Featured Image: Sara Rask and Filip Wahlqvist on podium at the 2024 DU invitational. Credit: Ellie Hartman
The collegiate season kicked off yesterday with an RMISA Qualifier slalom event held on the Twist run in Loveland, Colorado. This race served as a precursor to the DU invitational, which will feature a slalom race today (Tuesday, January 7th) and a giant slalom event scheduled for tomorrow.
Both University of Denver and University of Colorado athletes earned a spot on the top of the podium. Sara Rask (DU) won the women’s field, and Filip Wahlqvist (CU) achieved victory for the men.
The two RMISA Qualifier events during the season offer athletes an extra opportunity to earn points for the NCAA Championships, but team scores are not recorded.
The athletes fought through snowy conditions, which made for a challenging but exciting first competition.
Women’s Race
Sara Rask shined in the day’s competition. She established her lead in the first run and secured the top with a solid second run.
This triumphant performance marked the athlete’s eighth win in a university race and her third in slalom.
Rask has achieved notable success on this track, having secured her most recent podium finish in a slalom at the DU Invitational in Loveland the previous year.
As a senior and captain of the Denver Pioneers, she is enthusiastically looking forward to the upcoming season. She stated, “I’ve just had so much fun skiing lately, and I’ve been very excited to ski fast.”
University of Alaska athlete Ella Bromee earned her first university podium, finishing the day in 2nd place (+0.31).
Bromee finished in a strong position last season on this hill, earning 6th and 7th in the slalom races at the Denver Invite. She also closed last year’s season with a 4th-place result in slalom at NCAA Championships. She will look to continue the successful momentum into today’s competition.
Rounding out the podium, Ashley Campbell of the University of Colorado finished +1.03 behind Rask. This was not only Campbell’s first university podium but also her first top 5 and top 10. This was a thrilling start for the Canadian athlete.
Nicola Rountree-Williams, a CMC transfer to the University of Denver (+1.67), and Kaja Norbye of the University of Utah (+1.69) completed the top five for women.
Men’s Race
The CU Buffalo, Filip Wahlqvist, continued his success from last season with a triumphant first university race. Last season, he won four of the seven slalom races on the collegiate circuit.
Impressively, through only eight slalom races in his career, the sophomore already ranks in the top 3 in CU history for most slalom wins by a men’s alpine skier.
Wahlqvist secured the title of slalom National Champion in the previous season; however, upon joining the CU Ski Team, he clearly expressed that his primary objective was to win. Last season, he stated, “When I am in the start gate, I always think I want to win. Going for the win is always the goal, nothing else.”
University of Denver’s Thomas Hoffman achieved second place, +0.53 behind Wahlqvist. This was the junior’s second university podium.
Hoffman stated, “I had a nice early bib today. I started third and that resulted from a lot of hard work and effort put in at the end of last season, which moved me up the rankings to give me a good start position.”
“From there, I was able to capitalize and move into second, and then the game was on. There was a lot of pressure to stay up there, and luckily we got it done,” he explained.
Etienne Mazellier, another sophomore from the University of Colorado, rounded out the podium, trailing his teammate by +1.08. This marked Mazeiller’s first university podium.
The team is off to a promising start with two University of Colorado Buffalos on the podium.
University of Utah athletes Raphael Lessard (+1.57) and Oliver Parazette (+1.68) completed the top 5 for the day.
After the first day of competition on the hill, the athletes will take what they learned into today’s DU Invitational. Tune in for more race coverage!
