Monday, February 3
Bozeman, Mont.
9 AM Women / 10 AM Men
Colorado
vs
Giant Slalom
Photo by: Talus Schreiber
Accambray Podium Lifts Buffs To Second At Montana State
February 03, 2025 | Skiing
BOZEMAN, Mont. – Freshman Louison Accambray had her second straight podium, propelling the Colorado Buffaloes ski team into second place after the giant slalom races Monday at Bridger Bowl, part of the Montana State Invitational.
The women's race was cut short due to course conditions midway through the second run, so per RMISA rules, the first run is used for collegiate competition including placement in the MSU Invitational and for NCAA Qualification.Â
Accambray started eighth and had the third-fastest first run, which held for her final position. CU had two other top 10s with Hannah Saethereng taking seventh and Elena Exenberger eighth.Â
The men were able to get both runs completed and Filip Wahlqvist led the Buffs in sixth place, his 12th straight top 10 performance. The men also had three top 10s with Jack Reich and Louis Fausa tying for ninth place. Justin Bigatel also finished in the top 20, taking 16th, for the Buffaloes.
In the team standings, the Buffs move up to second, overtaking Denver, which held a 24 point advantage over the Buffs after the Nordic competition came to a close on Jan. 26. CU now holds a 14 point advantage over the Pioneers with 466 points to DU's 452. Utah surged ahead with a pair of 100 point alpine races to take a 116 point lead over Colorado with 582 points.
UP NEXT: The start of a busy week, the alpine teams will close out the Montana State Invitational Tuesday, the first invitational to come to a close in the 2025 season. Afterwards, the alpine teams will head south to Utah where three races await, a qualifier and then two races to close out the Utah Invitational, Friday through Sunday. Next weekend will also close out the DU Invitational with Nordic races at Maloit Park.Â
WHAT IT MEANS: The Buffs had a solid performance and while they fell further behind Utah, were able to overtake Denver in the team standings. The alpine teams proved their strength by dominating the DU Invitational four weeks ago, and getting back into college racing had some mixed results on the whole. NCAA Qualification is as important as the team standings at this point in the season and Accambray further solidified herself with her second podium in GS, as did Saethereng with her second top 10. Exenberger got her first GS finish and a solid one with a top 10. On the men's side, Wahlqvist, Reich and Fausa all helped themselves and Bigatel got his second GS finish in the books. The good news for the rest of the alpine team is they have four more shots at improving qualification over the next six days.Â
TEAM NOTES
TEAM STANDINGS (Thru 6 of 8 races): 1. Utah 582; 2. Colorado 466; 3. Denver 452; 4. Montana State 351; 5. Alaska Anchorage 344; 6. Alaska Fairbanks 148; 7. Westminster 96; 8. Nevada 83; 9. Colorado Mountain 71.
WOMEN'S GIANT SLALOM (29 collegiate finishers): 1. Kaila Lafreniere, UU, 43.93; 2. Justine Lamontagne, MSU, 43.97; 3. Louison Accambray, CU, 44.07; 4. Kaja Norbye, UU, 44.46; 5. Tatum Grosdiddier, UU, 44.62; 6. Ylva Falksete, MSU, 44.80; 7. Hannah Saethereng, CU, 45.03; 8. Elena Exenberger, CU, 45.06; 9. Nicola Rountree-Willimas, DU, 45.16; 10. Ashleigh Alexander, UAA, 45.17. Other CU Finishers: 25. Katie Fleckenstein, 46.96. Did Not Finish First Run: Cathinka Lunder, Ashley Campbell.
MEN'S GIANT SLALOM (40 collegiate finishers): 1. Johs Herland, UU, 1:25.85; 2. Sindre Myklebust, UU, 1:25.94; 3. Benjamin Angerer, WU, 1:26.40; 4. Loic Chable, DU, 1:26.51; 5. Isak Staurset, MSU, 1:26.58; 6. Filip Wahlqvist, CU, 1:26.60; 7. Simen Strand, UU, 1:26.67; 8. Gianluca Boehm, MSU, 1:26.75; 9. Jack Reich and Louis Fausa, CU, 1:26.76. Other CU Finishers: 16. Justin Bigatel, 1:27.03; 30. Jacob Dilling, 1:28.99. Did Not Finish Second Run: Etienne Mazellier.
Â
The women's race was cut short due to course conditions midway through the second run, so per RMISA rules, the first run is used for collegiate competition including placement in the MSU Invitational and for NCAA Qualification.Â
Accambray started eighth and had the third-fastest first run, which held for her final position. CU had two other top 10s with Hannah Saethereng taking seventh and Elena Exenberger eighth.Â
The men were able to get both runs completed and Filip Wahlqvist led the Buffs in sixth place, his 12th straight top 10 performance. The men also had three top 10s with Jack Reich and Louis Fausa tying for ninth place. Justin Bigatel also finished in the top 20, taking 16th, for the Buffaloes.
In the team standings, the Buffs move up to second, overtaking Denver, which held a 24 point advantage over the Buffs after the Nordic competition came to a close on Jan. 26. CU now holds a 14 point advantage over the Pioneers with 466 points to DU's 452. Utah surged ahead with a pair of 100 point alpine races to take a 116 point lead over Colorado with 582 points.
