NCAA: Utah wins first meet in nearly five years

The University of Utah finished first in the team standings for the first time in nearly five years in topping its home invitational Saturday. The Utes finished with 585.5 points, well ahead of second-place Denver, which finished with 550. Colorado finished third with 543 points.
The University of Utah finished first in the team standings for the first time in nearly five years in topping its home invitational Saturday. The Utes finished with 585.5 points, well ahead of second-place Denver, which finished with 550. Colorado finished third with 543 points.
    “We are excited about the results, yet we know we have room for improvement," said Director of Skiing Eli Brown. “We have a great period with great conditions in Park City to get everything dialed in and are focused on each individual race.”
    Highlighting Saturday’s events for Utah was sophomore Snorri Einarsson and freshman Eva Huckova, who both turned in first-place finishes. Einarsson has battled the flu this weekend but put together a strong race Saturday, overtaking rival Rene Reisshauer of Denver on the final stretch of the 15 km freestyle.
    “Snorri was disappointed with yesterday's results and felt he had something to prove today," Brown said. “He races with his heart and I hope he can recover from his illness to get us going next week.”
    Denver’s men won the freestyle race, as John Stene was eighth to back Reisshauer, and Mike Hinckley came in 11th. Havard Selseng (Sogndal, Norway) finished 17th.
    In alpine, Huckova won the GS going away, recording her first collegiate victory.
    “Eva dominated today,” said Utah head alpine coach Jaka Korencan. “We all knew she was capable of it, but she's proved to herself today that she's the best athlete on the circuit.”
    DU’s Jenny Lathrop got her first podium as a Pioneer, finishing in second place behind Huckova. Molly Ryan was 15th, and Claire Abbe came in 17th. Karine Falck-Pedersen was in 19th place. Lauren Eder fell in the first run and suffered a hairline fracture of the left ulna.
    “Jenny Lathrop skied well, and Jenny Tank was in position to win another race but had some problems and didn’t make it to the finish,” DU alpine coach Andy LeRoy said. “It’s tough losing Adam [Cole, to a broken leg on Friday] and Lauren, and the first two meets were at the most challenging courses we face all year, especially with the conditions the way they were. But overall we don’t want to make excuses, and we just didn’t compete like we expected to.”
    “Utah competed very well this weekend and deserved to win the meet.”
    Colorado’s Maria Grevsgaard won for the second straight day, this time capturing the women’s 10 km freestyle race and making some history in the progress.  While all eyes have been on teammate and senior alpiner Lucie Zikova’s chase to become CU’s all-time leader in wins, Grevsgaard’s victory Saturday was the 10th of her career, just the seventh skier in school history to reach double figures in wins. She became the fifth Nordic skier to accomplish the feat, the fourth woman overall and the third cross-country female to attain 10 or more.
    CU’s cross-country teams were again dominant Saturday and won the competition, as the Buffs scored 315 Nordic points in the meet, easily outdistancing runner-up Utah, which had 276, and Denver (258).  The CU women won the freestyle, 81-72 over Utah, after taking second in the classic on Friday (losing by a single point to the Utes), while the Buff men were second in the freestyle after winning the classic the previous day; DU outpointed CU 74-70.
    “The Nordics repeated their outstanding result from (Friday), and that’s very encouraging, CU head coach Richard Rokos said.  “And I think they’ll have the talent and depth to maintain that through the season if they can avoid major illness.”
    In the men’s slalom, New Mexico’s Tor Fodnesbergene earned the win over Nevada’s Gregory Berger. Utah’s Tague Thorson was third, followed by DU skiers Francesco Ghedina and Ian Lochhead.
    Next up for the Western squads is the Nordic competition in Colorado’s Invitational, as the alpine events took place in Steamboat Springs last weekend. Host CU takes the lead into the resumption of the meet, as the Buffs scored 278 points for a 19-point edge over Denver. Just 43 points separate the top five heading into the four cross-country races, as New Mexico (252), Utah (242) and Nevada (235) are still in the hunt.
 
Utah Invitational Team Scores—1. Utah 585.5;  2. Denver 550;  3. Colorado 543;  4. Alaska-Anchorage 442;  5. Montana State 413.5;  6. New Mexico 391.5;  7. Nevada 378.5;  8. Whitman 171;  9. Western State 158;  10. Wyoming 42.
 
Women’s 10K Freestyle—1. Maria Grevsgaard, CU, 15:39.3;  2. Claire Rennie, MSU, 16:09.8;  3. Annelise Bailly, DU, 16:12.9;  4. Kjersti Boe, Utah, 16:14.0;  5. Karoline Borgnes, CU, 16:14.9;  6. Lenka Palanova, CU, 16:15.5;  7. Chelsea Holmes, UN, 16:16.8;  8. Annelies Cook, Utah, 16:17.7;  9. Sara Schweiger, Utah, 16:19.2;  10. Zoe Roy, Utah, 16:25.1.
 
Men’s 15K Freestyle—1. Snorri Einarsson, Utah, 27:31.2;  2. Rene Reisshauer, DU, 27:32.6;  3. Anders Folleraas, MSU, 27:42.2;  4. Matt Gelso, CU, 27:47.8;  5. Raphael Wunderle, UAA, 27:55.1;  6. Simon Reissmann, UNM, 28:03.7;  7. John Stene, DU, 28:13.2;  8. Kit Richmond, CU, 28:17.6;  9. Paul Schauer, UAA, 28:24.4;  10.  Mike Hinckley, DU, 28:32.8.
 
Women’s Giant Slalom—1. Eva Huckova, Utah, 2:01.25;  2. Jenny Lathrop, DU, 2:03.78;  3. Lucie Zikova, CU, 2:04.11;  4. Allison Empey, UAA, 2:04.68;  5. Chirine Njeim, Utah, 2:04.97;  6. Mikaela Grassl, Utah, 2:05.25;  7. Malin Hemmingsson, UNM, 2:05.39;  8. Katie Hartman, CU, 2:05.57;  9. Rachel Roosevelt, CU, 2:05.70;  10. Alison Leighton, MSU, 2:05.71.
 
Men’s Slalom—1. Tor Fodnesbergene, UNM, 1:41.92;  Gregory Berger, UN, 1:42.50;  3. Tague Thorson, Utah, 1:42.61;  4. Francisco Ghedina, DU, 1:42.67;  5. Ian Lochhead, DU, 1:42.93;  6. Thomas Zumbrunn, Utah, 1:43.09;  7. Drew Roberts, CU, 1:43.58;  8. Seppi Stiegler, DU, 1:43.83; 9 (tie). Kyle Kung, Utah, and Thomas Schwab, UNM, 1:44.33.