Colorado ski team leads NCAA meet

NEWRY – Aimee-Noel Hartley won the giant slalom and teammate Linda Wikstrom finished third Wednesday, combining to lead Colorado to the first-day lead in the NCAA Ski Championships.

David Viele of Dartmouth won his second straight men’s giant slalom to help the Big Green into second place at Sunday River.

Defending champion Colorado had 189 points and Dartmouth 182, with the slalom and two cross-country races still ahead.

Utah was third with 175 and Vermont had 160. Denver, one of the favorites, had a dismal day as its best finish was ninth and it wound up eighth with 99 points.

Hartley and her teammates are dedicating this championship to Lucie Hasunova, one of the team’s top cross-country racers who was killed in January in a snowmobile accident. Wikstrom was her roommmate.

“We talk about her a lot,” Hartley said. “We’re skiing 100 percent for her.”

On Monday, coach Richard Rokos read a letter to the team from Helena Hasunova, the skier’s mother who lives in Czechoslovia, encouraging the team.

“It was back to square one; everybody cried,” Rokos said.

Hartley, a sophomore from Vancouver, has won her last three giant slaloms after never winning a race. She turned in the best time in each heat and had a combined time of 2 minutes, 22.91 seconds.

Erica MacConnell of Vermont was second in 2:23.71 and Wikstrom third in 2:23.91.

The third Colorado skier, Jenni Wolk, was 13th. Dartmouth’s Jennifer Collins and Gusty Swift were fourth and sixth over the hard-packed powder.

Kingfield’s Forest Carey of Middlebury was third in 2:12.36.

College NCAA SKIING CHAMPIONSHIPS

NEWRY, Maine, Mont. – Top 10 results Wednesday in the NCAA Ski Championships giant slalom race at Sunday River. (Times are two-run totals): Women

1. Aimee-Noel Hartley, Colorado, 2 minutes, 22.91 seconds;2. Erica MacConnell, Vermont, 2:23.71;3. Linda Wikstrom, Colorado, 2:23.91;4. Jennifer Collins, Dartmouth, 2:24.02;5. Hedda Berntsen, Middlebury, 2:24.96;6. Gusty Swift, Dartmouth, 2:25.38;7. Elizabeth Sherry, Utah, 2:25.91;8. Sabrina Lawrence, Utah, 2:26.43;9. Julia Delich, Denver, 2:26.72;10. Aimee Mulkern, Vermont, 2:27.04.

Men

1. David Viele, Dartmouth, 2:11.63;2. Stefan Lanziner, New Mexico, 2:12.07;3. Forest Carey, Middlebury, 2:12.36;4. Brandon Dyksterhouse, Vermont, 2:12.91;5. Tejs Broberg, Nevada-Reno, 2:13.25;6. Christian Chedel, Vermont, 2:13.29;7. Chad Wolk, Colorado, 2:14.82;8. Josh Nolting, Colorado, 2:15.32;9. Ryan Forsyth, Utah, 2:15.37;10. Scott Woodland, Utah, 2:15.50

Team

1. Colorado 189, 2. Dartmouth 182, 3. Utah 175, 4. Vermont 160, 5. New Mexico 118, 6. Alaska-Anchorage 116, 7. Middlebury 99.5, 8. Denver 99, 9. Nevada-Reno 87, 10. New Hampshire 64.5, Williams 64.5, 12. Bates 33.5, 13. Montana St. 25, 14. St.Lawrence 18, 15. Clarkson 14, 16. Babson 13, 17. Northern Michigan 12