Nordic Teams Begin Competition in Alaska Tuesday

BOULDER – The University of Colorado Nordic teams are in Anchorage, Alaska this week for the UAA and Seawolf Invitationals being hosted by the University of Alaska Anchorage.

The Buffs will conclude the Seawolf Invite on Feb. 7 and 8 with the running of the men's and women's freestyle sprints and men's and women's classic mixed gender relays, respectively.

Then on Feb. 11 and 12 will be the last two events of the UAA Invite. Up Saturday is the men's and women's 5/10K classical race and Sunday is the 15/20K freestyle.

All races except for the mixed gender relay will take place at Kincaid Park in Anchorage. The mixed gender relay will run at the Girdwood Nordic Race Trails, starting at 1 p.m. MT on Wednesday.

CU enters the final week of competition in the two meets standing in fourth place in the Seawolf Invite and in fifth in the UAA Invite.

The Buffalo alpine teams recorded 250 points back on Jan. 27-28 in the UAA Invite, but despite being in fifth are only 69 points behind Denver in first. CU is 59 points back of first-place in the Seawolf Invite, which Montana State claimed the lead in that meet with 333 points after the running of the alpine events.

The women's Nordic teams won its first two meets this season in dominating fashion, taking the Montana State Invitation by 62 points and the Utah Invitational by 46 points. CU has recorded seven podium finishes already this year from three different Buffs (Petra Hyncicova, Ane Johnsen and Christina Rolandsen), but will be without Hyncicova this week due to injury.

The men's Nordic team, which finished third in the MSU Invite and fifth in the Utah Invite, will receive a big boost with the return of Mads Stroem.

Stroem had his appendix removed during the opening weekend of the season. Now healthy, the three-time NCAA Champion and reigning National Skier of the Year will without question add to the men's team who was anchored in the first two meets by Petter Reistad. Reistad has posted three podium finishes in the first four races this year with one victory in the 20K classical race in the MSU Invite.

Buffs at the 2017 FIS Nordic Junior & U23 World Ski Championships
Last week, Jesse Knori and Petra Hyncicova both competed in the FIS Nordic U23 World Ski Championships at Solder Hollow Resort in Midway, Utah. Knori was skiing for the U23 United States Ski Team while Hyncicova for the Czech Republic National Team.

The duo raced in the classic sprint race on Jan. 31, the 10K freestyle on Feb. 2 and the 15K skiathlon on Feb. 4.

Knori's best race was in the classic sprints, coming in 15th with a time of 3:51.5. She finished 30th in the Skiathlon at 22:34.7 and was 32nd in the freestyle race, finishing in 28:50.4.

Hyncicova's best finish was 17th in the 10K freestyle last Thursday, finishing in a time of 27:40.3. She also placed 22nd in the Skiathlon with a time of 22:03.5 and was 20th in the classic sprint at 3:52.4.

Players Mentioned

Petra Hyncicova

Ane Johnsen

Jesse Knori

Petter Reistad

Christina Rolandsen

Mads Stroem

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