VAIL, Colo. — After a hard week of finals, a short race was definitely in order for the Lobo Nordic skiers that made the trip to Vail, Colorado for the National Ranking List (NRL) Race. For Eva Sever Rus, regardless of distance, it was pretty much the same result…a win.
Sever Rus, just one of two competitors in the over 20 division, picked up a win over Maja Solbakken of the University of Colorado, clocking in at13:17.8 over the 5K course. Sever Rus, who won three freestyle races last year that were all 10K or longer, beat Solbakken by 1.7 seconds.
“With only two collegians competing, it was a small race, but it was still good to see Eva win and compete,” said head coach Fredrik Landstedt. “On the men’s side, it was good to get a race under Aljaz’s belt, even though he struggled a little bit. Five kilometers is a very unusual distance for a men’s race, but for Kyle and Alec, the competition is good for them.”
For Praznik, a 2014 All-American, he finished fifth out of nine in the over 20 division, and fourth of seven in the college ranks. His time of 11:37.7 was 50.8 second behind winner Rune Malo Oedegaard from the University of Colorado. Teammate Alec Wiltz finished ninth in the division with a time of 13:08.3.
The other Lobo to compete was Kyle Beling, who was third out of five in the under-20 race with a solid time of 12:24.5 over the 5K race. He was 55.4 seconds behind division leader Lars Hannah.
The Nordics will compete on Sunday in a mass start classical race.