Her coach knew she could, but it wasn't until race time Anke Friedrich knew it. What the University of Utah senior needed was words of confidence and Thor Kallerud gave them.
Friedrich did the rest. Putting aside all reasons why she shouldn't win, she did and in doing so became the most successful skier in NCAA woman's skiing. In Day 3 of the NCAA Ski Championships, she won the women's slalom. She also won the giant slalom title Wednesday, and another GS title a year ago.She is the first to win back-to-back titles, is the second (Utah's Bente Dahlum was the first back in 1984) to win both the slalom and GS in the same year, and is the first to win three titles.
She, too, led a charge by the Utah ladies in the slalom that kept the Utes in this event. The Utah men gave up 26 points to the leader, the University of Vermont; the Utah women got 24 back.
Going into today's final event, the freestyle cross country, Vermont has 486 points, Utah 467, Colorado 404, Dartmouth and Wyoming 353, University of New Mexico 324 and Middlebury 304.
Utah head coach Pat Miller had hoped for a comfortable lead going into the freestyle, 20 points at least, but Vermont didn't yield.
"But, we're not out of it," Miller said about the 19-point gap. "We'll have to have an incredibly good day, but we're capable of doing it. We've got the potential."
In the classical cross country on Thursday, Vermont bettered Utah by 19. And, Utah, as a team, is not as good in the freestyle. But then, neither is Vermont, admitted Catamount coach Chip LaCasse. "We're good, but not as good."
Going into the women's slalom, Friedrich wasn't given much hope of winning. She'd sprained her neck mid-season and had stayed away from slalom training. Also, she started in the third seed, No. 25, which meant she faced a rutted, more difficult course.
"Because I hadn't raced," she said, "I didn't have anything to compare. Thor told me I was skiing fast. He also told me I could do it. I just decided I could do it today. I don't think I could have without Thor."
She moved from 25 to 3 on the first run, then won it on the second.
"Thor told me to ski the 'high-line' (stay high in the turns) and I did. I was able keep my speed. Everything felt good. I didn't make a mistake and I felt fast," she said.
Kallerud, coach of the women's team, said that anyone of his four skiers could have won the race. "They're all skiing well. They peaked for this meet," he said.
The results proved him right. Friedrich won, Katja Lesjak was second, Heiei Dahlgren sixth and Gillian Frost seventh. Friedrich's time was one minute, 25.04 seconds, Lesjak's 1:25.18, Dahlgren's 1:26.68 and Frost's 1:26.74.
The men's team for Utah did not do well. It fell far below expectations in the GS Wednesday, and struggled again in the slalom. Vermont went 2-3-4, while Utah went 9-11-16. Brent Nixon, Utah's second best skier after the first run, fell on his second and re-injuried his ankle.
The best skier for Utah was Oeivind Ragnhildstveit with a time of 1:19.09. Winning the race was Colorado's Chris Pederson with a 1:17.26. CU's Ian Witter had the fastest combined time, but was disqualified for straddling a gate. The loss of Witter took Colorado out of the title race.
Typically, it has been Vermont that has faltered in the slalom.
"I say there has been two or three times we've lost the title right here (in the slalom). It's hard telling them to hold back, but that's what I did with the women. They had to put individual honors aside and ski for the team. We needed them to score. That's a hard thing for a coach to do, but they did it and now we go into the final event with the lead," LaCasse said.
"What will I tell them to do in the cross country? To not hold back, but go for it."
Miller has no choice but to do the same. Typically, in the past, Utah has been able to capitalize on Vermont mistakes. To this point, Vermont hasn't made any.
The women will ski 15 kilometers, the men 20 kilometers.