Tuesday, January 7
Georgetown, Colorado
9 AM Women / 10:15 AM Men
Colorado
vs
Slalom
Photo by: Ron Knabenbauer, University of Denver
Accrambray, Fausa Win GS Races As Buffs Dominate At DU
January 08, 2025 | Skiing
RMISA Records Fall As Buffs Grab Two Wins and Six Top 6 Performances
FRISCO – In one of the most dominant alpine days in CU history, the Colorado Buffaloes ski team opened up a 63-point lead over the competition after the conclusion of the alpine events at the 2025 Denver Invitational, with Louison Accambray and Louis Fausa picking up GS wins here at Copper Mountain Wednesday.
On top of winning both races, both individually and as a team, the Buffs placed three skiers in the top six of both races, with Hannah Saethereng taking fourth and Cathinka Lunder sixth in the women's race and Filip Wahlqvist fourth and Etieinne Mazellier fifth in the men's race.
CU set several RMISA records, including scoring the most alpine points in a meet under the current scoring system in a meet that included both GS and slalom racing, and the second-highest point total overall for an alpine team. CU's men's team point total of 200 points is the fifth-highest in the RMISA under the current scoring system and third most in a meet with both disciplines, and ranks second overall for CU and is the most in a traditional meet by 13 points. The women's point total of 179 points is the third most in a meet under the current scoring system.
Further, the 198 points in GS is the most GS points in RMISA history under the current scoring system and the 181 points in slalom ranks 15th most under the current scoring system, and most for the Buffaloes in that time frame.
The Buffs 198 points on the day was 40 more than any other team, and after the alpine portion of the meet is done, the 379 points lead by 63 over Utah (316) and is 88.5 up on Denver (290.5). Throughout the four alpine races that make up the DU Invitational, CU won three of the four races, including both on Wednesday, and finished third in the other but just 3.5 points behind the race leader.
Dating back to the 1989 season, Wednesday marked just the fourth time both the men's and women's alpine team have each placed three skiers in the top six in both races, the most recent coming on Jan. 15, 2011 at the Montana State Invitational. The other two occurrences were on Jan. 28, 2000, at the DU Invitational and on Jan. 12, 1996, at the CU Invitational. Wednesday also marks the first time CU skiers won both races and also placed three skier in the top six of both races in the same day.
In his 52nd career race, Fausa picked up his first collegiate victory, earning the fastest first run and holding on in the second run for the race victory. Though his first victory, he has had clutch results before as this is his fifth career podium performance, which includes a second place at the 2023 NCAA Championships behind then-teammate Filip Forejtek as the Buffs went 1-2 in that race.
Wednesday, the men's team had sights on a podium sweep as Wahlqvist and Mazellier had the second and third fastest first runs and while both slipped a little, they both held on to top five finishes with Wahlqvist in fourth and Mazellier in fifth. Jacob Dilling had the second-fastest second run in the field and finished 11th, missing a top 10 by one-hundredth of a second.
On the women's side, the Buffs were nearly as equally dominant with Accrambray's win coming in her first career GS race. She sat in fourth after the first run but threw down the fastest second run in the field by almost four-tenths of a second to secure the victory. That second fastest second run was also by a Buff, as Saethereng moved from sixth to fourth and Lunder finished sixth in her first collegiate GS race. All three were skiing their first collegiate GS race at CU, as Saetherng transferred in from Westminster in the off season. One of the top GS racers in college, she secured her 12th career top five GS finish.
What's more impressive with both Accrambray and Lunder is they were the only two skiers who started outside the top 15 to pick up a top nine performance, as Accrambray began in 17th position and Lunder in 26th.
WHAT IT MEANS: While it's early, it's hard not to get excited about the success of CU's alpine team after the first series of the season, and it looks to be one of the stronger alpine teams in recent years for the Buffaloes, which will bode well in the quest for a repeat National Championship. While in different meets, if you add up the point totals for the first two alpine and Nordic days that were counted for team scoring, the Buffs would have won the meet with 673 points, 23 points ahead of Utah and 41.5 over Denver, and that's without a few key pieces of the Nordic team competing in Alaska last week, and it's worth noting the alpine team was also without Madgalena Luczak, last year's double individual NCAA Champion, as she competes in World Cup races in Europe.
