DU's Fournier, CU's Tommy Win GS Races at UAA Invite, Buffs Jump Utes in Team Standings

Thursday, February 21, 2019 • by Brooke Frederickson, RMISA

GIRDWOOD, Alaska—Denver's Simon Fournier and Colorado's Mikaela Tommy won the giant slalom races as the alpine teams got underway in Alaska on Thursday afternoon in the UAA Invitational.

Although Utah just edged Colorado in the men's team giant slalom, the Buffs had a strong women's alpine day to pull ahead in the team standings by 1.5 points, 474 to 472.5. Denver is also close behind with 452 points in third. Fourth is Alaska Anchorage (362), New Mexico fifth (360.5), Montana State sixth (237) with Alaska Fairbanks seventh (195), Westminster College eighth (80) and Colorado Mountain ninth (25). The slalom races for the meet will be held on Saturday, Feb. 23.

Both alpine and Nordic are in action on Friday for the RMISA Championships/NCAA Regional meet. The alpine teams race the giant slalom for the second-straight day while the Nordic teams compete in the classic distance races, 15-km for women and 20-km for men. Utah leads in the team standings after the Nordic freestyle races with 170 points, two ahead of Colorado.

Men's Giant Slalom

1. Simon Fournier, Denver
2. Filip Forejtek, Colorado
2. Joachim Lien, Utah
4. Tobias Kogler, Denver
5. Aage Solheim, Montana State
6. Liam Wallace, Alaska Anchorage
7. Joseph Young, Colorado
8. Sky Kelsey, Alaska Anchorage
9. Huston Philp, Utah
10. Morten Bakke, Montana State
10. Vegard Busengdal, New Mexico

Team scores: Utah 75.5, Colorado 74, Denver 71, Alaska Anchorage 67, Montana State 63, Westminster College 44, New Mexico 43.5, Colorado Mountain 25

• Denver's Simon Fournier won his third race of the season and his first giant slalom race of the year.
• Colorado's Filip Forejtek earned his first career podium.
• Utah's Joachim Lien has two podium finishes this season.
• Denver's Tobias Kogler earned his second top five finish of the season.
• Montana State's Aage Solheim finished in the top five for the second time this season.
• New Mexico's Vegard Busengdal has finished in the top 10 eight times, which leads the league.

Women's Giant Slalom

1. Mikaela Tommy, Colorado
2. Eirin Engeset, Utah
3. Tuva Norbye, Denver
4. Andrea Komsic, Denver
5. Kristine Aasberg, Utah
6. Rebecca Fiegl, New Mexico
7. Nora Christensen, Colorado
8. Stef Fleckenstein, Colorado
9. Katharine Irwin, New Mexico
10. Haley Cutler, New Mexico

Team scores: Colorado 88, New Mexico 70, Utah 66, Denver 65, Alaska Anchorage 54, Westminster College 36, Colorado Mountain 0

• Colorado's Mikaela Tommy has won all three GS races she has competed after returning from the World Cup circuit.
• Utah's Eirin Engeset is second in the league with four podium finishes.
• Denver's Tuva Norbye leads the league with seven podium finishes.
• Denver's Andrea Komsic earned her fifth top-five finish of the season.
• Utah's Kristine Aasberg, in just her third race of the season after coming back from injury, earned her first top five finish of the year.