Sunday, February 17, 2019 • by Brooke Frederickson, RMISA
ANCHORAGE, Alaska—Denver's Jasmi Joensuu won her first collegiate race and New Mexico's Kornelius Groev won his fourth of the year in the freestyle races on the first day of the UAA Invitational.
The team standings are close at the top as Colorado leads Utah by just eight points (169 to 161) with Denver close behind in third with 158 points. New Mexico is fourth (137) followed by Alaska Fairbanks (109) and Alaska Anchorage (100) with Montana State seventh (74).
Today's race began a full week in Alaska for the league with races for the UAA Invitational and RMISA Championships/NCAA West Regional meets. The Nordic portion of the UAA Invitational concludes on Monday, Feb. 18, with the classic sprints.
Women's 10-km Freestyle
- Jasmi Joensuu, Denver
- Julia Richter, Utah
- Christina Rolandsen, Colorado
- Kati Roivas, Alaska Fairbanks
- Anne Siri Lervik, Colorado
- Hedda Baangman, Colorado
- Mariah Bredal, Utah
- Kristine Karsrud, Denver
- Taeler McCrerey, Denver
- Natalia Mueller, Denver
Team scores: Colorado 90, Denver 85, Utah 83, Alaska Fairbanks 61, Alaska Anchorage 54, New Mexico 43, Montana State 38
- The women's race included an unwanted visitor, a moose that crossed the trail. The leaders were briefly forced to stop until it moved on.
- Joensuu, who has competed in just two other races this season, earned her first career win.
- Utah's Julia Richter earned her first career podium finish, she has three top five finishes this year.
- Colorado's Christina Rolandsen earned her first podium of the year and has finished in the top five twice.
- Alaska Fairbanks Kati Roivas is tied for the league lead with five top five finishes.
- Colorado's Anne Siri Lervik has four top five finishes this year.
- Lervik and Rolandsen lead the league with seven finishes in the top 10.
Men's 10-km Freestyle
- Kornelius Groev, New Mexico
- Eivind Kvaale, Denver
- Ricardo Izquierdo-Bernier- New Mexico
- Erik Dengerud, Colorado
- Maximilian Bie, Utah
- Ola Jordheim, Utah
- Alvar Alev, Colorado
- Sondre Bollum, Colorado
- Logan Diekmann, Utah
- Sigurd Roenning, Alaska Anchorage
Team scores: New Mexico 94, Colorado 79, Utah 78, Denver 73, Alaska Fairbanks 48, Alaska Anchorage 46, Montana State 36
- New Mexico's Kornelius Groev has won all four freestyle races this year and his six podium finishes leads the league.
- Denver's Eivind Kvaale earned his first podium finish of the season.
- New Mexico's Ricardo Izquierdo-Bernier earned his fourth podium of the year, which ranks second in the league.
- Colorado's Erik Dengerud earned his first top five finish of the season.
- Utah's Maximilian Bie has two top five finishes this year.
- In addition to Groev and Izquierdo-Bernier, Utah's Ola Jordheim has finished in the top 10 in every race this season.