BOULDER – Colorado Buffaloes ski team added two skiers to complete 2022 roster, as coaches Andy Le Roy and Jana Weinberger announced Wednesday the addition of Hanna Abrahamsson to the Nordic roster and Elena Exenberger to the Alpine roster.
The two will join the Buffs in January ahead of the spring semester, in time for the start of the 2022 season, which begins January 2 on the Nordic side and January 18 on the Alpine side.
Abrahamsson joins the Swedish National Team Buffs and Ekjso, Sweden, where she has competed in more than 140 FIS sanctioned races in cross-country and roller skiing. A participant in the Roller Skiing World Cup, she also just won a bronze medal at the Under-23 World Championships where she was the Swedish team’s first stop in the 4x5K relay. She has 71 Top 10 performances and 28 podium appearances, including five victories in her career to date.
“Hanna will be a great addition to our team,” said Weinberger. “She’s a rookie but will definitely be an immediate contender for the podiums.”
Exenberger joins the women’s alpine ski team from the Austrian national team and from Mittersill, Austria, where she also has more than 140 starts in FIS races during her competitive career. She has 13 starts in the European Cup and national championships in four different countries, with 20 starts including three top 10 and one top five, finishing fourth in the giant slalom in Maria Alm, Austria, in 2020. In her 140 starts, she has 61 finishes in the top 30 and 21 top 10 with six podiums including two wins.
“We are delighted that Elena is joining our program,” said LeRoy. “Given her background and her results in the Austrian national team, she should have an immediate impact on our success.”
The two bring the 2022 roster to a total of 30 female skiers, with Abrahamsson joining five other members of the Women’s Nordic team and Exenberger becoming the seventh female alpine skier on the roster.
The Buffs have been busy with the transition from dry to snow training. Alpine teams have been training at Copper Mountain for the past few weeks and will soon be transitioning to their home mountain of Eldora. The Nordic teams have also gone from their dry field to snow routine in recent weeks.
The 2022 season begins right after the New Year with Nordic teams competing at the US National Championships starting January 2. Skiers will compete in three races of these championships to begin the varsity season at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah, as part of the Utah Invitational. . The Buffs will host the 2022 RMISA Championships, which will complement the NCAA Western Regional and the Spencer James Nelson Memorial Invitational. These races will be held February 23-26 in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.