Who needs a full complement of skiers to win the National Collegiate Men’s and Women’s Skiing Championships?

Apparently not Colorado, which despite being one skier short of a full 12-member squad won the 2006 national title by the fourth-widest margin in the 53-year history of the event.

The host Buffaloes amassed 654 points in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, March 8-11 to outdistance second-place finisher New Mexico (556).

It was a surprisingly dominant result because Colorado stood sixth in the standings after the first day of the championships. The comeback is the largest in the event since 1983. The 2000 Denver Pioneers rallied from fifth place after Day 1 to earn a title.

“You dream about it for seven years, and then you execute it in four days,” said Colorado coach Richard Rokos, whose team last won a national championship in 1999. “We proved something that was unprecedented and in theory only — that you could in fact win with a partial team. Everyone knew it was mathematically possible, but we needed to prove it. It goes to the credit of all those kids who came in and wanted to prove just that, even though we were underdogs.”

The Buffs had some inspiration going into the meet after freshman Alpine skier Patrick Duran suffered a spiral fracture of his left femur on his first training run for the giant slalom. He had surgery and remained in a Steamboat Springs hospital while his teammates competed without him.

“I think we went from anxiety before we came here to anger after what happened to Pat, and finally converted to joy the final three days,” said Rokos of the program’s 16th NCAA ski title. “I personally see this as something those kids discover in themselves, and the coaches are helping them to figure out. These are experiences they will carry for the rest of their lives, and they will always remember it as one of the biggest feelings of accomplishment you can ever earn.”

Colorado sophomore Kit Richmond, who became ill two days before the 10-kilometer classic, rebounded to win an individual title in the 20-kilometer freestyle in 55:14.7. Seniors Erling Christiansen and Henrik Hoye closed out their careers by earning first-team all-America status, finishing third and fourth, respectively.

“I didn’t really know how I was going to feel,” Richmond said. “I just got on solid food about 24 hours before the race, so I wasn’t expecting this. I was expecting at best a top-10(finish) so this is phenomenal for me.”

Colorado senior Jana Rehemaa recorded a “double-double” by winning the women’s 15K and 5K races. She is a native of Estonia and likes the collegiate ski format.

“I love that we ski for a team, not only for ourselves, and it’s great to win,” Rehemaa said. “I’ve never been hoisted in the air before. That was really fun and very special.”

Colorado’s cross country teams accounted for 414 points in the meet.

It was the fifth win by the Buffaloes under Rokos’ guidance, which is second only to former Buffaloes ski coach and athletics director Bill Marolt, who led Colorado to seven championships.

“It’s difficult to say which was harder, or more difficult, or even most satisfying because each team is special to me,” Rokos said. “But this one was probably the most in question because of our last year’s standing (sixth place). I was hoping, but I didn’t expect, that we could recover to this degree. A lot of things aligned for us this year, this week, and we were fortunate to be called up to the podium last to take our place as the champion.”

Team results

1. Colorado, 654; 2. New Mexico, 556; 3. Dartmouth, 537 1/2; 4. Denver, 522 1/2; 5. Vermont, 516; 6. Alas. Anchorage, 451; 7. Middlebury, 412; 8. Utah, 400; 9. New Hampshire, 309; 10. Alas. Fairbanks, 271; 11. Nevada, 259; 12. Bates, 189; 13. Montana St., 185; 14. Northern Mich., 154; 15. Williams, 137 1/2; 16. Colby, 130 1/2; 17. Western St., 126 1/2; 18. Whitman, 62 1/2; 19. Michigan Tech, 62; 20. Boise St., 50; 21. St. Lawrence, 25; 22. Wis.-Green Bay, 22; 23. St. Olaf, 17; 24. Gust. Adolphus, 9.

Individual champions

Men’s 10-kilometer classical cross country: John Stene, Denver, 27:57.7.

Women’s 5-kilometer classical cross country: Jana Rehemaa,  Colorado, 16:29.6.

Men’s giant slalom: Scott Veenis, Utah, 2:12.19.

Women’s giant slalom: Abbi Lathrop, Colby, 2:16.85.

Men’s 20-kilometer freestyle cross country: Kit Richmond, Colorado, 55:14.7.

Women’s 15-kilometer freestyle cross country: Jana Rehemaa, Colorado, 46:27.4.

Men’s slalom: Karl Johnson, Dartmouth, 1:13.85.

Women’s slalom: Lucie Zikova, Colorado, 1:22.77.

