Spencer James Nelson/CU Invitational Final Results | RMISA Giant Slalom Qualifier 2
Steamboat Springs, Colo. — Emilie Cedervärn won again on Sunday morning, taking the women’s 15K Classical race at the Spencer James Nelson Colorado Invitational by just 2.3 seconds, moving her into a tie for the UNM career record for Nordic wins with eight as UNM finished in fifth place overall, just 3.5 points out of fourth place. UNM picked up a season-high 514 points, the third straight meet in which UNM imcreased its point total.
For Cedervärn, she now is tied with Martina Stursova for career Nordic wins with eight, and she has been good in either type of race, with four wins in freestyle, and now with today’s win, four in classical. Cedervärn won the NCAA title last year in the Classical.
Her two wins this weekend bode well as they came on the same course and in the same races that the 2016 NCAA National Championships will be held on.
The two wins on the weekend gave Cedervärn a team-best 220 points on the season, and 587 for her career. Unlike yesterday’s win in which Cedervärn nearly lapped the field so to speak, this time it was a dogfight, with Emilie finishing ahead of Utah’s Veronika Mayerhoffer as the two once again waged a fantastic 1-2 race, a somewhat regular occurrence over the last two seasons.
Overall, the women’s Nordic team got three top 10 finishes in the classical as Kati Roivas finished ninth and Eva Sever Rus finished 10th. The only other Lobo in the race was Brenna Egan, who was 27th. UNM finished with 83 points, but it wasn’t enough to fully close the gap to fourth place Montana State.
The men’s 20K classical race was the first race of the morning, and event seven in the Invitational, and UNM got a top 10 finish from Aljaž Praznik, who came in eighth place for 23 points. Petteri Vaherkoski finished 13th and Austin Huneck 19th to round out UNM’s scoring trio, as they picked up 59 points. Kyle Beling just missed a top 20 finish at 22nd and Niklas Rombock was 24th.
Separate from the Invitational, Colorado also hosted the second RMISA giant slalom qualifier of the season, and the men’s alpine squad continued its surge. Although there were no team scores, it was easily the best effort of the season, with Carl-Johan Öster finishing seventh, Rob Greig finishing 11th and Alex Barounos 23rd.
Nick Veth finished 29th, Patrick Brachner was 33rd and Tyler Theis was 34th. Had there been team scores, UNM would have scored 54.
On the women’s side, Katharine Irwin was looking at a second straight podium finish before skiing out in the second run after coming in third after the opening run. Leading the way was Courtney Altringer, who tied for her second-best career finish, coming in fifth, her third career top five. Sydney Staples was ninth and Karoline Søvik Myklebust came in 11th as UNM would have scored 71 points.
Sara Ottosson finished 22nd and Taylor Grauer was 29th to round out the Lobo contingent.
Now, all of the RMISA squads will take a break of three weeks before the Lobos hosted the Jade Enterprises/Drew Judycki Memorial/UNM Invitational, with the alpine slalom events at Red River and the Nordic events at the Enchanted Forest Nordic Center.
NOTES: Cedervärn’s eight titles is tied for first among all Lobo Nordics, and it’s now tied for fourth overall for the entire program. Agnetha Horth (15 wins), Petter Brenna (13 wins) and Malin Hemmingson (10 wins) all have more wins in alpine.
Overall Standings (FINAL): Utah 649, Denver 587, Colorado 583, Montana State 516.5, New Mexico 514, Alaska-Anchorage 402.5, Westminster 240, Wyoming 118, Colorado Mountain 61.
Women’s Slalom Scores: DU 94, UNM 70, UU 66, CU 64, MSU 60, UAA 54, WMC 46, CMC 9
Men’s Slalom Scores: CU 86, WMC 75, DU 71, UAA 61, MSU 60, UU 53, UNM 47, CMC 18.
Women’s Nordic Freestyle: UNM 83, MSU 82, UU 81, CU 61, DU 56, UAA 55, WYO 15.
Men’s Nordic Freestyle: UU 98, MSU 82, DU 75, CU 67, UNM 54, UAA 45, WYO 23.
Women’s Giant Slalom Scores: UU 86, DU 79, UNM 72, CU 69, WMC 53, MSU 52, UAA 43, CMC 9.
Men’s Giant Slalom Scores: CU 86, UU 85, WMC 66, DU 62, UAA 55½, MSU 51½, UNM 47, CMC 25.
Women’s Nordic Classical: UU 89, UNM 83, CU 75, DU 68, MSU 58, UAA 44, WYO 37.
Men’s Nordic Classical: UU 92, DU 79, CU 76, MSU 69, UNM 59, UAA 46, WYO 23.