Alaska, finished with a time of 1:46.76. He had one of the fastest times on the second run. The Ute men had four skiers in the top 13 in the event. Thomas Zumbrunn was sixth in 1:47.90. Hermann Lager and Scott Veenis finished 12th and 13th, respectively. Lager had a time of 1:48.56 while Veenis finished in 1:48.68.

"Nick had an unbelievable second run in really tough conditions," head alpine coach Jaka Korencan said. "Everyone else was skiing slower. He again proved that he has the work ethic and desire to do well. Hermann was also very fast on his second run and finally put a good GS run together. He has proved in practice he is a talented GS skier but he proved he can perform in races also. As a team we had a solid day."

For the women, Mikaela Grassl placed seventh with a time of 1:57.74. Chelsea Laswell was 10th (1:58.04) while Chirine Njeim finished 11th (1:58.42). Sofia Smith, who had the fourth fastest second run, placed 18th in 1:59.82.

"Mikaela ended up with a solid finish after two consistent runs," Korencan said. "She is moving towards NCAA's with consistent results. I am really proud of Sofia Smith - she has been improving every week through the season and put it together in the race. Chelsea again finished the race strong. I am so proud of her this year - she's having her best year as a senior and she is motivated and has been working hard."

The Denver Invitational begins tomorrow with the alpine giant slalom and the Nordic 5-km and 10-km classical races.

"We are psyched about this meet," Director of Skiing and head Nordic coach Eli Brown said. "Our focus is on individual rankings and getting better seeds for NCAA's. Our top two girls are at home (Annelies Cook and Sara Schweiger) so we'll probably be down in the scoring but we don't mind that. There is a storm coming in so we'll have to figure out how that affects the waxing."