BIG SKY, Mont.—New Mexico’s Katharine Irwin and Colorado’s Ola Johansen won the men’s and women’s giant slalom races on the first day of the Montana State Invitational on Sunday afternoon. New Mexico leads the MSU Invite after two races.
It was Irwin’s first career victory in the women’s race, the cherry on a banner day for the Lobos that saw the alpine teams come away as the point winners in both races. In addition to Irwin, Rebecca Fiegl finished fifth with Haley Cutler seventh in the women’s race for UNM for 94 points. Denver and Alaska Anchorage also had two skiers in the top 10 for the women. DU’s Kristine Aasberg placed third with Tuva Norbye sixth, while Charley Field in eighth and Georgia Burgess in 10th led the way for UAA. Also on the podium was Colorado’s Tonje Trulsrud with a second-place finish. Utah’s Ann-Kathrin Breuning placed fourth with Montana State’s Stephanie Gartner in ninth.
It was Johansen’s third career GS victory in the men’s race. He has been on the podium in both races this season. Utah’s Sam Dupratt finished second while New Mexico’s Vegard Busengdal placed third, each with their first podium finish of the year. Montana State led all teams with three skiers in the top 10 – Jeffrey Bell tied for fifth, Garret Driller seventh and Patrick Carry 10th. New Mexico and Denver each had a pair of skiers in the top 10. UNM’s Tyler Theiss was tied for fifth, while Denver had Tobias Kogler fourth and Jett Seymour eighth. Alaska Anchorage’s Dominic Unterberger finished ninth to round out the top 10. New Mexico scored 79 points to lead the race with four teams recording over 70 points: Utah (75), Montana State (74) and Denver (73).
New Mexico leads the standings with 173 points followed by Denver (153) and Utah (133). Colorado is fourth after day one with 129 points with host Montana State in fifth (121). Alaska Anchorage in sixth (102), Westminster in seventh (86) and Colorado Mountain College in eighth (37).
The alpine teams continue at Big Sky on Monday, Jan. 8, with the men’s and women’s slalom races. Live timing can be found at http://www.ussalivetiming.com/
| Date | Race |
|---|---|
| Jan. 7 | Women's Giant Slalom |
| Jan. 7 | Men's Giant Slalom |
| Jan. 8 | Women's Slalom |
| Jan. 8 | Men's Slalom |
| Jan. 13 | Women's 5K Classic |
| Jan. 13 | Men's 10K Classic |
| Jan. 14 | Women's 10K Freestyle |
| Jan. 14 | Men's 10K Freestyle |