CU's Dingsleder, Utah's Solbakken Win GS on Opening Day of RMISA Championships

Friday, February 23, 2024 • by Ryan Gallatnt, RMISA

BIG SKY, Mont.—The 2024 RMISA Championships got underway on Friday as teams began the meet with a giant slalom at Big Sky Resort. Utah's Mikkel Solbakken won his second men's GS race in as many days, while Denise Dingsleder of Colorado posted a top-two opening run and returned with the afternoon's best run to win the women's competition.

Denver leads the meet after one day, while Colorado and Utah close behind in the top-three. Montana State and Westminster hold the Nos. 4-5 spots, with 57 points separating the top-five. A packed schedule awaits teams on Saturday, as the RMISA Championships continue with both a slalom set for alpine and a 7.5K freestyle scheduled in Bozeman, Montana, at Crosscut Mountain Sports Center.

Friday was a strong day for Denver particularly in the men's slalom, placing four athletes in the top-eight. Christian Soevik hit the podium with silver, while DU also took 6-7-8. Solbakken's teammate, Sindre Myklebust of Utah, placed third to round out the podium.

Filip Wahlqvist of Colorado and Etienne Mazellier of Colorado finished fourth and fifth, with each contributing a top-three run at some point on the day. Myklebust and Solbakken had the two fastest runs in the morning, putting the duo in good position to finish on the podium.

Colorado used four top-10 performances to lead the women's team scoring (85), highlighted by Dingsleder's triumph. She was in second place at the break and won the second run to take the podium's top step. Sara Rask and Nora Brand—both of Denver—claimed the 2-3 spots, including a first-run win for Rask.

Key scoring for CU came from Emma Hammergaard and Elena Exenberger to ensure the team's points would come entirely in the top-nine. Julia Toiviainen added a fourth top-10 finish for Colorado.

Kristiane Bekkestad (Montana State), Nicola Rountree-Williams (CMC), Giulia Tintorri (Westminster) and Kaja Norbye (Utah) were fourth through seventh to lead their respective teams.

TEAM STANDINGS (through 2-of-8 races): 1. Denver 171; 2. Colorado 164; 3. Utah 147; 4. Montana State 132; 5. Westminster 114; 6. UAA 78; 7. CMC 64; 8. Nevada 62.

WOMEN'S GIANT SLALOM TOP 10 (31 finishers): 1. Denise Dingsleder, CU; 2. Sara Rask, DU; 3. Nora Brand, DU; 4. Kristiane Bekkestad, MSU; 5. Nicola Rountree-Williams, CMC; 6. Giulia Tintorri, WMC; 7. Kaja Norbye, UU; 8. Emma Hammergaard, CU; 9. Elena Exenberger, CU; 10. Julia Toiviainen, CU.

MEN'S 5K FREESTYLE TOP 10 (46 finishers): 1. Mikkel Solbakken, UU; 2. Christian Soevik, DU; 3. Sindre Myklebust, UU; 4. Filip Wahlqvist, CU; 5. Etienne Mazellier, CU; 6. Adrian Hunshammer, DU; 7. Thomas Hoffman, DU; 8. Trey Seymour, DU; 9. Isak Staurset, MSU, 10. Jamie Casselman, MSU.