Montana State Invitational Day Three Results
Bozeman, Mont. — The University of New Mexico Nordic squads did their jobs on Sunday in Bozeman, Montana as the women’s side picked up a pair of top 10 finishes, including Emilie Cedervärn’s second place showing, and the men had their best team score of the season despite no top 10 finishes as the Lobos jumped from seventh to fifth after six events of the Montana State Invitational.
Both sides did their parts on Sunday. In the women’s 5K freestyle race, which was held first, Emilie Cedervärn finished in second place just 10.1 seconds out of first place in the interveral start race. For Cedervärn, it is her 11th podium finish in 13 career races. Her teammate Eva Sever Rus, who is under the weather, still raced to a sixth place finish. Kati Roivas rounded out the scoring on the women’s side with a 12th place finish. That gave UNM 83 points, second-most behind Utah’s 88.
Julia Devaux picked up her second top 20 finish with a career-best 16th place mark, and Brenna Egan, who had the unenviable task of being the first one on the course, finished 30th.
On the men’s side, the squad didn’t get any top 10 finishes, but they were awfully close. Aljaž Praznik finished 11th, just 0.9 seconds out of a top 10 mark. Rookie teammate Austin Huneck continues to impress with a tie for 12th place, but that was good for 21 points behind Praznik’s 22. Petteri Vaherkoski finished 17th for 18 points and the men’s Nordic squad picked up a season-high 61 points.
Kyle Beling finished 22nd and Niklas Rombock had his best finish of the season at 24th.
“I thought Emilie skied great, especially considering that the soft conditions did not favor her technique,” said head coach Fredrik Landstedt. “Eva is still battling a stomach flu but clearly she showed that she will fight for the podium soon.”
As for the men’s team, Landstedt said, “Aljaž and Austin were just seconds out of ninth and had great races. The men are skiing stronger and hopefully we will have a couple of them move into the top 10.”
Overall UNM picked up 144 points in the Nordic freestyle. Their previous high for the season was 137 in the Nordic Freestyle in Utah.
The two squads are back at it at 10 and 11 a.m. on Monday for the 15K (women) and 20K (men) Nordic classical.
NOTES: The race was the first in which Roivas missed the top 10 … Cedervärn just missed her seventh career victory … the temperature in Bozeman for the classical race is slated to be warm with possible rain and snow/slush mix.
Overall Standings (through 6 of 8): Denver 475, Colorado 470, Utah 452, Montana State 359, New Mexico 331, Alaska-Anchorage 304, Westminister 251, Wyoming 58, Colorado Mountain 55.
Women’s Nordic Freestyle Scores: UU 88, UNM 83, DU 77, CU 65, MSU 59, UAA 47, WYO 35.
Men’s Nordic Freestyle Scores: CU 94, UU 91, MSU 73, UNM 61, DU 54, UAA 48, WYO 23.
Women’s Slalom Scores: DU 106, CU 71, UU 59, UAA 58, UNM 56, WMC 55, MSU 49, CMC 0
Men’s Slalom Scores: MSU 81,CU 79, DU 75, WMC 74, UU 68, UAA 44, UNM 33, CMC 17.
Women’s Giant Slalom Scores: CU 75, DU 73, MSU 69, UU 69, UNM 61, WMC 60, UAA 47, CMC 17.
Men’s Giant Slalom Scores: DU 90, CU 86, UU 77, WMC 62, UAA 60, MSU 38, UNM 37, CMC 21.