Team results

1. Colorado, 654; 2. New Mexico, 556; 3. Dartmouth, 537 1/2; 4. Denver, 522 1/2; 5. Vermont, 516; 6. Alas. Anchorage, 451; 7. Middlebury, 412; 8. Utah, 400; 9. New Hampshire, 309; 10. Alas. Fairbanks, 271; 11. Nevada, 259; 12. Bates, 189; 13. Montana St., 185; 14. Northern Mich., 154; 15. Williams, 137 1/2; 16. Colby, 130 1/2; 17. Western St., 126 1/2; 18. Whitman, 62 1/2; 19. Michigan Tech, 62; 20. Boise St., 50; 21. St. Lawrence, 25; 22. Wis.-Green Bay, 22; 23. St. Olaf, 17; 24. Gust. Adolphus, 9.

Individual results

Men’s 10-kilometer freestyle

1. John Stene, Denver, 27:57.7; 2. Marius Korthauer, Alas. Fairbanks, 28:10.0; 3. Bryan Cook, Northern Mich., 28:10.6; 4. Rene Reisshauer, Denver, 28:39.7; 5. Benjamin True, Dartmouth, 28:43.1; 6. Erling Christiansen, Colorado, 28:56.8; 7. Henrik Hoye, Colorado, 28:58.9; 8. Dirk Grimm, New Mexico, 29:06.4; 9. Geir Endre Rogn, New Mexico, 29:15.6; 10. Haavard Selseng, Denver, 29:25.4; 11. Kjetil Dammen, Alas. Anchorage, 29:26.0; 12. Michael Sinnott, Dartmouth, 29:34.5; 13. Erik Wickstrom, Alas. Fairbanks, 29:50.8; 14. Lutz Preussler, Nevada, 29:54.4; 15. Brian Gregg, Alas. Anchorage, 29:55.3; 16. Juergen Uhl, Vermont, 30:07.0; 17. Glenn Randall, Dartmouth, 30:08.5; 18. Benjamin Sonntag, Alas. Anchorage, 30:10.8; 19. Kit Richmond, Colorado, 30:13.5; 20. Bart Dengel, Alas. Fairbanks, 30:22.8; 21. Erik Gjoemle, Utah, 30:24.4; 22. Sylvan Ellefson, Bates, 30:35.5; 23. Christian Coe, Montana St., 30:41.8; 24. Ryan Foster, Vermont, 30:42.4; 25. Anders Osthus, Vermont, 30:45.5; 26. Mark Iverson, Montana St., 30:52.1; 27. Joshua Dayton, Western St., 30:57.5; 28. Karl Nygren, St. Olaf, 31:05.9; 29. Andrew Richmond, Western St., 31:07.8; 30. Garrott Kuzzy, Middlebury, 31:15.8; 31. Jess Kiesel, Utah, 31:22.7; 32. Jeddediah Young, New Mexico, 31:41.3; 33. Fabian Figi, Utah, 31:55.7; 34. Aaron Ditty, Michigan Tech, 31:55.8; 35. Hunter Karnedy, St. Lawrence, 32:08.8; 36. Tim Reynolds, Middlebury, 32:47.7; 37. Seth Hubbard, Bates, 32:57.7; 38. David Kurtz, Western St., 33:49.9; 39. Jacob Whitcomb, Middlebury, 35:24.3.

Women’s 5-kilometer freestyle cross country

1. Jana Rehemaa, 16:29.6; 2. Maria Grevsgaard, Colorado, 16:36.0; 3. Lindsey Weier, Northern Mich., 16:54.3; 4. Anna-Karin Maeki, Denver, 16:55.8; 5. Kasandra Rice, 17:06.0; 6. Tami Kochen, Northern Mich., 17:06.5; 7. Lenka Palanova, Colorado, 17:17.5; 8. Kate Crawford, Vermont, 17:19.4; 9. Kristina Owen, Michigan Tech, 17:19.7; 10. Sara Schweiger, Utah, 17:20.3; 11. Ingvild Engesland, Denver, 17:24.3; 12. Nicole Naef, Utah, 17:26.8; 13. (tie) Alison Crocker, Dartmouth, and Laura Valaas, Whitman, 17:33.1; 15. Cassidy Edwards, Middlebury, 17:35.6; 16. Crystin Jaques, New Mexico, 17:37.4; 17. Johanna Turunen, Alas. Fairbanks, 17:38.6; 18. Susan Dunklee, Dartmouth, 17:42.9; 19. Pavla Havlova, Alas. Fairbanks, 17:51.6; 20. Carina Hamel, Vermont, 17:53.5; 21. Laura Van Alst, New Mexico, 18:00.0; 22. Ashley Quiggle, Western St., 18:12.3; 23. Evelyn Dong, Middlebury, 18:13.2; 24. Anja Jokela, Vermont, 18:16.3; 25. Nicole DeYong, Alas. Anchorage, 18:21.3; 26. Marit Rognmo, New Mexico, 18:22.3; 27. Sally Johnson, Nevada, 18:22.6; 28. Ashley McQueen, Utah, 18:27.4; 29. Eva Bohmova, Nevada, 18:30.4; 30. Johanna Winters, Wis.-Green Bay, 18:41.2; 31. Joanna Kinsman, New Hampshire, 18:42.9; 32. Karin Nilsson, Denver, 18:47.0; 33. Mandy Bowden, Montana St., 18:53.8; 34. Claire Rennie, Montana St., 18:56.1; 35. Chelsea Holmes, Nevada, 19:10.0; 36. Kaitlyn McElroy, Bates, 19:35.1; 37. Jenny Hamilton, Middlebury, 20:07.0; 38. Chandra Daw, Gust. Adolphus, 22:29.2.

