Friday, January 19, 2018 • by Brooke Frederickson, RMISA
WEST YELLOWSTONE, Mont.—Utah’s Håkon Hjelstuen and Guro Jordheim won the men’s and women’s freestyle races to close out the Utah Invitational on Friday afternoon as Denver won the overall team standings.
Denver had 650 points for the overall win. Colorado finished second with 636 points with the Utes third (599.5). Montana State was fourth (527.5) with New Mexico fifth (396). Alaska Anchorage placed sixth (333) followed by Westminster College (224), Alaska Fairbanks (223) and Colorado Mountain College (71). Colorado edged Utah for the overall Nordic title with 363 points to Utah’s 360 points.
Races were run as the snow fell during the day after half a foot of powder fell overnight. The races were originally scheduled in Utah but were moved to Montana due to local ski conditions.
The RMISA has off from collegiate competition next weekend, returning to action on Saturday, Feb. 3, at the New Mexico Invitational.
Men’s 20-km Freestyle
- Haakon Hjelstuen, Utah
- Dag Frode Trolleboe, Denver
- Petter Reistad, Colorado
- Martin Bergstroem, Utah
- Evind Kvaale, Denver
- Bjorn Riksaasen, Utah
- Alvar Alev, Colorado
- Arnaud Guyon, Alaska Fairbanks
- Sondre Bollum, Colorado
- Logan Diekmann, Utah
Race Notes
- Team point leaders: Utah 98, Denver 84, Colorado 81, Alaska Fairbanks 64, Montana State 48, Alaska Anchorage 39, New Mexico 30.
- Utah’s Haakon Hjelstuen becomes the third different winner this season on the men’s Nordic circuit, joining Denver’s Dag Trolleboe (two wins) and Utah’s Martin Bergstroem (three wins).
- Trolleboe is the only skier who has been on the podium in all six races.
- Colorado’s Petter Reistad has three podium finishes this year.
- Bergstroem has finished in the top four in every race.
- Denver’s Eivind Kvaale has five top-five finishes this year.
Women’s 15-km Freestyle
- Guro Jordheim, Utah
- Linn Eriksen, Denver
- Hedda Baangman, Colorado
- Anne Siri Lervik, Colorado
- Emma Tarbath, Montana State
- Taeler McCrerey, Denver
- Aja Starkey, Denver
- Jasmi Joensuu, Denver
- Leah Lange, Utah
- Mariah Bredal, Utah
Race Notes
- Team point leaders: Denver 89, Utah 85, Colorado 85, Montana State 69, Alaska Fairbanks 51, New Mexico 40, Alaska Anchorage 35.
- Utah’s Guro Jordheim has won back-to-back freestyle races. She has two wins this year and four podium finishes.
- Denver’s Linn Eriksen had her first podium finish of the season with a second-place run.
- Colorado’s Hedda Baangman had her third podium finish of the year.
- Colorado’s Anne Siri Lervick finished in the top five for the third time this year.
- Montana State’s Emma Tarbath had her second top-five finish of the year.