STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. — Emilie Cedervarn, competing in her first meet for the Lobos, and Mats Resaland both finished seventh in their respective freestyle Nordic events to lead the Lobos at the Spencer James Nelson Memorial University of Colorado Invitational at Howelson Hill.
The Lobos are tied for fifth overall with Montana State through two events, with six to go. UNM has 113 points. Colorado, the host school, leads with 183 points. Utah (2nd), Alaska-Anchorage (3rd) and Denver (4th) round out the next three slots in the standings of the four-day event.
Sylvia Nordskar of Denver won the women’s race with a time of 13:52.6 while Rune Oedegaard of Colorado won the men’s race at 24:19.6. Nordskar now has won all three RMISA Nordic races this year, and Oedegaard has two wins in three tries, finishing second in the other.
The Lobos once again are down in numbers for the meet, with the men’s team still missing Aku Nikander, and the women’s team missing both Anni Nord and Jessica Gnuchtel. Both were ill, with Nord not making the trip. Last year’s NCAA champion Eva Sever Rus did return from an injury, but she wasn’t 100% and finished 18th. Gnuchtel is expected to compete in the classical race on Saturday, but Sever Rus is not. Heleene Tambet was UNM’s other skier and finished 21st. The Lobo women have now had five different meet scorers this season, and Tambet, a late addition to the team last year, leads with 52 total points in three races.
“I’m really proud of the race by Emilie. She skied very well for her first race and was third halfway, but she tired a little at the end,” said head coach Fredrik Landstedt. “Heleene skied pretty well today,” he said, adding “Eva’s back is still bothering her and she will probably not go in the classical, but we should get Jessica back from her illness.”
Along with Resaland, who scored 25 points, the Lobos got solid races from Aljaz Pranik who finished 13th and Christian Otto, who finished 23rd. Kyle Beling was 26th and Alec Wiltz was 30th. Praznik picked up 19 points and leads UNM’s Nordic squad this season with 70. Resaland, Praznik and Otto have scored in all three races this season.
“That was a really strong race by Mats today,” said Landstedt of Resaland’s race, as he finished less than six seconds out of fourth place. “I think that’s a good sign that he is on the way up. Aljaz (pronounced al YAASH) stayed with Mads Stroem in second place for a long time but tired in the end, and Christian has been sick, so it was okay but we will do better tomorrow.”
Remaining Schedule of Events
Saturday, Jan. 24:
Men’s 20K Classical (Howelsen Hill, 9:30 a.m.)
Women’s 15K Classical (Howelsen Hill, 10:45 a.m.)
Sunday, Jan. 25:
Men’s Slalom (LaBelle/International; 8:15 a.m. first run, Noon second run)
Women’s Slalom (LaBelle/International; 9:45 a.m. first run, 1:30 p.m. second run)
Monday, Jan. 26:
Women’s Giant Slalom (LaBelle/International; 8:15 a.m. first run, 12:45 p.m. second run)
Men’s Giant Slalom (LaBelle/International; 10 a.m. first run, 2 p.m. second run)
RMISA GS Qualifier
Tuesday, Jan. 27:
Men’s Giant Slalom (LaBelle/International; 8:15 a.m. first run, 12:30 p.m. second run)
Women’s Giant Slalom (LaBelle/International; 10 a.m. first run, 2:15 p.m. second run)
SCORING: For the second season, the RMISA has the same scoring system utilized by the NCAA. Each school can designate six potential scoring skiers with the top three counting toward the team score. Points are awarded as follows for a maximum of 30 skiers: 40-37-34-31-29-27-25-23-22-21-20-19-18-17-16-15-14-13-12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1. Any finisher from a school that has already scored three skiers do not receive team point credit, with the next placement assigned to the next finisher from a school who has not yet utilized all three scoring spots.
Notes: The 2015 meet is the fourth in memory of Spencer Nelson, who died in a hiking accident in Aspen on August 16, 2010, days before the start of his sophomore season at Colorado … this is the start of a busy nine-day stretch as the RMISA teams will compete for five days in Colorado and then head to Red River, New Mexico for the Jade Enterprises/UNM Invitational next Friday and Saturday … the meets are squeezed together to allow time for a break for student-athletes to compete in the World Alpine Championships in Vail and Beaver Creek, Feb. 2-15, and the 27th Winter World University Games, set for Granada, Spain, Feb. 4-14 … UNM has five female Nordics, but due to injury and illness, it hasn’t had more than three go in any single race this year.