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Buffs have eyes on 18th NCAA title
Grevsgaard, Zikova should contend as individuals
With 11 University of Colorado skiers competing in the NCAA Championships, the Buffs must be thinking back to 2006.
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Share and Enjoy Colorado won the 2006 National Championship with only 11 skiers -- the first time a national champion did not qualify a full 12-skier squad.
The Buffs are in the same position this year, as they came up one skier short on the men's alpine side, for the NCAAs that start today at Bohart Ranch in Montana.
The ski team has been in Bozeman since Saturday practicing with only one goal in mind.
"We always have winning as the ultimate goal, and it stays the same year after year after year," Colorado coach Richard Rokos said. "We are trying to come prepared and it always boils down to a few schools and we are trying to be one of them."
Two skiers in particular, seniors Maria Grevsgaard and Lucie Zikova could be key to CU coming out on top. Grevsgaard and Zikova were named 2008 RMISA Most Valuable Skiers in the Nordic and alpine disciplines, respectively.
"We have contenders for good spots and one is Maria. I don't doubt that she will push that direction at nationals. Also, Lucie is pretty consistent in slalom and has been winning throughout the season and again there is good potential there," Rokos said.
The pair has found much success in the past.
Zikova was the 2006 NCAA slalom champion, and earned a World Cup spot in the 07-08 circuit. Grevsgaard, a team captain, was First-Team All-American (Classical) for the 2006 and 2007 seasons. She also became CU's all-time leader in individual wins this season and enters the event with 17.
But if CU hopes to claim its 18th national title in skiing, Grevsgaard and Zikova will need some help.
Senior Kit Richmond, freshman Jesper Ostensen, and sophomore Matt Gelso qualified for the men's Nordic team. Junior Lenka Palánová and sophomore Karoline Borgnes join Grevsgaard on the women's Nordic team.
In alpine events, sophomore Drew Roberts and junior Josh Bryan will represent the CU men. Zikova, junior Lisa Perricone, and senior Rachel Roosevelt will make up the women's team.
Rokos is confident that both men's and women's Nordic and alpine teams will perform well.
Said Rokos, "They are ready to roll."
Posted by rabeu on March 5, 2008 at 1:55 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Go Buffs, bring another one home!
It would be nice to see where the Buffs are in terms of the Director's Cup after this. They were 25th in nation after the final Fall standings.
I think that a mark of success for AD Bohn's tenure would be that Colorado had a full slate of 10 sports for both men and women in order to really try and compete fully for the Director's Cup! With strengths like cross-country and skiing, if we had a full 20 sports with which to earn points, CU could seriously challenge for the top echelon of this competition.
Go Buffs!
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