MINTURN, Colo.—Denver’s Taeler McCrerey and Moritz Madlener won the women’s and men’s freestyle races to close out the RMISA Championships/NCAA West Regional on Sunday afternoon as Colorado won the team championship by 7.5 points over Denver.
McCrerey’s win was her first of the year and her first podium of the season. Denver had 102 points total as Linn Eriksen finished second (also her first podium of the season) with Sylvia Nordskar in seventh, her first top 10 of the year. Aja Starkey also had her first top 10 of the year with a 10th-place finish for the Pioneers. Colorado and Utah each had three skiers in the top 10 to fill out the remainder of the top 10. The Buffs were led by Petra Hyncicova in third, her fifth podium of the season, with Anne Lervik fourth and Christina Rolandsen fifth. The Utes were led by Merete Myrseth in sixth, Natalia Mueller in eighth and Guro Jordheim in ninth.
In the men’s 20-km race, it was Madlener’s second win of the weekend and fourth of the year after also winning yesterday’s classic race. Utah’s Martin Bergstroem picked up his second podium of the weekend (fourth of the year) with a second-place run. Colorado’s Petter Reistad had his fifth podium of the year with a third-place finish. Denver had a race-high 98 points with three skiers in the top six with Lars Hannah in fourth and Eivind Kvaale in sixth behind winner Madlener. Utah also had three skiers in the top 10 as Oscar Ivars picked up eighth with Martin Mikkelsen in ninth. Alaska Fairbanks Max Donaldson in seventh and New Mexico’s Petteri Vaherkoski in 10th rounded out the top 10.
Colorado came into the day with a 34.5-point lead at the championship. Denver scored 200 total points in today’s Nordic races to make up the deficit and the Buffs won by just 7.5 points, 672-664.5 over Denver. Utah finished third with 601 points followed by Montana State (512.5), New Mexico (456.5), Alaska Anchorage (338.5), Alaska Fairbanks (224) and Wyoming (51).
The NCAA Championships will be held from March 8-11 in New Hampshire. Skier selections will be announced on Monday afternoon by the NCAA.
| 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 |