Men’s giant slalom

1. Scott Veenis, Utah, 2:12.19; 2. Francesco Ghedina, Denver, 2:13.13; 3. Lars Loeseth, New Mexico, 2:13.57; 4. Scott Hume, Nevada, 2:13.75; 5. Sean McNamara, New Hampshire, 2:13.86; 6. (tie) Karl Johnson, Dartmouth, and Eric Mann, Williams, 2:14.00; 8. Paul Epstein, Vermont, 2:14.68; Charles Christianson, Williams, 2:14.98; 10. Luke Patterson, Nevada, 2:15.13; 11. Gaspar Perricone, Utah, 2:15.69; 12. Tor Fodnesbergene, New Mexico, 2:15.81; 13. Andrew Wagner, Middlebury, 2:16.39; 14. (tie) David Chodounsky, Dartmouth, and Todd Ligare, Denver, 2:16.42; 16. Will McDonald, 2:16.60; 17. Andrew Everett, Middlebury, 2:17.34; 18. John Buchar, 2:17.88; 19. Joe Dunn, 2:18.93; 20. Leo Menard, Bates, 2:19.07; 21. Andre Hokholt, 2:19.31; 22. Greg Hardy, Vermont, 2:19.65; 23. John Martz, New Hampshire, 2:19.73; 24. Jean Ferreira, Colorado, 2:20.41; 25. Alex Mach, New Mexico, 2:20.50; 26. Cameron Barnes, Nevada, 2:20.55; 27. Charlie Reed, Colby, 2:20.89; 28. Timothee Theaux, Alas. Anchorage, 2:22.00; 29. Clayton Reed, Middlebury, 2:46.85; 30. Cory Harris, Montana St., 2:48.65; 31. Joshua Bryan, Colorado, 3:11.45; 32. Sean McKenna, Bates, 3:50.63; 33. Jody Centauro, Colby, 8:03.79.

Women’s giant slalom

1. Abbi Lathrop, Colby, 2:16.85; 2. Florence Roujas, 2:16.95; 3. Jamie Kingsbury, Vermont, 2:17.68; 4. Lucie Zikova, Colorado, 2:18.21; 5. Lisa Perricone, Colorado, 2:19.22; 6. Spela Bertoncelj, Montana St., 2:20.41; 7. Kristina Repcinova, Alas. Anchorage, 2:20.47; 8. Stephanie Vaughan, New Hampshire, 2:20.75; 9. Jilyne McDonald, Vermont, 2:21.59; 10. Michelanne Shields, Dartmouth, 2:21.80; 11. Leanne Smith, New Hampshire, 2:22.46; 12. Allison Empey, Alas. Anchorage, 2:22.66; 13. Sydney Mikkelson, New Hampshire, 2:24.07; 14. Mattie Ford, Middlebury, 2:24.69; 15. Karine Falck-Pedersen, Denver, 2:25.15; 16. Zuzana Charvatova, Boise St., 2:25.17; 17. Megan Papineau, Bates, 2:25.54; 18. Kristen Poehling, Middlebury, 2:25.60; 19. Amy Beresford, New Mexico, 2:26.28; 20. Erika Hogan, Utah, 2:26.69; 21. Kimberly Stephans, Utah, 2:27.26; 22. Whitney Fahy, Bates, 2:27.34; 23. Mikaela Grassl, Utah, 2:28.02; 24. Elizabeth Thompson, Bates, 2:28.63; 25. Kathrin Spendier, New Mexico, 2:29.98; 26. Sealy Livermore, Dartmouth, 2:35.08; 27. Sabrina Mocellin, Colorado, 2:48.39; 28. Hilary McCloy, Vermont, 2:51.16; 29. Jenny Tank, Denver, 3:00.88; 30. Karin Ohlin, New Mexico, 3:26.38; 31. Stefanie Klocker, Alas. Anchorage, 6:51.49.