UP NEXT: The start of a busy week, the alpine teams will close out the Montana State Invitational Tuesday, the first invitational to come to a close in the 2025 season. Afterwards, the alpine teams will head south to Utah where three races await, a qualifier and then two races to close out the Utah Invitational, Friday through Sunday. Next weekend will also close out the DU Invitational with Nordic races at Maloit Park.Â
WHAT IT MEANS: The Buffs had a solid performance and while they fell further behind Utah, were able to overtake Denver in the team standings. The alpine teams proved their strength by dominating the DU Invitational four weeks ago, and getting back into college racing had some mixed results on the whole. NCAA Qualification is as important as the team standings at this point in the season and Accambray further solidified herself with her second podium in GS, as did Saethereng with her second top 10. Exenberger got her first GS finish and a solid one with a top 10. On the men's side, Wahlqvist, Reich and Fausa all helped themselves and Bigatel got his second GS finish in the books. The good news for the rest of the alpine team is they have four more shots at improving qualification over the next six days.Â
TEAM NOTES
- Colorado finished with 152 points on the day, second most in the field, one ahead of Montana State (151) and 50 behind Utah (202).Â
- CU was second in the women's race with 82 points behind 34 points from Accambray, 25 from Saethereng and 23 from Exenberger.
- CU was third in the men's race with 70 points with Wahlqvist scoring 27 and both Reich and Fausa scoring 21.5 points for their ninth-place tie.
- Colorado moved from third to second in the race, now 16 points ahead of Denver, 466-452.Â
- Utah holds a commanding lead with 582 points, 116 ahead of the Buffs through six of eight races in the MSU meet.
- Louison Accambray finished third for her second straight podium and fourth straight top 10 finish to open her collegiate career. She now has a first and third in GS races, key for NCAA qualification.Â
- Hannah Saethereng finished seventh for her second straight top 10 and fourth straight top 20 to open her CU career. It's her 30th career top 10 performance, 23rd such finish in GS races, and her 51st top 20 in 53 career finished races.
- Elena Exenberger finished eighth for her first top 10 of the season and matching her second-best GS finish in collegiate racing. It's her best finish since the UAA Invitational in 2023. Overall it's her sixth carer top 10 and 27th career top 20 in 31 races finished. Â
- Katie Fleckensetin finished 25th while Cathinka Lunker and Ashley Campbell didn't finish the race.
- Filip Wahlqvist finished sixth, his 12th straight top 10 finish and 16th in 17 career races finished. He has finished in the top 10 for every race in the last calendar year, the last time he was outside the top 10 was Feb. 1, 2024, when he took 12th in a GS qualifier race. Â
- Jack Reich finished tied for ninth, the second-best finish of his career and second career top 10, both in GS. His only finish better was in the 2024 Westminster Invitational when he took eighth in the GS race.
- Louis Fausa finished tied for ninth, his second straight top 10 finish and 26th career top 10, 17 of which have come in GS races. He also had 35 career top 20s, 19 in GS, in 37 races finished.
- Justin Bigatel finished 16th for his third straight top 20. He has two top 10s and three top 20 in three races finished in his career.Â
- Jacob Dilling finished 30th and Etienne Mazellier didn't finish his second run.
TEAM STANDINGS (Thru 6 of 8 races): 1. Utah 582; 2. Colorado 466; 3. Denver 452; 4. Montana State 351; 5. Alaska Anchorage 344; 6. Alaska Fairbanks 148; 7. Westminster 96; 8. Nevada 83; 9. Colorado Mountain 71.
WOMEN'S GIANT SLALOM (29 collegiate finishers): 1. Kaila Lafreniere, UU, 43.93; 2. Justine Lamontagne, MSU, 43.97; 3. Louison Accambray, CU, 44.07; 4. Kaja Norbye, UU, 44.46; 5. Tatum Grosdiddier, UU, 44.62; 6. Ylva Falksete, MSU, 44.80; 7. Hannah Saethereng, CU, 45.03; 8. Elena Exenberger, CU, 45.06; 9. Nicola Rountree-Willimas, DU, 45.16; 10. Ashleigh Alexander, UAA, 45.17. Other CU Finishers: 25. Katie Fleckenstein, 46.96. Did Not Finish First Run: Cathinka Lunder, Ashley Campbell.
MEN'S GIANT SLALOM (40 collegiate finishers): 1. Johs Herland, UU, 1:25.85; 2. Sindre Myklebust, UU, 1:25.94; 3. Benjamin Angerer, WU, 1:26.40; 4. Loic Chable, DU, 1:26.51; 5. Isak Staurset, MSU, 1:26.58; 6. Filip Wahlqvist, CU, 1:26.60; 7. Simen Strand, UU, 1:26.67; 8. Gianluca Boehm, MSU, 1:26.75; 9. Jack Reich and Louis Fausa, CU, 1:26.76. Other CU Finishers: 16. Justin Bigatel, 1:27.03; 30. Jacob Dilling, 1:28.99. Did Not Finish Second Run: Etienne Mazellier.
Â
Players Mentioned
ALPINE
/ Skiing
ALPINE
/ Skiing
ALPINE
/ Skiing
ALPINE
/ Skiing
ALPINE
/ Skiing
ALPINE
/ Skiing
ALPINE
/ Skiing
ALPINE
/ Skiing
ALPINE
/ Skiing
ALPINE
/ Skiing
ALPINE
/ Skiing
ALPINE
/ SkiingColorado Ski: Why CU?
Friday, June 27
Colorado Ski: 2025 Facility Tour
Tuesday, June 10
Colorado Ski: 2024-25 Banquet
Tuesday, April 22
2024 Ski Team Season Recap
Tuesday, April 30