UP NEXT: The alpine teams will take a break until January and then a busy February begins at Montana State on Feb. 3-4. Several Buffs will be competing at the 2025 World University Games in Torino, Italy, from Jan. 13-23. The Nordic teams continue the 2025 season in 10 days at the Utah Invitational, Jan. 18-19 at Soldier Hollow, Utah, and then close out January at the Montana State Invitational the following week. On that side, four Buffs qualified for the Junior/U23 World Championships in Schilpario, Italy, from Feb. 3-9.
TEAM NOTES:
• Colorado scored 198 points on the day as the men repeated their 100 point performance in the men's GS race and the women just missed the mark by two points, scoring 98 points. Those are the three highest point totals from any race in the league this season.
• The men's team scored 100 points with Fausa scoring 40 points for the win, Walhqvist 31 for fourth place and Mazellier 29 for fifth.
• The women's team had nearly identical results with Accambray picking up 40 points for the race win, Saethereng scoring 31 points for fourth and Lunder 27 points for sixth place.
WOMEN'S ALPINE NOTES:
• Accambray picked up her first collegiate GS win in her first collegiate GS race, and she now has three straight top 10 performances to start her career. She is the first women's alpine skier to win a season opening GS since Mikaela Tommy in 2020 and the first CU skier to win their first collegiate GS race since Tommy the season before in 2019. Before Tommy, however, it was 2012 when Katie Hartman opened that season up with a GS victory and Sabrina Mocelin back in 2006 to win the first GS race of her career.
• Saethereng has been a force on the RMISA GS circuit the past four years and her fourth place finish is her 12th GS top five in 26 career GS races, while being her first at CU.
• Lunder picked up a sixth place finish in her first career GS race, and after finishing 12th and 22nd in her first two slalom races, she has a top 10 and two top 20 finishes already under her belt.
• A fifth-year senior, Fleckenstein started just her second GS race of her career and got her first finish in 26th position.
• Elena Exenberger and Ashely Campbell both did not finish their second runs, but both were top 15 in their first runs.
MEN'S ALPINE NOTES
• Fausa picked up his first collegiate GS victory in his 52nd career race, believed to be the latest into a career a Buff has picked up their first race victory. It is also his fifth career podium, third in GS, and 11th top 5 finish of his career, eighth in GS. Out of 18 finished GS races, he's finished in the top 10 16 times.
• Wahlqvist picked up his third straight top 5 of the season and 13th of his career in 17 races after also winning both slalom races to open the alpine season. In GS, it's his fifth top 5 in eight career races.
• Mazellier also has three straight top 5 finishes to open the 2025 season, the same amount he had all of his freshman season, giving him six in his career. He has four top 5 GS finishes in eight races.
• Dilling finished 11th, missing out on his second straight top 10 by just a hundredth of a second. He now has 15 top 20 GS finishes in 16 races and 31 overall top 20 finishes in his career.
• Jack Reich finished 22nd and Justin Bigatel 41st for the Buffaloes.
TEAM STANDINGS (Thru 4 of 8 Races): 1. Colorado 379; 2. Utah 316; 3. Denver 290.5; 4. Alaska Anchorage 210; 5. Montana State 195; 6. Westminster 191.5; 7. Nevada 165.5; 8. Colorado Mountain 133.5.
Women's Giant Slalom (30 collegiate finishers): 1. Louison Accambray, CU, 1:36.13; 2. Claire Timmermann, UU, 1:36.54; 3. Nicola Rountree-Williams, DU, 1:36.61; 4. Hannah Saethereng, CU, 1:36.82; 5. Evelina Fredricsson, UU, 1:36.89; 6. Cathinka Lunder, CU, 1:37.19; 7. Kaila Lafreniere, UU, 1:37.30; 8. Sara Rask, DU, 1:37.36; 9. Giulia Tintorri, WU, 1:37.99; 10. Ashleigh Alexander, UAA, 1:38.20. Other CU Finishers: 26. Katie Fleckenstein, 1:43.85. Did Not Finish Second Run: Elena Exenberger, Ashley Campbell.
Men's Slalom (42 collegiate finishers): 1. Louis Fausa, CU, 1:34.72; 2. Isak Staurset, MSU, 1:35.05; 3. Alejandro Puente Tasias, WU, 1:35.09; 4. Filip Wahlqvist, CU, 1:35.13; 5. Etienne Mazellier, CU, 1:35.15; 6. Tanner Perkins, MSU, 1:35.35; 7. Sindre Myklebust, UU, 1:35.41; 8. Cooper Cornelius, DU, 1:35.55; 9. Johs Herland, UU, 1:35.70; 10. Christian Soevik, DU, 1:35.73. Other CU Finishers: 11. Jacob Dilling, 1:35.74; 22. Jack Reich, 1:36.76; 41. Justin Bigatel, 1:41.55.
