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The University of Utah Athletics
Alpine Women Overcome Challenges to Lead Utes at NCAA's
4/11/2008 12:00 AM | Skiing
April 11, 2008
For the Utah ski team, one small mistake in the season's biggest races can mean the difference between finishing positions. The Utes most consistent performances at the 2008 NCAA Championships came from the women's alpine team, which led all Utah disciplines with 182 points of the squad's 550 points and was the top-scoring women's alpine team at the championships. Their success didn't come without a few bumps in the road, but the women bonded together all season to make it happen.
This season's NCAA qualifiers, Eva Huckova, Chirine Njeim and Mikaela Grassl, as well as captain Kim Stephens, Chelsea Laswell and Sofia Smith have all contributed to the success of the squad.
"I am really proud of the whole women's team," head alpine coach Jaka Korencan said. "They have all been working extremely hard through the whole dry land season and through the whole fall. The team as a whole has been really pushing each other. That's why in the end they came out extremely strong.
"The entire team stepped up and had huge improvements from last year. Chirine and Mikaela both improved quite a bit. With Eva coming in, I knew at the beginning of last year that our women's team was going to be stronger than last year. They proved themselves with their consistency the whole season. I am so proud of everyone."
Njeim is one of many team members who feels the Utes had all the pieces to make a run at the NCAA Championship.
"This was a really good season," Njeim said. "This year was a very strong team and everyone skied very solid. We could have definitely won, we just had bad luck. Overall, we had a very good season."
Off the snow, the skier who had the most to overcome was Njeim. During the summer of 2007, her boyfriend, Kyle Hopkins, was diagnosed with cancer. In addition to her training and schoolwork, Njeim became his full-time caretaker. She cared for him until he passed away in December, during her finals.
"I am extremely proud of Chirine," Korencan said. "She has one of the strongest personalities that I have ever seen. I was really impressed by her mental strength, keeping her passion for the sport and dealing with the death of a loved one. She came out strong and really performed for us through everything. To go through what she went through, taking care of him while still focusing on school and skiing, is unbelievable. She really showed the qualities she has as a person.
"I watched the entire team step up and help her in every single aspect of her life, and it was really great to see."
Njeim also attributes the support of her team to helping her through a difficult time.
"It was tough," Njeim said. "It was one thing I've never experienced before. There was so much on my mind and it wasn't helping me get anywhere. I surrounded myself with the team, and they were a great support. I kept busy and kept not thinking about what was going on. It helped a lot to have friends here to help me out and there for me all the time."
Huckova finished second in both the slalom and giant slalom races in her first NCAA championships. She had Utah's best finishes for the women's alpine team since 2003, when Lina Johnasson won the slalom title and finished second in the GS. A native of Slovakia who represented her country at the Winter Olympics in Torino, she has moved up in the world rankings while adjusting to living in a new country.
"I was very impressed with Eva," Korencan said. "She came from a completely different system in Slovakia and had to adjust to an American system - both with school and skiing. She adjusted well and although she came in strong, we saw her improvement throughout the whole season. Not only did she win races and was consistently one of the top finishers, she also improved her FIS (International Ski Federation) points. She came in as a high 20-point skier and is now in the high-teens. To achieve this in college is an amazing accomplishment. With all of that, for her to come in and have two second-place finishes, is unbelievable.
"To see her growth outside of skiing has also been amazing. She adjusted to skiing within a team atmosphere and has opened up and adjusted well."
Njeim and Grassl had gone through similar struggles when first coming to live in the United States.
"For me, I came here in high school, so it was easier," Njeim said. "It's hard to come to a place and try to fit in. Making the effort is a lot. For (Eva) to come join the team and be with a bunch of people and work for the team, it was nice to see how she adjusted."
Grassl earned All-America honors for the second-straight season. She placed fourth in the slalom, with a 14th-place run in the giant slalom. Her growth as a leader has been a key to the atmosphere on the team.
"Mika is improving every year, both with her personal growth and technically in her skiing," Korencan said. "Every year she seems to be more mature, and that has reflected in her skiing."
"As a group, the team gets along so well that each day someone steps in and pumps them up. If something's not going well, it's most likely that Mikela would step in and straighten things out. She has been a silent leader many times. She's been here for awhile, and knows what it's all about. She has such a passion for the sport and wants to win. Through her passion she is projecting that positive attitude onto the entire team. She's a tough lady."
Although Stephens, a senior, completed her eligibility, the squad returns a solid group of skiers to make another run at the NCAA Championship in 2009.
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