BOULDER, Colo. — One has been skiing collegiately for four years. One has been skiing collegiately for four weeks. Both picked up big honors this week after helping the Lobos to a team title at the Jade Enterprises/UNM Invitational. Mats Resaland, a fourth-year senior, and Emile Cedervärn, a first-year junior, were both named RMISA Nordic Skiers of the Week for the week ending February 1 by league officials.
Resaland picked up a pair of top-10 finishes, including his first career victory. In the 10K classical, Resaland finished seventh, just 0.2 seconds ahead of teammate Aljaz Praznik. On Saturday in the 10K Freestyle, he came from behind to lead going into the final turns. Despite a nasty spill on the final downhill portion of the course, he skated brilliantly to a 1.9 second win over Praznik, giving him his first career win after three second place finishes. The win also came in the final home race of his career.
For Cedervärn, she ran just her third and fourth collegiate races, but pushed her top-10 total to four, and now has three straight podiums. She finished second in both the 10K Classical and the 5K Freestyle, the two best finishes on the women’s Nordic side for the Lobos this season.
Both skiers helped UNM to the win, and it’s the second straight week that the Lobos picked up a pair of RMISA Awards. Mateja Robnik and Sydney Staples both got alpine honors last week.
The team has a few weeks off before the final event of the season, the Alaska Anchorage Invitational February 23-26. That’s followed on February 27 and 28 by the RMISA/West Region Championships.