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Aaron Grzelak

Alpine Skiing

Hopke, Grzelak named All-Americans in Giant Slalom

BEND, OR. - The NMU men's alpine wrapped up its first day at this year's USCSA National Championship, with a pair of skiers being named All-Americans.

The Wildcats were led by Kyan Hopke, who finished fifth to earn a first team All-America honor. Hopke posted the eighth fastest run one time and the fourth fastest run two time, finishing with a combined 2:05.77 to finish in the final first-team spot. 

Aaron Grzelak earned himself an All-America honor, finishing just outside the top-10 in 11th. Grzelak was 14th after run one before posting the 11th-fastest run two time, moving up into 11th with a time of 2:07.87. 

Reed Heathman rounded out the 'Cats in 38th with his combined two-run time of 2:18.19. 

In a tough morning session, both Andrew Truman and Anthony Petkov took spills and DNF, two of 39 DNFs in the morning session. 

The full live results can be found here. The 'Cats finished third in team scoring with a combined time of 6:31.83, trailing Rocky Mountain College (6:15.17) and Babson College (6:17.66). Those full results can be found here.

Nationals continue with the women's slalom, with first run's starting tomorrow morning at 12:30 ET.

Morning Session - First Run
Teams had to battle through difficult conditions, as Mt. Bachelor looked much different from yesterday. Skiers were met with heavy snowfall, gusting winds, and fog causing minimal visibility conditions, making the course extremely difficult.  

In blustery snow and low visibility, Grzelak was the sixth skier to embark on the course. Grzelak caught some air time on one of the turns before making a great recovery en route to posting a run time of 1:03.65, fourth-fastest at the time before sliding down to 14 at the end of the first run.

Amid a whiteout, Hopke took to the course as the 35th athlete to embark on the morning. Hopke made it down safely before slamming on the brakes across the line. Hopke posted a blazing time of 1:02.72, the sixth-fastest result at his time of finish before moving down two slots to 8 after all was said and done. 

The next Wildcat to brave the storm was Truman, the 65th skier to head down the course. After a pair of DNFs before him and four DNFs the previous eight runs leading up to him, Truman also went down and was unable to finish the race. 

 Petkov, the 95th skier to take the course, braved the whiteout conditions as the second to last Wildcat. The camera wasn't able to pick it up, but Petkov also DNF, making that two-straight Wildcats and four the previous six skiers to not complete the first run. 

With two Wildcat skiers going down,  Heathman came out the gate as the 121st skier and final 'Cat of the first run. Heathman made sure to get across the finish line, posting a first run time of 1:09.08 to sit in 51st.

Afternoon Session - Second Run
The afternoon session started with the 30th placed run-one finisher and worked its way up from 30 to one before the rest of the field.

The 17th racer down the slopes was Grzelak, who posted a run-two time of 1:04.22, which was 5th fastest run-two time to give him the 4th fastest combined time at finishing. After it was all said and done, Grzelak's run two time and combined time would move to 11th and 11th, respectively, earning him a second team All-America honor. 

After sitting in eighth after the morning session, Hopke was the next to race, just six skiers after Grzelak. After crossing the stripe, Hopke posted the second fastest run two time and claimed the top spot with a time of 2:05.77. After the final seven top-skiers and the rest of the field settled, Hopke's run two time and combined time would move to fourth and fifht, respectively, earning him a first team All-America honor. 

Heathman was the 51st skier off in run two, and would post the 36th fastest run two time of 1:09.11 to finish with a combined time of 2:18.19 at the time of finishing. After the rest of the field, Heathman's run two time and final combined finish would move to 38th and 38th, respectively. 
 
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Players Mentioned

Aaron Grzelak

Aaron Grzelak

Senior
Reed Heathman

Reed Heathman

5' 10"
Junior
Andrew Truman

Andrew Truman

Senior
Kyan Hopke

Kyan Hopke

Freshman
Anthony Petkov

Anthony Petkov

6' 0"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Aaron Grzelak

Aaron Grzelak

Senior
Reed Heathman

Reed Heathman

5' 10"
Junior
Andrew Truman

Andrew Truman

Senior
Kyan Hopke

Kyan Hopke

Freshman
Anthony Petkov

Anthony Petkov

6' 0"
Freshman