Men’s 20-kilometer classical cross country

1. Kit Richmond, Colorado, 55:14.7; 2. Benjamin Sonntag, Alas. Anchorage, 55:16.4; 3. Erling Christiansen, Colorado, 55:20.1; 4. Henrik Wol Hoye, Colorado, 55:39.1; 5. Glenn Randall, Dartmouth, 55:39.6; 6. Brian Gregg, Alas. Anchorage, 55:40.0; 7. Marius Korthauer, Alas. Fairbanks, 56:11.7; 8. Bart Dengel, Alas. Fairbanks, 56:18.9; 9. Kjetil Hag Dammen, Alas. Anchorage, 56:44.4; 10. John Stene, Denver, 56:56.3; 11. Rene Reisshauer, Denver, 56:58.5; 12. Anders Osthus, Vermont, 57:03.5; 13. Michael Sinnott, Dartmouth, 57:04.6; 14. Geir Endre Rogn, New Mexico, 57:10.2; 15. Garrott Kuzzy, Middlebury, 57:21.3; 16. Joshua Dayton, Western St., 57:38.2; 17. Erik Wickstrom, Alas. Fairbanks, 57:38.4; 18. Jeddediah Young, New Mexico, 58:05.1; 19. Ryan Foster, Vermont, 58:05.4; 20. Hunter Karnedy, St. Olaf, 58:23.1; 21. Juergen Uhl, Vermont, 58:40.9; 22. Dirk Grimm, New Mexico, 58:44.8; 23. Bryan Cook, Northern Mich., 59:07.8; 24. Seth Hubbard, Bates, 59:18.6; 25. Mark Iverson, Montana St., 59:19.0; 26. Erik Gjoemle, Utah, 59:30.5; 27. Lutz Preussler, Nevada, 59:31.7; 28. Benjamin True, Dartmouth, 59:41.4; 29. Sylvan Ellefson, Bates, 59:53.9; 30. Haavard Selseng, Denver, 59:54.8; 31. Jess Kiesel, Utah, 1:00:15.3; 32. Fabian Figi, Utah, 1:00:22.0; 33. Andrew Richmond, Western St., 1:00:23.2; 34. Christian Coe, Montana St., 1:01:34.6; 35. Karl Nygren, St. Olaf, 1:01:43.0; 36. Jacob Whitcomb, Middlebury, 1:02:35.2; 37. Tim Reynolds, Middlebury, 1:03:06.6; 38. Aaron Ditty, Michigan Tech, 1:04:09.3; 39. David Kurtz, Western St., 1:06:28.9.

Women’s 15-kilometer classical cross country

1. Jana Rehemaa, Colorado, 46:27.4; 2. Johanna Turunen, Alas. Fairbanks, 46:37.4; 3. Evelyn Dong, Middlebury, 46:38.6; 4. Laura Valaas, Whitman, 47:39.5; 5. Alison Crocker, Dartmouth, 47:54.3; 6. Lenka Palanova, Colorado, 47:55.4; 7. Marit Rognmo, New Mexico, 47:59.6; 8. Kate Crawford, Vermont, 48:00.6; 9. Maria Mo Grevsgaard, Colorado, 48:06.2; 10. Laura Van Alst, New Mexico, 48:16.6; 11. Tami Kochen, Northern Mich., 48:33.5; 12. Susan Dunklee, Dartmouth, 48:39.5; 13. Ashley McQueen, Utah, 48:57.7; 14. Kasandra Rice, Alas. Anchorage, 49:02.5; 15. Nicole DeYong, Alas. Anchorage, 49:02.9; 16. Chelsea Holmes, Nevada, 49:20.4; 17. Kristina Owen, Michigan Tech, 49:35.4; 18. Anna-Karin Maeki, Denver, 49:50.1; 19. Cassidy Edwards, Middlebury, 49:52.4; 20. Mandy Bowden, Montana St., 49:59.5; 21. Sara Schweiger, Utah, 50:01.0; 22. Kris Trygstad-Saari, Dartmouth, 50:06.2; 23. Crystin Jaques, New Mexico, 50:07.2; 24. Pavla Havlova, Alas. Fairbanks, 50:12.0; 25. Anja Jokela, Vermont, 50:24.1; 26. Eva Bohmova, Nevada, 50:36.7; 27. Carina Hamel, Vermont, 50:45.2; 28. Johanna Winters, Wis.-Green Bay, 50:51.0; 29. Ingvild Engesland, Denver, 50:54.6; 30. Claire Rennie, Montana St., 51:31.7; 31. Sally Johnson, Nevada, 52:15.7; 32. Ashley Quiggle, Western St., 52.31.1; 33. Chandra Daw, Gust. Adolphus, 52.39.7; 34. Kaitlyn McElroy, 52.48.4; 35. Nicole Naef, Utah, 53:02.8.

