Denver, the two-time defending champion, remains in first place with 589 points. New Mexico jumped ahead of CU with 535 points and the Buffs are at 504. Utah (472) and Vermont (423) round out the top five.

Malin Hemmingsson led New Mexico`s move up the standings by winning the women`s slalom in 1 minute, 19.91 seconds. Denver`s Lindsay Cone was second and Utah`s Anna Kocken checked in at third. Also aiding New Mexico`s surge was Anne Brusletto who finished fourth.

Three Buffs followed Brusletto in the final results. Carolina Nordh was fifth (1:21.18), Erika Ghent sixth (1:21.61) and Katie Hartman was seventh (1:21.86).

On the men`s side, Alaska-Anchorage`s Andreas Adde claimed victory in 1:14.91. Drew Roberts was the top CU finisher in 15th (1:17.18).

CU junior Gabriel Rivas, the defending NCAA slalom champion, fell on his first run, costing him at least 10 seconds. However, officials ruled that he did not hike back far enough after he fell and he was disqualified after the race. Recent rules call for skiers to hike back to a specific point a bit further back from where the skier left the course to continue a run.

The NCAA Championships wrap up today with freestyle cross country races. CU might have enough to rally as the Buffs had had the best Nordic team in the West this winter. New Mexico is also hampered in the Nordic events because the Lobos will ski with one less competitor than CU and DU.

"We don`t care for second place, never have," CU coach Richard Rokos said.

The freestyle cross country races begin with the men`s 20-kilometer at 9 a.m. and the women`s 15K follows at 11 a.m.

NCAA Championships

Team Scores (6 of 8 events) -- 1. Denver 589.5; 2. New Mexico 535; 3. Colorado 504; 4. Utah 472; 5. Vermont 423.5; 6. Dartmouth 413; 7. Alaska-Anchorage 361; 8. New Hampshire 276; 9. Middlebury 233.5; 10. Montana State 218; 11. Nevada 178; 12. Colby 148.5; 13. Williams 140; 14. Bates 90; 15. Northern Michigan 88; 16. Alaska-Fairbanks 87; 17. Wisconsin-Green Bay 35; 18. St. Lawrence 32, 19. Michigan Tech 23, 20. St. Michael`s 19; 21. Wellesley 10; 22. Gustavus Adolphus 6.

Men`s Slalom -- 1. Andreas Adde, UAA, 1:14.91; 2. Torjus Krogdahl, UU, 1:15.03; 3. David Donaldson, UVM, 1:15.30; 4. Petter Brenna, UNM, 1:15.67; 5. Ace Tarberry, DAR, 1:15.81; 6. Bobby Poehling, MID, 1:16.22; 7. Vince Lebrun-Fortin, CBC, 1:16.48; 8. Christopher Acosta, UNM, 1:16.61; 9. Josh Kernan, CBC, 1:16.68; 10. Ben Manter, BAT, 1:16.70.

11. A.J. Avrin, DU, 1:16.72; 12. Jake Lund, MID, 1:16.75; 13. Kyle Kung, UU, 1:16.87; 14. Paul Atkinson, UNH, 1:17.14; 15. Drew Roberts, CU, 1:17.18; 16. Max Lamb, UU, 1:17.20; 17. Andreas Kilde, DU, 1:17.36; 18. Alex Dyroff, WIL, 1:17.74; 19. Chris Colpitts, UVM, 1:17.89; 20. Thomas Schwab, UNM, 1:17.94.

21. Mike Cremeno, UNH, 1:18.00; 22. Leif Haugen, DU, 1:18.39; 23. Spencer Nelson, CU, 1:19.17; 24. Trevor Leafe, DAR, 1:21.08; 25. Martin Harris, UN, 1:23.16; 26. Halfdan Falkum-Hansen, UAA, 1:23.21; 27. Brad Harden, SMC, 1:23.91; 28. Willie Ford, UNH, 1:29.03; 29. Erik Gilbert, UVM, 1:32.85; 30. Michael Mackie, MSU, 1:34.51.

31. Chris Barber, MSU, 1:38.80; 32. Bump Heldman, BAT, 1:52.64; 33. Luke McLaughry, DAR, 2:04:16; 34. Bryan Schpall, MID, 2:19.38. Disqualified (1st run): Gabriel Rivas, CU.

Women`s Slalom -- 1. Malin Hemmingsson, UNM, 1:19.91; 2. Lindsay Cone, DU, 1:20.68; 3. Anna Kocken, UU, 1:21.00; 4. Anne Brusletto, UNM, 1:21.03; 5. Carolina Nordh, CU, 1:21.18; 6. Erika Ghent, CU, 1:21.61; 7. Katie Hartman, CU, 1:21.86; 8. Veronique Archambault-Leger, UNH, 1:22.02; 9. Kate Williams, UNM, 1:22.14; 10. Ida Dillingoeen, DU, 1:22.15.

11. Kelsey Roddick, DAR, 1:22.50; 12. Petra Gantnerova, UAA, 1:22.54; 13. Annie Rendall, DAR, 1:22.65; 14. Lyndee Janowiak, UVM, 1:22.95; 15. Kayla Fry, UAA, 1:22.97; 16. Valerie Kechian, UVM, 1:23.15; 17. Sofia Smith, UU, 1:23.16; 18. Jennie VanWagner, DU, 1:23.17; 19. Geordie Lonza, WIL, 1:23.33; 20. Courtney Hammond, DAR, 1:23.38.

21. Aileen Farrell, UNH, 1:23.64; 22. Nicole Poleschuk, UN, 1:24.12; 23. Nicole Dvorak, MID, 1:24.33; 24. Dana Breakstone, CBC, 1:25.03; 25. Emily Porter, WIL, 1:25.32; 26. Amy Lattimer, MSU, 1:26.53; 27. Amy Harris, UN, 1:26.83; 28. Marie-Elaine Lepine, UNH, 1:29.75; 29. Alexandra Parker, UAA, 1:30.33; 30. Meg Ryley, UVM, 1:38.14.

31. Laurel Carter, WIL, 1:49.89; 32. Tasha Woodworth, MID, 1:56.63; 33. Eva Huckova, UU, 1:57.95; 34. Erika Horst, UN, 3:14.99. Did Not Start (2nd run): Ashley-Kate Durham, SLU.