On top of winning both races, both individually and as a team, the Buffs placed three skiers in the top six of both races, with Hannah Saethereng taking fourth and Cathinka Lunder sixth in the women's race and Filip Wahlqvist fourth and Etieinne Mazellier fifth in the men's race.
CU set several RMISA records, including scoring the most alpine points in a meet under the current scoring system in a meet that included both GS and slalom racing, and the second-highest point total overall for an alpine team. CU's men's team point total of 200 points is the fifth-highest in the RMISA under the current scoring system and third most in a meet with both disciplines, and ranks second overall for CU and is the most in a traditional meet by 13 points. The women's point total of 179 points is the third most in a meet under the current scoring system.
Further, the 198 points in GS is the most GS points in RMISA history under the current scoring system and the 181 points in slalom ranks 15th most under the current scoring system, and most for the Buffaloes in that time frame.
The Buffs 198 points on the day was 40 more than any other team, and after the alpine portion of the meet is done, the 379 points lead by 63 over Utah (316) and is 88.5 up on Denver (290.5). Throughout the four alpine races that make up the DU Invitational, CU won three of the four races, including both on Wednesday, and finished third in the other but just 3.5 points behind the race leader.
Dating back to the 1989 season, Wednesday marked just the fourth time both the men's and women's alpine team have each placed three skiers in the top six in both races, the most recent coming on Jan. 15, 2011 at the Montana State Invitational. The other two occurrences were on Jan. 28, 2000, at the DU Invitational and on Jan. 12, 1996, at the CU Invitational. Wednesday also marks the first time CU skiers won both races and also placed three skier in the top six of both races in the same day.
In his 52nd career race, Fausa picked up his first collegiate victory, earning the fastest first run and holding on in the second run for the race victory. Though his first victory, he has had clutch results before as this is his fifth career podium performance, which includes a second place at the 2023 NCAA Championships behind then-teammate Filip Forejtek as the Buffs went 1-2 in that race.
Wednesday, the men's team had sights on a podium sweep as Wahlqvist and Mazellier had the second and third fastest first runs and while both slipped a little, they both held on to top five finishes with Wahlqvist in fourth and Mazellier in fifth. Jacob Dilling had the second-fastest second run in the field and finished 11th, missing a top 10 by one-hundredth of a second.
On the women's side, the Buffs were nearly as equally dominant with Accrambray's win coming in her first career GS race. She sat in fourth after the first run but threw down the fastest second run in the field by almost four-tenths of a second to secure the victory. That second fastest second run was also by a Buff, as Saethereng moved from sixth to fourth and Lunder finished sixth in her first collegiate GS race. All three were skiing their first collegiate GS race at CU, as Saetherng transferred in from Westminster in the off season. One of the top GS racers in college, she secured her 12th career top five GS finish.
What's more impressive with both Accrambray and Lunder is they were the only two skiers who started outside the top 15 to pick up a top nine performance, as Accrambray began in 17th position and Lunder in 26th.
WHAT IT MEANS: While it's early, it's hard not to get excited about the success of CU's alpine team after the first series of the season, and it looks to be one of the stronger alpine teams in recent years for the Buffaloes, which will bode well in the quest for a repeat National Championship. While in different meets, if you add up the point totals for the first two alpine and Nordic days that were counted for team scoring, the Buffs would have won the meet with 673 points, 23 points ahead of Utah and 41.5 over Denver, and that's without a few key pieces of the Nordic team competing in Alaska last week, and it's worth noting the alpine team was also without Madgalena Luczak, last year's double individual NCAA Champion, as she competes in World Cup races in Europe.
UP NEXT: The alpine teams will take a break until January and then a busy February begins at Montana State on Feb. 3-4. Several Buffs will be competing at the 2025 World University Games in Torino, Italy, from Jan. 13-23. The Nordic teams continue the 2025 season in 10 days at the Utah Invitational, Jan. 18-19 at Soldier Hollow, Utah, and then close out January at the Montana State Invitational the following week. On that side, four Buffs qualified for the Junior/U23 World Championships in Schilpario, Italy, from Feb. 3-9.
