Jan. 12, 2012
CU/DU Invitational Notes 
Up Next in UNM Skiing
- Up Next ... The Lobos will be competing in the Nordic portion of the Colorado Invitational on Jan. 13-14 at Steamboat Springs, Colo. The Alpine squad will be at the Denver Invitational in Winter Park, Colo., on Jan. 14-15. The Alpine team will also make up the postponed slalom races from the Colorado Invitational last weekend tentatively scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday of this week in Breckenridge, Colo.
ALPINE: Winter Park, Colo.
Saturday: Denver Invitational – GS – 1st Run - TBD; 2nd Run TBD
Sunday: Denver Invitational – SL – 1st Run - TBD; 2nd Run TBD
NORDIC: Steamboat Springs, Colo.
Friday: Colorado Invitational – CL – 1st Run - TBD; 2nd Run TBD
Saturday: Colorado Invitational – FS – 1st Run - TBD; 2nd Run TBD
*(All times are Mountain Time Zone)
- Colorado Invitational (Alpine/Jan. 7-8), Part One ... The Lobos were in third place as a team after the first day of competition with a score of 190. The slalom races were postponed due to bad weather and are scheduled to take place Jan. 11 and 12. The women run on the 11th and the men run on the 12th to complete the Alpine portion of the invitational.
- RMISA Qualifiers ... The RMISA qualifiers for Alpine have been inserted into the schedule to match the number of races conducted by the Eastern schools ... Giant Slalom (Jan. 6) ... No team scoring for the qualifying races, but a few Lobos performed well ... Armin Triendl took second with a time of 1:54.80 and Juho Pekka Penttinnen placed eighth, while Mary Rachel Hostetter placed 11th on the women’s side.
- Overall Team Notes ... UNM will be wrapping up the Alpine portion of the CU Invitational this week and the Nordic team will complete the invitational this weekend. The CU Invitational is the first RMISA competition of the season for both the Alpine and Nordic teams. Alpine also will begin its second competition of the season at the DU Invitational in Winter Park, Colo., this weekend. Last season, the Lobos finished third at the RMISA championships and placed fourth at the 2011 NCAA National Championships in Vermont. While Utah was the overall regular season champion, New Mexico won the overall RMISA Alpine title, and the men’s RMISA Alpine title.
- Men’s Alpine Notes ... After a postponement of the slalom races at the CU Invitational last weekend, the Alpine team looks to complete those races on Wednesday and Thursday this week just before they get ready for the DU Invitational this weekend at Winter Park, Colo. Last season, former Lobo Petter Brenna set the UNM career-record for men’s Alpine wins in a career with 13. He finished his career as the most decorated men’s alpine skier in Lobo history. To fill the void left by the exit of Brenna, the Lobos turn to Chris Acosta, Armin Triendl, Juho Pekka Penttinnen and newcomer Joonas Rasanen. Both Triendl and Acosta earned All-America honors last season at the NCAA championships, and Rasanen has looked superb during pre-season training. Triendl and Penttinnen were named All-RMISA last season. Acosta was also an All-American in 2010.
- Women’s Alpine Notes ... The women return standout Anne Cecilie Brusletto, who recorded All-America finishes in both the Slalom and Giant Slalom for the second-straight season ... Brusletto is also currently No. 3 all-time in career alpine wins at UNM with six, although there is a possibility Brusletto will redshirt this season ... Senior Stefanie Demetz and junior Kate Williams also return to form a strong core for the Lobos ... Demetz garnered All-America honors last season in the giant slalom, while Williams was an All-American in the slalom in 2010.
Tyler Shepherd enters his second full season as the head coach of the Lobos’ Alpine team. He also welcomes a familiar face in former Lobo Gary Beresford, who will serve as the assistant Alpine coach. This is Beresford’s first season as an assistant coach.
- Men’s Nordic Notes ... The Nordic team loses a pair of excellent skiers in Martin Kaas and Tor-Hakon Hellebostad, but it still returns a wealth of experience, led by Pierre Niess and Christian Otto. Eivind Solberg also returns and newcomer Sjur Prestseater looks to contribute as a freshman. Kaas leaves the program after recording more Nordic wins (six) and garnering more All-America honors (five) than any other skier in Lobo history. Hellebostad leaves UNM after recording four Nordic All-America honors in his career, which is tied for the second most in program history. Three other Lobos have also garnered All-America honors four times in their careers. Otto just missed out on All-America honors last season, finishing 12th in the classical race at the NCAA championships.
- Women’s Nordic Notes ... The women return very experienced skiers in Linn Klaesson and Ingrid Leask, but they also lose All-America performers Sofie Jonsson and Martine Weng as well as All-RMISA performer Christina Loevald Hellberg. The team will be relatively young this year. Leask and Klaesson will be joined by newcomers Anniken Bratlie, Clara Chauvet, Anita Kirvesniemi and Anni Nord to make up the women’s Nordic squad. Only Leask and Klaesson have NCAA experience, but there is a possibility Leask will be redshirting this season. Kirvesniemi skied for the University of Eastern Finland last season.
Fredrik Landstedt enters his fifth season as head coach of the Lobos and his 17th overall including his time as a former athlete and assistant coach. During his five seasons as head coach Landstedt has seen his team finish 4th, 3rd, 3rd, and 7th over the previous four years during his tenure. Landstedt is fielding a fairly young team this season and is excited to see where his Lobos stand in the competitive Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association. Landstedt also welcomes a familiar face in Martin Kaas back to the team. Kaas, like Beresford, will serve as assistant coach but for the Nordic team. This is Kaas' first year as an assistant.
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