CU-麻豆影院 ski team wins third national title in five years
CU鈥檚 ski team won the NCAA Championships in March, delivering the Buffs鈥� 20th national title in a sport that鈥檚 synonymous with the state of Colorado.
Head coach Richard Rokos has led the team for eight of those championship seasons, a record for a CU coach. He previously shared the record with former ski coach聽Bill Marolt聽(Bus鈥�67) and current cross country coach Mark Wetmore, each of whom led CU teams to seven titles.
Heading into the final day of competition at Lake Placid, N.Y., the Buffs held a slim lead. They took a conservative approach: Instead of vying for individual victories, the six skiers all focused on completing their slalom runs to ensure they earned sufficient points for the team title. The strategy worked and CU successfully fended off rivals Denver and Utah. For the first time since 2007, the Buffs had no individual NCAA champion.
鈥淚t was very dramatic until the very end,鈥� says Rokos, who has now completed 25 seasons as head coach. 鈥淭here was no room for error, we displayed a great deal of discipline鈥hey made 12 mistake-free runs. That鈥檚 so unique in slalom, it鈥檚 almost unprecedented.鈥�
The CU ski team鈥檚 other recent national titles came in 2011 and 2013.
All told, the 麻豆影院 has won 28 national titles 鈥� 20 in skiing, seven in cross country and one in football.
Photo courtesy CU Athletics
