UAA Invitational Standings and Nordic classical results
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Thirteen was unlucky for UNM, as both Kristi Niiranen and Arnaud Guyon were UNM’s top finishers, both coming in 13th as UNM dropped one spot to fourth place at the UAA Invitational after the 5K women’s and 10K men’s classical races.
Overall, the Lobos finished sixth on the men’s side with 46 points and seventh on the women’s side with 40 points. The Lobos opened the day in third place just 12 points out of first place, but Colorado, on the strength of three podium finishes pushed past UNM into third place.
The Lobos are still dealing with illness and injury on the Nordic squads, who again went without four-time All-American Eva Sever Rus, and raced Kati Roivas, who isn’t 100% from a training accident earlier in the season. Yet, UNM picked up four top-20 finishes to hold off Montana State and host Alaska Anchorage.
Niranen entered the event with five top-10 finishes in five events, but could only muster 13th in a race delayed due to extreme cold weather. She picked up 18 points, and was followed by Roivas, who pushed to a 19th place finish and 12 points. Julie Ensrud came in 27th and scored 10, while Brenna Egan was 34th.
On the men’s side, Guyon recorded his sixth top-20 finish in six races this season, coming in 13th and scoring 19 points. Aljaž Praznik scored 14 points with a 19th place finish, and Petteri Vaherkoski just missed the top-20, coming in 21st and scoring 13 points. Non-scorer for UNM were Niklas Rombock in 25th and Kyle Beling in 27th.
The final events of the UAA Invitational, and of the regular season, the 15/20K freestyle will take place on Sunday at noon Alaska time. The Lobos will then have a week off before heading to Minturn and Beaver Creek for the RMISA/NCAA West Region Championships February 24-26. The alpine events will be on Friday the 24th (giant slalom) and Saturday the 25th (slalom) while the Nordic events will be on the 25th (5/10K classical) and Sunday the 26th (15/20K freestyle).
Women’s 5K Classic
Colorado 100, Alaska Anchorage 73, Alaska Fairbanks 69, Utah 65, Denver 63, Montana State 46, New Mexico 40
Men’s 10K Classic
Utah 95, Denver 94, Colorado 66, Alaska Fairbanks 66, Alaska Anchorage 54, New Mexico 46, Montana State 33
UAA Invitational (Through 6 Events)
Utah 478, Denver 476, Colorado 416, New Mexico 393, Montana State 348, Alaska Anchorage 333, Alaska Fairbanks 135, Colorado Mountain 91.