SOLDIER HOLLOW, Utah — The University of Colorado ski team moved up a notch into third place here Friday in the Utah Invitational, as the meet was resumed with the first pair of Nordic races.
New Mexico maintained the lead it built after the alpine portion of the meet last week, as the Lobos have 658 points through six events. Denver chopped 24 points off UNM’s lead and is second with 638, while CU took over third from host Utah, as the Buffaloes have 583 points to the Utes’ 575. The Buffs trailed by 97 points entering the day, gaining 22 on the top spot.
In the women’s 5-kilometer classical race, sophomore Eliska Hajkova, after a pair of runner-up finishes in Montana last weekend, earned her first college win with an 18:16.4 time, besting Denver’s Antje Maempel (18:24.0), who had won both races to open the winter.
Junior Alexis Turzian claimed fifth in 19:27.4, with sophomore Katie Stege CU’s next finisher and third scorer, coming in 24th in 22:06.5. Freshman Mary Rose was CU’s only other female skier Friday, as she took 30th in 24:03.1.
In the men’s 10k event, the Buffs had three finishers in the top 10 for the third time in as many races. Junior Vegard Kjoelhamar led the way with a fourth place effort in a 34:21.9 time, with junior Jesper Ostensen eighth in 35:03.6 and senior Matt Gelso 10th in 35:10.8. New Mexico’s Martin Kaas won his third straight race with a 33:51.1 performance.
For Kjoelhamar, the defending NCAA individual freestyle champion, it was his third top five finish this winter and the 10th in 14 career collegiate races.
Rounding out the CU men’s efforts were freshman Ian Mallams (16th, 36:05.6), junior Patrick Neel (20th, 36:30.4) and freshman Chris Woods (34th, 38:56.5).
“It was definitely a challenging day with the wind was blowing about 40 miles per hour, so it was fairly tricky out there, along with tricky waxing,” CU Nordic coach Bruce Cranmer said. “We could have done a little better on the guy’s side with our ski selection. But Eliska getting her first college win was awesome and we hope she can build from there.
“Solider Hollow is an open course, not many trees, and with it (classical race format) being in the tracks, it made things very difficult for everyone,” Cranmer continued. “With so few trees, there’s not much to help break down the wind, but fortunately it was around freezing (32 degrees) and not too cold. So it made it more of a challenge in selecting which skis to race with and the waxing. Three guys in the top 10 was still a good performance, and we’ll hopefully keep getting better. After tomorrow, barring any meltdowns, we should already be in good shape qualification-wise for the NCAA’s. It’s good to get that out of the way early and then it’s a matter of flat out competing.”
Colorado is minus three of its top skiers here.
Freshman Joanne Reid is without the team, as she will compete in the FIS Nordic Junior World Championships in Hinterzarten, Germany, starting Sunday. Another CU freshman, Kat Ingalls, is likely out for the season, also due to illness, and is looking at a medical hardship if so. Sophomore Reid Pletcher also is not present with the team, still recovering from illness and targeting the New Mexico meet in two weeks for his return.
The meet concludes Saturday with the freestyle races, the women’s 15K at 9 a.m., followed by the men’s 20k at 10:15. The season will be one-third complete at that point, and the schools will have a week off before resuming with the New Mexico Invitational on February 5-6.
ELSEWHERE IN NCAA SKIING: Dartmouth, winners of the east’s first competition last week in the St. Lawrence Carnival with an impressive 950 points, is off and running in the St. Michael’s Carnival. The Big Green lead through Friday’s four events in and around Jeffersonville, Vt., with 450 points, followed by Vermont (424) and New Hampshire (391.5) within striking distance; Middlebury (349.5) and Williams (330) round out the top five. Dartmouth skiers won three of the four individual events and had seven top five performers, while Vermont had five and UNH 3. Colorado hosts the NCAA Championships this March 10-13 in Steamboat Springs.
Utah Invitational Team Scores (6 events)—1. New Mexico 658; 2. Denver 638; 3. Colorado 583; 4, Utah 575;
5. Alaska-Anchorage 498; 6. Nevada 580; 7. Montana State 472.
Women’s 5k Classical (31 finishers)—1. Eliska Hajkova, CU, 18:16.4; 2. Antje Maempel, DU, 18:24.0; 3. Kate Dolan, DU, 18:51.9; 4. Stephanie Hiemer, UAA, 19:18.2; 5. Alex Turzian, CU, 19:27.4; 6. Zoe Roy, Utah, 19:31.6; 7. Polina Ermoshina, UNM, 19:32:1; 8. Casey Kutz, MSU, 19:32.5; 9. Maria Graefnings, UNR, 19:35.2; 10. Jamie Bronga, UAA, 19:48.5. Other CU Finishers: 24. Katie Stege, 22:06.5; 30, Mary Rose, 24:03.1.
Men’s 10k Classical (38 finishers)—1. Martin Kaas, UNM, 33:51.1; 2. Bernhard Roenning, MSU, 34:16.4; 3. Miles Havlick, Utah, 34:17.6; 4. Vegard Kjoelhamar, CU, 34:21.9; 5. Kristian Soerlund, DU, 34:26.3; 6. Rolf Figi, Utah, 34:32.4; 7. Pierre Niess, UNM, 34:48.2; 8. Jesper Ostensen, CU, 35:03.6; 9. Harald Loevenskiold, DU, 35:04.8; 10. Matt Gelso, CU, 35:10.8. Other CU Finishers: 16. Ian Mallams, 36:05.6; 20. Patrick Neel, 36:30.4; 34. Chris Woods, 38:56.5.
