Feb. 9, 2007
Complete Day 1 Results in PDF Format
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The University of New Mexico ski team is tied for third at the New Mexico Invitational after the first day of competition in Taos and Red River, N.M. Senior Lars Loeseth scored his second win of the season, taking the men’s giant slalom race, while the women’s Nordic team won the 5K classic. New Mexico had six skiers finish in the top-10 of their respective races. Denver leads the event with 306.5 points, followed by Colorado (247). Utah and New Mexico both have 235 points each while Montana State is in fifth place with 202 points.
“The weather has been great the last two days and the cooperation from Taos Ski Valley and Enchanted Forest Ski Area was great,” stated UNM head coach George Brooks. “Today was a good performance for our cross country women. The Alpine men were average and the Alpine women are skiing better. Our cross country men still have some work to do. Lars and Polina both had great races individually. We are getting better each time we race and we hope to have our peak performance at the NCAAs in March.”
The women’s Nordic squad won its first race of the season, capturing the 5K classic at the Enchanted Forest Ski Area in Red River, N.M. Freshman Polina Ermoshina matched her best finish of the season with her second consecutive second-place time. Ermoshina’s time of 18:08.5 was just over 13 seconds behind winner Maria Grevsgaard of Colorado. Sophomores Melanie Zemp and Crystin Jaques both finished in the top-10, crossing the line eighth and ninth, respectively. Both marks were season-highs for Zemp and Jaques in the classic. Other Lobo racers include junior Laura Van Alst (19th) and junior Tiffany Callahan (26th).
Loeseth capture the men’s giant slalom race with a two-run time of 1:55.30. It was his second win in the GS in 2007 and the sixth Alpine win of his career. Loeseth, a three-time All-American, is now tied for the most career men’s Alpine wins all time with Stefan Lanzier (1997-99). Freshman Jon Masdal placed sixth in the men’s GS for his best showing of the year. Sophomore Tor Fodnesbergene rounded out the Lobo scoring with a 13th-place time. Also racing for the Lobo men were senior Alex Mach (14th) and freshmen Gary Beresford (34th) and Olivier Lacaille (DNF). Despite posting two top-10s in the men’s GS, Denver won the team event with 84 points, compared to New Mexico’s 74.
“It was a really nice day and great conditions for racing,” stated Loeseth. “It was an easy course but hard to ski fast. You had got to go as hard as you could and try to increase your speed through every gate. I was able to do that most of the time today and overall I am very happy with the result.”
The women’s Alpine team finished fifth overall in the slalom, led by freshman Malin Hemmingson’s 10th place showing. Junior Amy Beresford was right behind her in 11th place. Junior Lene Kaasa scored for the Lobo women in 22nd place. Other Lobos racing in the women’s giant slalom include freshman Jessica Dakers (24th), and sophomore Karin Ohlin (31st).
The men’s Nordic team placed eighth in the 10K classic behind a 17th-place finish from freshman Erlend Saetre. Sophomore Casey Dyck came in 24th while freshman Vsevolod Soloviev placed 27th in the race. Senior Jedd Young was the only other Lobo racing, finishing 29th overall.
The New Mexico Invitational concludes tomorrow at Taos and Red River with the Nordic freestyle and Alpine Slalom races.