Lobos Get Two First Team All-America at NCAAs

NCAA Championships Day One Results

OFFICIAL SCHEDULE
 

NCAA Championship Notes | Lobo Skiing Record Book

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The University of New Mexico picked up a pair of First Team All-America honors on day one of the NCAA Skiing Championships in Stowe, Vermont as men’s Nordic racers Kornelius Grøv and Ricardo Izquierdo-Bernier finished second and fourth, leading UNM to seventh place after two of eight events in the Championships.

The action picks up on Thursday with the men’s and women’s giant slalom. The women will ski first with their first run set for 9 a.m. ET/7 a.m. MT followed by the men’s first run at 10 a.m. ET/8 a.m. MT. The women’s second run will be at noon ET/10 a.m. MT and the men’s second run will conclude the day at 1 p.m. ET/11 a.m. MT. All of those races will be available at www.ncaa.com/live.

The men’s race went off first, a 10K interval start, meaning each racer left the start gate 30 seconds apart. In a race like that it’s hard to judge where you are, because the person in front of you you are trying to catch may not be the person you need to catch. Such was the case for UNM.

First out was Johan Eirik Meland, who was first out a little too early, incurring a false start penalty that eventually pushed back to 40th place due to a 15-second penalty. The finish meant Meland, one of five Lobos making NCAA debuts, didn’t score (only the top 30 score).

UNM’s dynamic due of Grøv and Izquierdo-Bernier went out 36th and 38th into the field. Grøv got out to a slower start, sitting eighth after the 2k split while Izquierdo-Bernier was in third. It didn’t take long for Grøv to start moving up the ladder, moving into fifth just one more kilometer in, and then doing a place dance with last year’s winner Ian Torchia of Northern Michigan, who won the 20k race.
 

Grøv and Izquiero-Bernier were still sitting fourth and fifth with 2K left, and coming into the homestretch of each rerspective race, they both made moves, especially Grøv. Kicking up another gear, