UAA Invitational Final Results
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The 15/20K freestyle races were much kinder to New Mexico, as the Lobos picked up a pair of top-10 finishes and completed the regular season with a fourth place overall showing at the UAA Invitational.
The Lobos, who finished sixth and seventh in the men’s and women’s races yesterday, were a little better on Sunday. The men finished fourth, picking up 56 points as opposed to 46 points on Saturday. The women’s team finished seventh again, as they are still missing a pair of All-Americans, but they did score eight more points on the day.
In the women’s 15K freestyle, Krista Niiranen picked up her sixth top-10 of the season, coming in seventh place, scoring 25 points. Julie Ensrud was again UNM’s No. 2 finisher, coming in 20th for 13 points, and Brenna Egan was 28th, scoring 10. UNM again didn’t start Eva Sever Rus, who has an injured back, and Kati Roivas didn’t finish due to a lingering injury from a training accident. Sever Rus and Roivas have five All-America honors between them.
On the men’s side, Arnaud Guyon scored another top-10 with a ninth place finish for 22 points, finishing just 14 seconds out of fifth place. Petteri Vaherkoski, whose beard frosted over in the brutal cold, was 13th and scored 19 points. Aljaž Praznik battled through an illness to come in 21st and score 15 points. Kyle Beling was 25th and Niklas Rombock was 30th.
The fourth place finish was UNM’s third fourth place finish of the season, but the 497 points was their top team total of the season. UNM’s total would have been higher if not for the injury and illness bug that has hit the Nordic squad, although head coach Fredrik Landstedt is hopeful all will be well for the next meet.
The Lobos now 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 15K Classic
Utah 91, Colorado 75, Alaska Fairbanks 73, Montana State 57, Alaska Anchorage 56, Denver 54, New Mexico 48
Men’s 20K Classic
Denver 106, Utah 92, Alaska Fairbanks 64, New Mexico 56, Colorado 53, Alaska Anchorage 47, Montana State 36
UAA Invitational (Final)
Utah 661, Denver 636, Colorado 544, New Mexico 497, Montana State 441, Alaska Anchorage 436, Alaska Fairbanks 272, Colorado Mountain 91.