Busy Day of RMISA Skiing at Utah and Montana State Invites

Saturday, January 13, 2018 • by Brooke Frederickson, RMISA

HUNTSVILLE, Utah & West Yellowstone, MT—Colorado’s Nora Christensen and New Mexico’s Vegard Busengdal won the women’s and men’s slalom races at the Utah Invitational while Utah’s Martin Bergstroem and Colorado’s Hedda Baangman won the men’s 10-km and women’s 5-km classic races at the Montana State Invitational on a busy day of RMISA skiing on Saturday, Jan. 13.

In Utah, Denver closed out the alpine portion of the meet on top with 329 points. Montana State stands second with 293.5 points followed by Colorado (273), New Mexico (258) and Utah (239.5) in the top five. The Nordic races will be held on Jan. 18-19.

Colorado leads the MSU Invitational with 494 points while Utah jumped into second (428.5) with a solid Nordic day. Denver is third (420) with Montana State fourth (404), New Mexico fifth (318) and Alaska Anchorage sixth (309) with two races remaining.

Nordic continues on Sunday, Jan. 14, with the men’s and women’s 10-km freestyle races to close out the Montana State Invitational. Live results are at www.sportsstats.us.

Women’s Slalom

1. Nora Christensen, Colorado
2. Jocelyn McCarthy, Montana State
3. Andrea Komsic, Denver
4. Ann-Kathrin Breuning, Utah
5. Rebecca Fiegl, New Mexico
6. Tuva Norbye, Denver
7. Juliette Gauthier, Westminster College
8. Kari Hole, Montana State
9. Tonje Trulsrud, Colorado
10. Stephanie Gartner, Montana State

Race Notes


• Race points: Colorado 82, Montana State 81, Denver 79, Utah 58, New Mexico 58, Westminster College 44, Alaska Anchorage 40, Colorado Mountain College 12.
• Colorado’s Nora Christensen became the fifth different winner this season with her first career victory.
• Second-place Jocelyn McCarthy (MSU) and third-place Andrea Komsic (DU) both earned their first podium finishes of the season.
• Utah’s Ann-Kathrin Breuning finished fourth and remains the only women’s alpine skier to be in the top five all five races this year.
• Colorado’s Tonje Trulsrud and Breuning are the only skiers who have finished in the top 10 all four races.
• New Mexico’s Rebecca Fiegl has quietly put together four top-10 and two top-five finishes. Denver’s Tuva Norbye also has four top-10 finishes and one top-five finish.

Men’s Slalom


1. Vegard Busengdal, New Mexico
2. Ola Johnasen, Colorado
3. Morten Bakke, Montana State
4. Nick Santaniello, Denver
5. Raffael Breu, Westminster College
6. Isak Klein, New Mexico
7. Joseph Young, Colorado
8. Alex Leever, Denver
9. Garret Driller, Montana State
10. Mikkel Wahl, Westminster College

Race Notes


• Race points: New Mexico 84, Colorado 75, Denver 74, Montana State 67, Westminster College 67, Alaska Anchorage 44, Utah 43, Colorado Mountain College 24.
• New Mexico’s Vegard Busengdal won his second career race (first of the season). He has three podium finishes this year.
• Second-place Ola Johnasen of Colorado leads all men’s alpine skiers with four podium finishes this year.
• Montana State’s Morgan Bakke finished third for his second podium of the season.
• Denver’s Nick Santaniello (fourth) and Westminster College’s Raffael Breu (fifth) each earned their first top-five finish of the year.

Men’s 10-km Classic


1. Martin Bergstroem, Utah
2. Dag Trolleboe, Denver
3. Petter Reistad, Colorado
4. Sondre Bollum, Colorado
5. Haakon Hjelstuen, Utah
6. Evind Kvaale, Denver
7. Bjorn Riksaasen, Utah
8. Erik Axelsson, Montana State
9. Seiji Takagi, Alaska Fairbanks
10. Max Donaldson, Alaska Fairbanks
• Race points: Utah 94, Colorado 82, Denver 64, Montana State 62, Alaska Fairbanks 57, Alaska Anchorage 49, Wyoming 23, New Mexico 13.
• Utah’s Martin Bergstroem has won two of three races this year. He has four career wins and has been in the top five in every race this year.
• Denver’s Dag Trolleboe (second) is the only skier who has finished on the podium in all three races.
• Third-place Petter Reistad earned his first podium of the season.
• Colorado’s Sondre Bollum earned his first top five finish of the season.
• Utah’s Haakon Hjelstuen (fifth), in addition to Trolleboe and Bergstroem, are the only three skiers who have been in the top five in every race this year.

Women’s 5-km Classic


1. Hedda Baangman, Colorado
2. Petra Hyncicova, Colorado
3. Guro Jordheim, Utah
4. Hailey Swirbul, Alaska Anchorage
5. Anne Siri Lervik, Colorado
6. Jasmi Joensuu, Denver
7. Christina Rolandsen, Colorado
8. Natalie Hynes, Alaska Anchorage
9. Anna Fake, Montana State
10. Kathleen O’Connell, Montana State

Race Notes


• Race points: Colorado 106, Utah 71, Alaska Anchorage 70, Montana State 66, Denver 62, Alaska Fairbanks 46, New Mexico 33, Wyoming 24.
• Colorado’s Hedda Baangman earned her first career victory. She is the third different winner in women’s Nordic this year.
• Colorado’s Petra Hyncicova (second) has been on the podium in all three races this year.
• Utah’s Guro Jordheim (third) earned her first podium finish of the season.
• Alaska Anchorage’s Hailey Swirbul has finished in the top five in all three races this year.
• Colorado’s Anne Siri Lervik (fifth) picked up her first top five finish of the year.
• UAA’s Natalie Hynes, MSU’s Anna Fake and MSU’s Kathleen O’Connell each earned their first top 10 finishes of the year.