Utah takes early lead at Pat Miller Invitational

Utah’s Niklas Persson (Scott Hallenberg)

PARK CITY/SOLDIER HOLLOW, Utah – The host University of Utah Utes kicked off the 2014 season in style, surging to a 71.5 point lead over the field after the first day and first half of the 2014 Pat Miller Invitational, hosted at Park City Mountain Resort and Soldier Hollow.

The Utes won three of the four races and took second in the other to compile 362.5 points in the new scoring system, including near perfect performances on the Nordic side.

“I am very impressed with team effort today and ecstatic with the results,” Utah Director of Skiing Kevin Sweeney said. “I think everyone was focused on getting a good race result under their belts in the first college race of the season. I also think that our maturity showed today. We looked like a very balanced team today, and that really stands out for me. We’re off to a very good start.”

The Utah men’s Nordic team, with results being pulled from the U.S. National Championships, finished first, second and fourth in the 20K classic race while the Ute women finished second, third and fourth to compile more than 100 points in both races.

With 362.5 points, the Utes are 71.5 points ahead of second place Denver (291). New Mexico finished third with 264.5 points with Alaska Anchorage sitting in fourth (237), Colorado fifth (224) and Montana State sixth (207). RMISA associate members Westminster College (106), Wyoming (14) and Colorado Mountain College (0) round out the standings.

The day began in Park City with the men’s giant slalom race, where Denver’s Trevor Philp won by more than a second-and-a-half with a time of 1:56.83. Westminster’s Tim Lindgren took second in 1:58.37 while Colorado freshman Tanner Mottau was third in 1:58.51 to round out the podium. Denver’s Espen Lysdahl was fourth in 1:58.54 and Utah’s Mark Engel fifth in 1:58.74.

“The majority of the course was icy, with parts being soft with some death cookies. But for the most part they were good hard conditions for us, and every day the snow seems to be getting better as hill just opened two days ago,” said Philp. “I definitely took confidence from my racing prior to Christmas, and my World Cup experience. I just tried to ski normally as I have been, not go for anything more, but I couldn’t let up at all either. I kept my speed going throughout most of the course, especially coming off the second pitch onto the long flats.”

Denver won the race with 91 points on the strength of Philp’s win and Lysdahl’s fifth place. Utah was second with 70 points, followed by Colorado (68), Westminster (66) and New Mexico (61).

Meanwhile in Soldier Hollow, the women’s 15K classic interval start race was getting underway. Alaska Anchorage’s Marine Dusser won in a time of 31:15.8, 20 seconds ahead of a Utah trio that included Sloan Storey (31:36.7), Anna-Lena Heynen (32:39.7) and Anna Svendsen (32:39.7), while Denver’s Katie Gill (32:43.5) rounded out the top five.

The Utes racked up 102 points while Dusser’s performance led to 81 points for the Seawolves. Montana State (64) New Mexico (62) and Denver (60) were then all packed together.

Back to Park City for the women’s slalom races where Westminster’s Tonje Sekse took the win in 1:47.62, just one hundredth of a second over Colorado’s Jessica Honkonen (1:47.63). Utah’s Kristiina Rove hit the podium in a time of 1:48.53 with New Mexico’s Karoline Myklebust finishing fourth in 1:49.08 and Denver’s Devin Delaney (1:49.23) rounding out the top five.

Utah edged out Colorado, 82.5-79, for the race win while New Mexico (72.5) and Denver (68) were also in the mix.

The first day of the season ended back at Soldier Hollow, where the men’s 20k classic race results were pulled from the U.S. National Championships. Utah’s Niklas Persson won in a time of 40:13.3, 13.1 seconds ahead of teammate Oscar Ivars (40:26.4), while Denver’s Moritz Madlener hit the podium in a time of 41:18.0. Utah’s Kevin Bolger (41:18.0) and Alaska Anchorage’s Lukas Ebner (41:32.1) rounded out the top five.

Utah’s 1-2-4 finish gave it 108 more points to add to its total while Denver finished second with 72 points and New Mexico and Alaska Anchorage tied for third in the race with 69 points.

“This is a great way to open the year on our home course, and it feels good to get the RMISA season underway,” Nordic head coach Abi Holt said. “I’m very happy with this start, and I hope we can carry this momentum into the races on Wednesday.”

Action continues Sunday with the women’s giant slalom and men’s slalom races in alpine action. The Nordic teams will have a few days off before again counting a U.S. National Championship race as its own on Wednesday with the 20K women’s and 30K men’s freestyle races.

