BOZEMAN, Mont.—Montana State's Nellie Talbot and Colorado's Filip Forejtek both opened the 2022 alpine season on strong notes, as the duo won the giant slalom races here at Bridger Bowl as part of the Montana State Invitational.
But Utah, who held a commanding lead coming into the day fresh of a dominating Nordic performance, extended its lead and now has 558 points, 146 up on second place Denver (412) with Colorado sitting in third just 10 points behind the Pioneers with 402. Host Montana State is fourth with 358.5 points and Alaska Anchorage rounds out the top five with 320 points.
Ironically, for both Talbot and Forejtek, their previous career-best finish in GS was in the same race, at the 2020 NCAA Championships both finished second in the GS race. Forejtek actually has four runner up GS finishes, and this is the second overall win of his career, his 14th podium appearance and 19th top five. Talbot now has five podium appearances in her career.
In the women's race, Westminster's Julie Toiviainen took second and Utah's Madison Hoffman was third to round out the podium. Utah won the race with 88 points with Westminster taking second with 82 and the Bobcats close behind with 80.5 points.
On the men's side, Denver's Cornelius Cooper was second and MSU's Riley Seger round out the podium. The Buffs won the race with 92 points with Westminster coming in second with 68.
Next up for the alpine teams are slalom races the next two days at Bridger Bowl. Wednesday's races will conclude the Montana State Invitational and Thursday's will begin the RMISA Invitational.
| Date | Race |
|---|---|
| Jan. 15 | Women's 5K Freestyle |
| Jan. 15 | Men's 10K Freestyle |
| Jan. 16 | Women's 10K Classical |
| Jan. 16 | Men's 15K Classical |
| Jan. 18 | Women's Giant Slalom |
| Jan. 18 | Men's Giant Slalom |
| Jan. 19 | Women's Slalom |
| Jan. 19 | Men's Slalom |