Crested Butte, Colo. — When you have a three-week break between college meets, you go where the races are. You might as well win them as well. That’s exactly what the UNM Nordic squad did over the weekend and Emilie Cedervärn and Eva Sever Rus each won races, and Aljaž Praznik and Petteri Vaherkoski finished third and sixth in their races at the Alley Loop Nordic Marathon.
Cedervärn was one of two Lobos to race in the 42K freestyle race, and she blew away the field. Cedervärn was the only racer to carry a pace of under five minutes per mile, clocking in at 4:48 per mile. She won the race with a time of 2:05:18.17, beating second place Eliska Hajkova by well over six minutes. Teammate Kati Roivas came in third place in the race as UNM’s other competitor in the 42k skate race.
The rest of UNM’s women’s squad competed in the 21k freestyle race, and Eva Sever Rus came up the winner in that race as well. Sever Rus battled Denver’s Linn Eriksen for virtually the entire 21k course, and Sever Rus was able to outsprint Eriksen to the finish as Sever Rus won by just 1.11 seconds.
Teammates Julia Devaux finished sixth and Brenna Egan came in 10th place.
The Lobo men all raced in the 42k freestyle race where Aljaž Praznik battled with Colorado’s Mads Stroem and Moritz Madlener of Denver for much of the race, with Praznik coming in third. Petteri Vaherkoski originally finished fourth but was assessed a two minute penalty, knocking him back to sixth place. Austin Huneck was ninth and Kyle Beling was 10th (he was originally sixth before he also was assessed a two minute penalty), giving UNM four top 10 skiers. Niklas Rombock finished 16th overall as well.
The races set the stage for the Drew Judycki/Jade Enterprises/UNM Invitational February 20 and 21 at the Enchanted Forest in Red River, New Mexico.
Lobo Nordic Squad Nets Two Wins in Crested Butte
