Tuesday, February 6, 2018 • by Brooke Frederickson, RMISA
GEORGETOWN & MALOIT PARK, Colo.—The RMISA returns to Colorado this weekend for the Denver Invitational. The meet begins on Friday, Feb. 9, with the men’s and women’s giant slalom. The Nordic teams have their first race on Saturday, Feb. 10, with the classic races while alpine competes in slalom. The meet concludes with the freestyle races on Sunday, Feb. 11.
The alpine teams race at Loveland Ski Area with Nordic at Maloit Park Trails.
Colorado leads the overall team standings with 1946 points scored this year. The Buffs have won two of three meets. Denver, which has also won a meet, has 1,856 points this year, followed by Utah (1,729) and Montana State (1,589) with New Mexico fifth (1,304).
Colorado has been the top Nordic scoring team (1,054 points) while Denver has been the top alpine team (965 points).
Men’s Nordic
- A Utah skier has won six of the eight races this season, with Martin Bergstroem winning a league-high four races and Haakon Hjelstuen winning two races on the year.
-
Utah has been the top men’s Nordic team this year with 560 points scored. Colorado stands second (485).
-
Bergstroem has six podium finishes and eight top five finishes.
-
Denver’s Dag Trolleboe has two wins this year with a league-high seven podium finishes.
-
Bergstroem and Trolleboe are the only skiers who have been in the top 10 in every race.
-
Other players with multiple podium finishes are Denver’s Eivind Kvaale and Colorado’s Petter Reistad, both with three podiums.
-
Colorado’s Alvar Alev and Sondre Bollum as well as Utah’s Bjorn Riksaasen have all consistently placed in the top 10, with six top 10 finishes for each skier. Alev also has one podium and three top five finishes.
Women’s Nordic
- Colorado has been the top women’s Nordic team with 569 points scored, followed by Utah (475.5).
-
Utah’s Guro Jordheim leads all skiers with three wins and six podium finishes.
-
Several of the league’s top skiers have missed time recently. Alaska Anchorage’s Hailey Swirbul has participated in the Junior World Championships. Colorado’s Petra Hyncicova, Montana State’s Johanna Taliharm and UAA’s Casey Wright will be competing at the Olympics.
-
Hyncicova has one win and five podium finishes (second in the league).
-
Swirbul has three podium finishes.
-
Colorado’s Hedda Baangman has two wins (second in the league) and four podium finishes.
-
Denver’s Jasmi Joensuu and Linn Eriksen also each have a win this year.
-
Colorado’s Anne Siri Lervik has five top five finishes and one podium finish.
-
Utah’s Mariah Bredal has six top 10 finishes on the year.
Men’s Alpine
- New Mexico is the top men’s alpine team this season with 462 points but the top three teams are with 11 points of each other, as Denver is just one point behind (461) with Montana State third (451).
-
Colorado’s Ola Johnasen leads the league with three wins and five podium finishes.
-
Montana State’s Garret Driller has two wins and three podiums on the year.
-
New Mexico’s Vegard Busengdal has one win, four podiums and a league-high six top 10 finishes.
-
Also earning a win this year is Denver’s Jett Seymour. He has three top 10 finishes.
-
Montana State’s Morten Bakke and Denver’s Alex Leever both have multiple podium finishes this year.
-
Montana State’s Addison Dvoracek has three top five finishes on the year.
Women’s Alpine
- Denver leads women’s alpine with 503 points with Colorado second (469).
-
Five different skiers have won races, led by two wins each by Colorado’s Tonje Trulsrud and Nora Christensen. Each has four podium finishes this year to tie for the league lead.
-
Alaska Anchorage’s Charley Field, New Mexico’s Katharine Irwin and Denver’s Kristine Aasberg have one win each.
-
Denver’s Andrea Komsic has three podium finishes on the year. She will be competing in the 2018 Olympics.
-
Aasberg and Denver’s Amelia Smart each have two podium finishes.
-
Utah’s Ann-Kathrin Breuning leads the league with five top five finishes on the year.
-
New Mexico’s Rebecca Fiegl has been in the top five four times.