New Mexico Takes Lead At Montana State Invitational

Friday, January 18, 2019 • by Brooke Frederickson, RMISA

BOZEMAN, Mont.—Two first-time alpine winners in Montana State's Jocelyn McCarthy and Colorado's Joey Young in the slalom were some of the highlights on the second day of the Montana State Invitational. In Nordic, Utah's Guro Jordheim continued her win streak while New Mexico's Kornelius Groev won his second race of the season in the freestyle.

New Mexico leads the meet with 434 points with Colorado (425) and Utah (400) hot on the Lobos heels. Denver stands fourth (389.5) with Montana State fifth (369), Alaska Anchorage sixth (331), Westminster College seventh (205.5), Alaska Fairbanks eighth (106) and Colorado Mountain College ninth (31).

The Montana State Invitational concludes on Saturday with the men's and women's classic races. In addition, the men's slalom race from the Colorado Invitational will be held. The race was postponed last week due to heavy snow. Utah leads the CU Invite, 602 to 517 over Denver with Colorado third (144.5).

Men's 10-km Freestyle

1. Kornelius Groev, New Mexico
2. Ricardo Izquierdo-Bernier, New Mexico
3. Ola Jordheim, Utah
4. Johan Eirik Meland, New Mexico
5. Ben Berend, New Mexico
6. Sondre Bollum, Colorado
7. Toomas Kollo, Alaska Anchorage
8. Maximilian Bie, Utah
9. Wyatt Gebhardt, Colorado
10. Arnaud Guyon, Alaska Fairbanks

• Team scores: New Mexico 108, Utah 79, Colorado 70.5, Alaska Anchorage 60, Alaska Fairbanks 50, Denver 49.5, Montana State 37
• New Mexico's Kornelius Groev won his second race of the season.
• The Lobos took four of the top five spots in the race. Ricardo Izquierdo-Bernier earned his first career podium with a second-place run. Johan Eirik Meland and Ben Berend both earned their career best finishes.
• Utah's Ola Jordheim earned his first career podium finish. Both Groev and Jordheim have finished in the top five in every race.

1. Guro Jordheim, Utah
2. Mariah Bredal, Utah
3. Taeler McCrerey, Denver
4. Kati Roivas, Alaska Fairbanks
5. Anna Darnell, Alaska Anchorage
6. Leah Lange, Utah
7. Christina Rolandsen, Colorado
8. Anne Siri Lervik, Colorado
9. Michaela Keller-Miller, Alaska Anchorage
10. Jenna DiFolco, Alaska Anchorage

• Team scores: Utah 104, Alaska Anchorage 72, Colorado 65, Denver 57, Alaska Fairbanks 56, New Mexico 53, Montana State 47
• Utah's Guro Jordheim has won every race this season. She has 10 career race wins.
• Utah's Mariah Bredal earned her first career podium with a second-place finish.
• Denver's Taeler McCrerey earned her second podium finish of the season.
• In addition to Jordheim, Alaska Fairbanks' Kati Roivas has also finished in the top five in every race.
• Alaska Anchorage's Anna Darnell finished in the top five for the first time this season.

1. Joey Young, Colorado
2. Jett Seymour, Denver
3. Vegard Busengdal, New Mexico
4. Louis Muhlen-Schulte, Montana State
5. Raffael Breu, Westminster College
6. Mikkel Wahl, Westminster College
7. Huston Philp, Utah
8. Joachim Lien, Utah
9. Zak Vinter, Montana State
10. Alex Barounos, New Mexico

• Team scores: Westminster College 75, Montana State 73, New Mexico 71, Denver 69, Utah 65, Colorado 59, Alaska Anchorage 39, Colorado Mountain 12
• Colorado's Joey Young earned his first career victory and podium with the win.
• Denver's Jett Seymour finished on the podium for the first time this season.
• New Mexico's Vegard Busengdal earned his first podium of the year.
• Montana State's Louis Muhlen-Schulte and Westminster's Raffael Breu both earned their best career finishes with runs in the top five.

1. Jocelyn McCarthy, Montana State
2. Tuva Norbye, Denver
3. Nora Christensen, Colorado
4. Andrea Komsic, Denver
5. Amelia Smart, Denver
6. Roni Remme, Utah
7. Eirin Engeset, Utah
8. Katie Hensien, Denver
9. Stephanie Gartner, Montana State
10. Mikaela Tommy, Colorado

• Denver 97, Montana State 73, Colorado 72, Utah 70, New Mexico 51, Westminster College 50, Alaska Anchorage 41, Colorado Mountain 0
• Montana State's Jocelyn McCarthy won her first career race.
• Denver's Tuva Norbye finished on the podium for the fifth time.
• Colorado's Nora Christensen earned her first podium of the season.
• Denver's Andrea Komsic and Amelia Smart both finished in the top five for the fourth time this season.