Utah Leads Colorado And Denver In Fairbanks

Tuesday, February 1, 2022 • by Curtis Snyder, RMISA

FAIRBANKS, Alaska—A podium sweep by the Utah women, near podium sweep by the Denver men and five top six performances by Colorado leave it a three way fight for the UAF Nanook Invitational after the 5K classic races were held here at Birch Hill Tuesday.

Utah opened the day with a podium sweep in the women's 5K classic race, with Sydney Palmer-Leger winning her fourth race of the season, while teammates Julia Richter and Karianne Dengerud rounded out the podium sweep for a perfect 111 points for the Utes.

Not to be outmatched, the Denver men's team nearly accomplished the same feat as the Kirkeng brothers, Andreas and Ole Marius, finished first and second respectively to propel the Pioneers to a win in the men's race.

Meanwhile, Colorado used a 4-5-6 finish in the women's race and went 3-4 on the men's side with Magnus Boee picking up his third podium of the season to finish second in both races and second in the team standings.

At the end of the day, Utah leads with 185 points, just 14.5 up on Colorado's total of 170.5 while Denver is still in the hunt with 150 points. Host UAF sits fourth with 125 points followed by Montana State (106) and Alaska Anchorage (105.5) just a half point apart for fifth place.

In a rare team start, all skiers within each team started at the same time, each team staggered two minutes apart. The results were some interesting races, as the Utah women all skied together, with the podium spots separated under nine seconds, then the three Colorado skiers separated by just 11 seconds. On the men's side, the Kirkeng brothers finished just two-tenths of a second apart while Colorado's next two, Boee and Will Koch, were also just two-tenths apart.

This is the first RMISA Invitational held in Fairbanks and hosted by UAF since 1989. The Nanooks joined the RMISA in 1981 and left in 1989, returning in 2017.

Action continues in Fairbanks tomorrow as the second of four days of racing, but will conclude the Nanook Invitational. Teams will stay in Fairbanks for the Besh Cup, which will double as the Nordic results for the RMISA Invitational.