MIDWAY, Utah—Alaska Anchorage put seven skiers in the top 10 and went 1-2-3-4 in the men's 15K classic race, closing the gap on host Utah as the conclusion of the Nordic races as part of the Utah Invitational come to a close here at the U.S. National Championships.
From freestyle sprint races Sunday to the 10/15K classic races Thursday, the races couldn't be more different, but the results at the top were identical as Utah's Sydney Palmer-Leger and UAA's J.C. Schoonmaker each won for the second straight college race.
Behind Schoonmaker in the men's race were teammates Espen Persen in second, Magnus Noroey in third and Sigurd Roenning in fourth. Colorado's Magnus Boee picked up his 14th straight top five finish.
Behind Palmer-Leger in the women's race, CU freshman Hanna Abrahamsson made her collegiate debut in second place and was joined on the podium by Denver's Vera Norli. Utes Abigail Jarzin and Julia Richter rounded out the top five. UAA finished sixth (Tuva Bygrave), eighth (Pascale Paradis) and ninth (Astrid Stav) for the stellar day.
Utah came in with a 39 point lead over UAA and CU, and finished the Nordic portion up 15 on UAA, 346-331. Colorado is third in 304 while Denver moved up to fourth with 252 points. Alaska Fairbanks and Montana State (221-213) are battling it out for fifth place.
Nordic teams will remain at U.S. National Championships to compete in classic sprint races Friday. Those races will count as an RMISA extra qualifier, but not be scored as part of any team meet. Nordic teams will then head to Sun Valley, Idaho, for the Montana State Invitational Jan. 15-16.
Alpine teams will then get the 2022 season underway Jan. 17-19 to close out the MSU Invitational at Bridger Bowl.
| Date | Race |
|---|---|
| Jan. 2 | Women's Freestyle Sprints |
| Jan. 2 | Men's Freestyle Sprints |
| Jan. 6 | Women's 10K Classical |
| Jan. 6 | Men's 15K Classical |
| Jan. 24 | Women's Giant Slalom |
| Jan. 24 | Men's Giant Slalom |
| Jan. 25 | Women's Slalom |
| Jan. 25 | Men's Slalom |