BEAVER CREEK & MINTURN, Colo.—Utah’s Roni Remme and New Mexico’s Vegard Busengdal won the alpine slalom races while Utah’s Merete Myrseth and Denver’s Moritz Madlener won the Nordic classic races on the second day of the RMISA Championships/NCAA West Regional on Saturday afternoon. After two days of racing, Colorado leads with 499 points.
Busengdal won his first race of the season in the men’s slalom, breaking through to the top after finishing on the podium six times in the previous races this year without a victory. Colorado’s Ola Johansen earned his third podium of the year with a second-place run while Utah’s Endre Bjertness also earned his third podium of the season with a third-place finish. Colorado had a race-high 97 points after placing three skiers in the top five with David Ketterer in fourth and Max Luukko in fifth. Denver had a pair of skiers in the top 10 with Erik Read finishing sixth and Alex Leever in seventh. New Mexico’s Rob Greig (eighth) and Isak Klein (tied for ninth) put three UNM skiers in the top 10 while Montana State’s Morten Bakke also tied for ninth with Klein.
Remme picked up her second win of the season (first in the slalom) with the win. Montana State’s Benedicte Lyche placed second for her second podium of the year while Colorado’s Nora Christensen finished third, also her second podium of the season. Denver and Colorado each had three skiers in the top 10. The Pioneers had a race-high 82 points behind Tuva Norbye’s fourth, Andrea Komsic’s fifth and Kristine Aasberg’s ninth. The Buffs saw Tonje Trulsrud in eighth and Isabela Fidjeland 10th behind Christensen. Also in the top 10 was New Mexico’s Sydney Staples and Montana State’s Jocelyn McCarthy.
In Nordic, Myrseth won her third race of the season for the Utes in the women’s 5-km classic. New Mexico’s Krista Niiranen picked up her league-high fifth podium of the year with a second-place finish while Colorado’s Anne Lervik earned her first podium of the year with a third-place run. Denver’s Linn Eriksen earned her first top-five finish of the year with a fourth-place run. Colorado had four skiers in the top 10 and earned a race-high 90 points. Following Lervik was Petra Hyncicova in fifth, Jesse Knori in sixth and Christina Rolandsen in seventh. Rounding out the top 10 was Alaska Fairbanks Sarissa Lammers in eighth, Utah’s Guro Jordheim in ninth and Montana State’s Anika Miller in 10th.
In the men’s 10-km classic, Madlener earned his third win of the year, just beating out Colorado’s Mads Stroem, who is in his second weekend of action since returning after having his appendix removed early in the season. Utah’s Martin Bergstroem earned his third podium of the year with a third-place finish. Denver had a race-high 92 points, placing three skiers in the top 10 with Lars Hannah in sixth and Eivind Kvaale in seventh following Madlener. Utah also had three skiers in the top 10 with Martin Mikkelsen earning his first top-five finish of the year with a fifth-place run and Oscar Ivars in 10th. Colorado’s Petter Reistad finished fourth for his fifth top-five finish of the season. Also in the top 10 was Alaska Fairbanks Nick Lovett in eighth and Montana State’s Karsten Hokanson in ninth.
Trailing Colorado in the overall standings is Denver in second (464.5) and Utah in third (447). Montana State ranks fourth (418.5) with New Mexico in fifth (367.5).
The RMISA Championships conclude on Sunday, Feb. 26, with the women’s 15-km and men’s 20-km freestyle races.
| Date | Race |
|---|---|
| Feb. 24 | Women's Giant Slalom |
| Feb. 24 | Men's Giant Slalom |
| Feb. 25 | Women's Slalom |
| Feb. 25 | Women's 5K Classic |
| Feb. 25 | Men's Slalom |
| Feb. 25 | Men's 10K Classic |
| Feb. 26 | Women's 15K Freestyle |
| Feb. 26 | Men's 20K Freestyle |