TEAM NOTES:
• Colorado scored 198 points on the day as the men repeated their 100 point performance in the men's GS race and the women just missed the mark by two points, scoring 98 points. Those are the three highest point totals from any race in the league this season.
• The men's team scored 100 points with Fausa scoring 40 points for the win, Walhqvist 31 for fourth place and Mazellier 29 for fifth.
• The women's team had nearly identical results with Accambray picking up 40 points for the race win, Saethereng scoring 31 points for fourth and Lunder 27 points for sixth place.
WOMEN'S ALPINE NOTES:
• Accambray picked up her first collegiate GS win in her first collegiate GS race, and she now has three straight top 10 performances to start her career. She is the first women's alpine skier to win a season opening GS since Mikaela Tommy in 2020 and the first CU skier to win their first collegiate GS race since Tommy the season before in 2019. Before Tommy, however, it was 2012 when Katie Hartman opened that season up with a GS victory and Sabrina Mocelin back in 2006 to win the first GS race of her career.
• Saethereng has been a force on the RMISA GS circuit the past four years and her fourth place finish is her 12th GS top five in 26 career GS races, while being her first at CU.
• Lunder picked up a sixth place finish in her first career GS race, and after finishing 12th and 22nd in her first two slalom races, she has a top 10 and two top 20 finishes already under her belt.
• A fifth-year senior, Fleckenstein started just her second GS race of her career and got her first finish in 26th position.
• Elena Exenberger and Ashely Campbell both did not finish their second runs, but both were top 15 in their first runs.
MEN'S ALPINE NOTES
• Fausa picked up his first collegiate GS victory in his 52nd career race, believed to be the latest into a career a Buff has picked up their first race victory. It is also his fifth career podium, third in GS, and 11th top 5 finish of his career, eighth in GS. Out of 18 finished GS races, he's finished in the top 10 16 times.
• Wahlqvist picked up his third straight top 5 of the season and 13th of his career in 17 races after also winning both slalom races to open the alpine season. In GS, it's his fifth top 5 in eight career races.
• Mazellier also has three straight top 5 finishes to open the 2025 season, the same amount he had all of his freshman season, giving him six in his career. He has four top 5 GS finishes in eight races.
• Dilling finished 11th, missing out on his second straight top 10 by just a hundredth of a second. He now has 15 top 20 GS finishes in 16 races and 31 overall top 20 finishes in his career.
• Jack Reich finished 22nd and Justin Bigatel 41st for the Buffaloes.
TEAM STANDINGS (Thru 4 of 8 Races): 1. Colorado 379; 2. Utah 316; 3. Denver 290.5; 4. Alaska Anchorage 210; 5. Montana State 195; 6. Westminster 191.5; 7. Nevada 165.5; 8. Colorado Mountain 133.5.
Women's Giant Slalom (30 collegiate finishers): 1. Louison Accambray, CU, 1:36.13; 2. Claire Timmermann, UU, 1:36.54; 3. Nicola Rountree-Williams, DU, 1:36.61; 4. Hannah Saethereng, CU, 1:36.82; 5. Evelina Fredricsson, UU, 1:36.89; 6. Cathinka Lunder, CU, 1:37.19; 7. Kaila Lafreniere, UU, 1:37.30; 8. Sara Rask, DU, 1:37.36; 9. Giulia Tintorri, WU, 1:37.99; 10. Ashleigh Alexander, UAA, 1:38.20. Other CU Finishers: 26. Katie Fleckenstein, 1:43.85. Did Not Finish Second Run: Elena Exenberger, Ashley Campbell.
Men's Slalom (42 collegiate finishers): 1. Louis Fausa, CU, 1:34.72; 2. Isak Staurset, MSU, 1:35.05; 3. Alejandro Puente Tasias, WU, 1:35.09; 4. Filip Wahlqvist, CU, 1:35.13; 5. Etienne Mazellier, CU, 1:35.15; 6. Tanner Perkins, MSU, 1:35.35; 7. Sindre Myklebust, UU, 1:35.41; 8. Cooper Cornelius, DU, 1:35.55; 9. Johs Herland, UU, 1:35.70; 10. Christian Soevik, DU, 1:35.73. Other CU Finishers: 11. Jacob Dilling, 1:35.74; 22. Jack Reich, 1:36.76; 41. Justin Bigatel, 1:41.55.
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