Tungesvik Earns Second Team All-America in Nordic
Friday, March 9
NC Skiing: Slalom
6:45 p.m. MT Women’s First Run | 7:30 p.m. MT Men’s First Run | 9 p.m. MT Women’s Second Run | 9:30 p.m. MT Men’s Second Run
http://www.ncaa.com/live/player?vid=2018/3384&date=2018/03/09
Women’s Slalom Live Timing – http://rmisaskiing.com/livea.php?r=1628
Men’s Slalom Live Timing – http://rmisaskiing.com/livea.php?r=1629
Saturday, March 10
NC Skiing: Freestyle
9 a.m. MT/11 a.m. ET Men’s 20K | 11 a.m. MT/1 p.m. ET Women’s 15K
http://www.ncaa.com/live/player?vid=2018/3387&date=2018/03/10
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. — Sindre Tungesvik had never finished higher than ninth place in any Nordic Classical race. He picked a great time to top that mark. Tungesvik, along with teammates Ricardo Izquierdo-Bernier and Erland Nydal, took advantage of a terrific wax from head coach Fredrik Landstedt to record superb marks in the 10K Nordic Classical at the NCAA Championships, with Tungesvik finishing eighth and earned Second Team All-America honors.
Tungesvik was the 18th skier out in the 40-person individual start, meaning he would be predicted, if all went according to the start, 22nd. However, he had the top 5K split at 14:03, just ahead of teammate Izquierdo-Bernier, who went out sixth.
Izquierdo-Bernier was the early race leader under Tungesvik came in at 28:36.9, and overtook his teammate for the lead. Then it was a waiting game, as one-by-one, skiers finished but behind Tungesvik’s time. It wasn’t until the 27th skier, Callan Deline of Dartmouth crossed that finish Tungesvik was pushed out of the top spot. From there it was a wait to see if he could hold onto a top-10 finish.
He made it with room to spare, finishing eighth and becoming UNM’s first Nordic Classical All-American since 2015 when Aku Nikander finished fourth in a wild race that saw Nikander and another skier crash in a four-person sprint to the finish. The finish was good for 23 points and was a career-best classical finish for Tungesvik.
Izquierdo-Bernier couldn’t hold onto the top 10, missing by less than 10 seconds, finishing 12th and earning 19 points. Erland Nydal was 26th and scored five points. Overall UNM scored 47 points and finished sixth in the race.
While it went extremely well for the men, it didn’t go that well for the women’s Nordic team, as the Lobos failed to place any skiers in the top-30, which is the scoring zone for the championships. Andrea Klementová finished 35th, Brenna Egan 36th and Carolyn Lucca 38th in the 5K, as UNM didn’t score in the event.
Overall, the Lobos dipped down to eighth place with 140 points, but they are just three points out of sixth place as the NCAA Championships reached the halfway mark. Friday features a favorite of both the skiers and the fans, the slalom, which is run at Howelson Hill and is competed at night under the lights. The opening runs will be at 6:45 p.m. Mountain for the women’s and 7:30 p.m. for the men. Second Runs are at 9 p.m. for the women’s and 9:30 p.m. for the men.
NOTES: UNM’s best Nordic Classical skier didn’t qualify for the championships in Hanna Varjus … all three female Nordics recorded higher finishes in the Freestyle than the Classic in every race they ran this season … The top-10 finish was the fourth of the year for Tungesvik … Nydal finished outside the top-20 for the first time this season … Izquierdo-Bernier now has four top-20s in five races this season.