Release courtesy of RMISA

Men’s Results

Rk. Bib Skier Team Time Pts.
1 3 PHILP, Trevor DU 1:56.83 40
2 19 LINDGREN, Tim WMC 1:58.37 37
3 26 MOTTAU, Tanner* CU 1:58.51 —
4 1 LYSDAHL, Espen DU 1:58.54 34
5 16 ENGEL, Mark UU 1:58.74 31
6 27 NYBERG, Jonas WMC 1:59.06 29
7 11 TRIENDL, Armin UNM 1:59.25 27
8 13 HIETANEN, Kasper CU 2:00.25 25
9 17 BRATH, Joergen UU 2:00.32 23
10 22 GUNNARSSON, Henrik CU 2:00.40 22
11 18 ZIKA, Adam CU 2:00.51 21
12 40 PENTTINEN, Juho-Pekka UNM 2:00.67 20
13 23 HAUG, Andreas Willumsen CU 2:00.72 —
14 9 HARMANEN, Niko UAA 2:00.83 19
15 14 SMITH, Cameron CU 2:01.37 —
16 28 NEUHAUSER, David MSU 2:01.42 18
17 39 REYNOLDS, Charlie* DU 2:01.47 —
18 2 JAMPOLSKY, Grant DU 2:01.94 17
19 20 BRIGOVIC, Sebastian DU 2:02.01 —
20 5 TROW, Andy UU 2:02.89 16
21 31 SANDVIK, Eian UU 2:03.16 —
22 46 MCDONALD, Fletcher* CU 2:03.28 —
23 56 NORTON, Hughston UAA 2:03.32 15
24 37 HORNER, Sean UNM 2:04.26 14
25 53 MCKILLOP, Curtis UAA 2:05.13 13
26 51 OWSLEY, David MSU 2:05.35 12
27 72 MILLER, Mark UNM 2:06.17 —
28 68 MCCONNELL, Ryan MSU 2:06.85 11
29 75 SCHINDLER, James UAA 2:09.07 —
Did Not Finish (1st Run)
6 BANSMER, Michael UNM
21 JAGOT, Benoit WMC
30 KIRCHER, Andrew* MSU
33 CARRY, Roger CU
36 SHIFFRIN, Taylor DU
63 GAGNON, Cedrik UAA
Did Not Finish (2nd Run)
(24) FLOWERS, Kit DU
Did Not Start (2nd Run)
62 KULLBERG, Kei UAA
90 WATTENMAKER, Owen CMC
42 MONSEN, Sam MSU
94 CUTLER, Will CMC
89 CROASDALE, Connor CMC

Women’s Results

Rk. Bib Skier Team Time Pts.
1 10 SEKSE, Tonje WMC 1’47.62 40
2 1 HONKONEN, Jessica CU 1’47.63 37
3 3 ROVE, Kristiina UU 1’48.53 34
4 19 MYKLEBUST, Karoline UNM 1’49.08 31
5 4 DELANEY, Devin DU 1’49.23 29
6 18 FAUSA, Chloe Margrethe UU 1’49.27 27
7 12 CARROLL, Tianda DU 1’49.48 25
8 6 GROSVOLD, Thea CU 1’49.56 23
T9 5 ROBNIK, Mateja UNM 1’49.97 21.5
T9 2 KOBAL, Ana UU 1’49.97 21.5
11 21 DUPRATT, Jaime UU 1’50.00 —
13 9 ALTRINGER, Courtney UNM 1’50.36 20
14 31 SAMUELS, Lauren UU 1’50.85 —
15 14 MCLEAN, Shane CU 1’50.91 19
16 11 MCBROOM, Kelly MSU 1’51.69 18
17 24 IRWIN, Stephanie MSU 1’52.36 17
18 36 STAPLES, Sydney UNM 1’52.79 —
19 13 RIOPELLE, Marissa MSU 1’52.97 16
21 15 DANZA, Emily MSU 1’53.59 —
22 25 BERTHER, Vanessa UAA 1’54.39 15
24 27 KNOWLES, Natalie DU 1’54.58 14
26 20 LAMOUREUX, Katerine UAA 1’56.56 13
29 39 GRAUER, Taylor UNM 1’56.84 —
30 26 BERECZ, Anna UAA 1’57.40 12
32 35 WISE, Clare CU 1’58.37 —
39 33 KOPRUCKI, Elizabeth MSU 2’01.22 —
40 62 HOSTETLER, Katie CU 2’01.29 —
41 41 PALMER, Teagen UU 2’02.05 —
42 53 DRILLER, Tenaya* MSU 2’02.20 —
44 65 ANDREINI, Isabella UAA 2’02.67 —
51 48 SHEELY, Miranda UAA 2’06.45 —
52 64 TRIVANOVIC, Una* MSU 2’09.00 —
Did Not Finish (1st Run)
67 FRENCH, Bridget DU
44 FREEMAN, Sarah MSU
38 MCVICKER, Victoria UAA
8 WALES, Brooke CU
7 HAUGEN, Kristine Gjelsten DU
Did Not Finish (2nd Run)
30 AUFRERE, Marie WMC
17 MONCENIX, Laurie WMC