ANCHORAGE, Alaska—In a thrilling season opening Nordic meet, Denver used a strong day of classic racing to take the lead from Utah, which led after the freestyle races, as the Nordic scoring for the UAA Invitational were taking from races that were part of the U.S. National Championships.
Andreas Kirkeng earned wins in both races and Denver won both races as a team with Florian Knopf giving the Pioneers a 1-2 finish in the men's 20K classic race on Sunday. Kirkeng led RMISA skiers after the first 5K loop and after sitting in fourth at the end of the second lap, he threw down the fastest third and fourth lap to pick up the win by just under 16 seconds over Knopf. CU then went 3-4 with Will Koch taking third and Hugo Hinckfuss fourth and then a pair of Utes, Walker Hall and Brian Bushey, were 5-6 in the final standings.
In the women's race, UAF's Kendall Kramer picked up a solid win, edging Utah's Erica Laven by just 2.4 seconds. Kramer used the fastest first and fourth laps to pick up the win, while Laven was the fastest skier throught he middle 10K of the course, having the fastest second and third laps. Montana State's Kate Oldham picked up her second podium of the weekend in third place while Denver's Eve-Ondine Duchaufour and Utah's Selma Nevin rounded out the top five.
Three days earlier in the 10K freestyle race, Kirkeng had the fastest first and second lap and cruised to a 13.8 second win over Utah's Hall, while Hinckfuss, Bushey and Koch rounded out the top five.
Oldham won the season opening race for the MSU women's team and was joined on the podium by Kramer and Laven while Tilde Baangman from Colorado and Maja Moland from Denver rounded out the top five of that race.
Denver won both men's races and Utah both women's when the team scores were calculated, and with alpine events not happening until late February, the Pioneers hold a seven point lead over the Utes when those races take place. Denver's total was 341 and Utah's 334 and Colorado is third with 294 points while host Alaska Anchorage is fourth with 242 points with Alaska Fairbanks (231) and Montana State (229) in a tight battle for fourth place.
Alpine teams take center stage Sunday with a slalom qualifier at Loveland before the DU Invitational begins Monday and Tuesday with slalom races at Loveland and GS races at Copper Mountain.
Date | Race |
---|---|
Jan. 2 | Women's 10K Freestyle |
Jan. 2 | Men's 10K Freestyle |
Jan. 5 | Women's 20K Classic |
Jan. 5 | Men's 20K Classic |
Feb. 19 | Women's Giant Slalom |
Feb. 19 | Men's Giant Slalom |
Feb. 21 | Women's Slalom |
Feb. 21 | Men's Slalom |