Men’s slalom

1. Karl Johnson, Dartmouth, 1:13.85; 2. Timothee Theaux, Alas. Anchorage, 1:14.37; 3. Tor Fodnesbergene, New Mexico, 1:14.49; 4. Luke Patterson, Nevada, 1:14.52; 5. Sean McNamara, New Hampshire, 1:14.66; 16. Joe Dunn, New Hampshire, 1:14.81; 7. Alex Mach, New Mexico, 1:15.13; 8. Zachary Brown, Vermont, 1:15.31; 9. Charles Christianson, Williams, 1:15.32; 10. Greg Hardy, Vermont, 1:15.76; 11. Clayton Reed, Middlebury, 1:15.90; 12. Erik Johnson, Dartmouth, 1:16.66; 13. Lars Loeseth, New Mexico, 1:16.89; 14. Todd Ligare, Denver, 1:16.90; 15. Francesco Ghedina, Denver, 1:16.96; 16. (tie) Andre Hokholt, Western St., and Jody Centauro, Colby, 1:17.07; 18. Will McDonald, Utah, 1:17.17; 19. Andrew Everett, Middlebury, 1:17.33; 20. Joshua Bryan, Colorado, 1:17.47; 21. John Martz, New Hampshire, 1:17.80; 22. Eric Mann, Williams, 1:17.87; 23. Jean Ferreira, Colorado, 1:17.97; 24. Cory Harris, Montana St., 1:18.04; 25. Charlie Reed, Colby, 1:19.01; 26. Scott Hume, Nevada, 1:19.14; 27. Gaspar Perricone, Utah, 1:21.95; 28. Andrew Wagner, Middlebury, 1:31.47; 29. John Buchar, Denver, 1:34.11; 30. Paul Epstein, Vermont, 1:35.11; 31. Sean McKenna, Bates, 1:56.57; 32. David Chodounsky, Dartmouth, 2:07.67; 33. Leo Menard, Bates, 2:17.53; 34. Scott Veenis, Utah, 3:00.50; Cameron Barnes, Nevada (disqualified).

Women’s slalom

1. Lucie Zikova, Colorado, 1:22.77; 2. Jilyne McDonald, Vermont, 1:23.02; 3. Megan Hughes, Middlebury, 1:23.15; 4. Lisa Perricone, Colorado, 1:23.41; 5. Karin Ohlin, New Mexico, 1:23.64; 6. Jamie Kingsbury, Vermont, 1:23.71; 7. Abbi Lathrop, Colby, 1:23.83; 8. Michelanne Shields, Dartmouth, 1:24.04; 9. Mattie Ford, Middlebury, 1:24.71; 10. Spela Bertoncelj, Montana St., 1:26.52; 11. Kathrin Spendier, New Mexico, 1:26.64; 12. Sabrina Mocellin, Colorado, 1:26.99; 13. Amy Beresford, New Mexico, 1:28.09; 14. Zuzana Charvatova, Boise St., 1:28.10; 15. Allison Empey, Alas.-Anchorage, 1:28.60; 16. Cecily Lowenthal, Williams, 1:28.81; 17. Kristen Poehling, Middlebury, 1:28.86; 18. Stephanie Vaughan, New Hampshire, 1:29.25; 19. Jenny Tank, Denver, 1:29.41; 20. Sealy Livermore, Dartmouth, 1:29.91; 21. Kimberly Stephens, Utah, 1:30.49; 22. Alexandra Fucigna, Dartmouth, 1:31.51; 23. Kristina Repcinova, Alas. Anchorage, 1:37.35; 24. Sydney Mikkelson, New Hampshire, 1:41.03; 25. Megan Papineau, Bates, 1:45.96; 26. Jaana-Maarit Vaelimaeki, Nevada, 1:47.71; 27. Hilary McCloy, Vermont, 1:49.05; 28. Mikaela Grassl, Utah, 1:53.53; 29. Erika Hogan, Utah, 1:53.57; 30. Leanne Smith, New Hampshire, 1:56.13; 31. Stefanie Klocker, Alas. Anchorage, 1:59.05; 32. Whitney Fahy, Bates, 2:01.24; 33. Elizabeth Thompson, 2:32.31; Karine Falck-Pedersen, Denver (disqualified); Florence Roujas, Denver (disqualified).