Dilling, Forejtek podium in slalom races at WMC

SNOWBIRD, UtahJacob Dillen and Fillip Forejtek both finished third in two slalom races while the Colorado Buffaloes Ski Team finished fourth here Friday at the conclusion of the Westminster Invitational.

Dilling had three solid runs that day and after having the fourth fastest first run, moved up one spot to take the podium in the morning race. He then had the third-fastest first run in the next race and looked good until the end of the second run, but ran out of fuel and had to walk, dropping to 37th.

Forejtek had one solid run in both races and put together like that would have given him a win. In the first run he was 15th after the first run but then had the fastest run in the field to move all the way up to seventh. In the second race he was in fourth place after the first run and still moved up despite the 16th fastest second run.

“Conditions were spot on today,” Alpine Coach Chad Wolk said. “In general I thought we fought through it well. It was a long day, but especially Jacob and Filip skied well today.”

Louis Fausa and Alex Birkner were both consistent throughout the day with Fausa 14th in the morning and 13th in the afternoon and Birkner 25th in the morning and 22nd in the afternoon.

The Buffs moved up two places in the final team standings to finish fourth. After the morning race in which the Buffs finished second with 78 points, they moved up from sixth to third, but then dropped one spot after Westminster won the afternoon race as a team.

Utah finished the meet with 365 points, followed by Denver (302) and Westminster (268) for the Buffs total of 251. The Buffs passed both Montana State (237) and Alaska Anchorage (220) with Nevada (125) and Colorado Mountain College (107) rounds out the scoring.

sUtah’s Wilhelm Normannseth won both races, while Westminster’s Mikkel Solbakken and Utah’s Oliver Parazette took second, while the Buffs completed the podium in both races.

WHAT IT MEANS

The men’s alpine team is deep, and Forejtek and Dilling both start fast and can both win a race on any given day. Both had minor missteps, but they made it known that the Buffs have two valid threats. Expect Louis Fausa and Alex Birkner to go up too. Fausa has proven himself to be a consistent top 10 threat in the past and Birkner had a fantastic pre-season and also showed signs of moving up to the next level.

NEXT ONE

The Buffs have three days off before the next meeting and will wrap up the Montana State Invitational next Tuesday and Wednesday with giant slalom races on both days. The races were pushed back a day due to extremely cold temperatures expected in the area on Monday, with lows predicted around -35 degrees. After that, the Buffs will host the Spencer James Nelson Memorial Colorado Invitational with Nordic races this Friday and Saturday in Steamboat Springs and alpine races February 9-10 in Eldora.

TEAM NOTES

• The Buffs scored 142 points in the two races, 78 in the first and 64 in the second. The Buffs finished third in the men’s teams.

ALPINE NOTES FOR MEN

• Forejtek finished seventh and then third in the two races. He has now skied in 49 career races with 32 top 10, 26 top five and 19 podium finishes.
  • Forejtek’s 19 podium appearances rank him 16th in CU history, 10th in men’s skiers, and 3rd in men’s alpine skiers.
  • It is his eighth career slalom race podium, tied for sixth in CU history.
  • His 26 top five finishes are tied for 15th in CU history, ninth for men’s skiers and he has the second most alpine men’s top five finishes in CU history, having only one needed to match the record set 64 seasons ago by Frank Brown.
  • His 32 top 10 finishes rank 27th in CU history, 19th for men and fifth for men’s alpine.
  • He tied and then passed his coach, Chad Wolk, on the men’s alpine career top 10 list. Forejtek started the day with 30 and Wolk had 31.
• Dilling finished third and was then looking for a double podium before having to walk and finish 37th in the second race. Last season he was the only skier in the RMISA to finish all 14 races of the season and he kept that streak alive. Dilling now has 12 top 10s, four top fives and this was his second career podium.
• Fausa finished 14th and 13th in his two slalom races on the day, giving him 18 career top 20 finishes.
• Birkner finished 25th and then 22nd.
• Jack Reich finished 40th and 28th in his first two races for the Buffs.
• Sebastian Kohlhofer took 41st place in race one and failed to finish second.
• Pursue Seymour finished 46th and 33rd for the Buffalos.

WESTMINSTER INVITATION TEAM SCORE (FINAL)1. Utah 365; 2.Denver 308; 3. Westminster 268; 4. Colorado 251; 5. State of Montana 237; 6.Alaska Anchorage 220; 7.Nevada 125; 8. Colorado Mountain 107.

MEN’S SLALOM #1 (46 collegiate finishers)1. Wilhelm Normannseth, UU, 1:27.74; 2. Oliver Parazette, UU, 1:29.27; 3. Jacob Dillen, CU, 1:29.45; 4. Jeremy Mathers, UU, 1:29.51; 5. Jack Bowers, DU, 1:29.57; 6. Mikkel Solbakken, WMC, 1:29.58; 7. Philip Forejtek, CU, 1:29.77; 8.Henry Heydon, MSU, 1:29.84; 9. Ralpael Lessard, UU & Joachim Mjelde, WMC, 1:30.18. Other CU Finishers: 14. Louis Fausa, 1:30.50; 25. Alex Birkner, 1:31.98; 40. Jack Reich, 1:35.47; 41. Sebastian Kohlhofer, 1:35.58; 46. Pursue Seymour1:48.21.

MEN’S SLALOM #2 (38 collegiate finishers)1. Wilhelm Normannseth, UU, 1:33.53; Mikkel Solbakken, WMC, 1:34.46; 3. Philip Forejtek, CU, 1:35.30; 4. Gianluca Boehm, MSU, 1:35.34; 5.Jack Bowers, DU, 1:35.40; 6. Loic Chabel, WMC, 1:35.44; 7. Iver Naess, UN, 1:36.07; 8. Joachim Mjelde, WMC, 1:36.16; 9. Filip Krota, CMC, 1:36.28; 10. Jeremy Mathers, UU, 1:36.30. Other CU finishers: 13. Louis Fausa, 1:36.50; 22. Alex Birkner, 1:38.42; 28. Jack Reich, 1:41.56; 33. Pursue Seymour, 1:45.18; 37. Jacob Dillen, 2:00.67. First run not completed: Sebastian Kohlhofer.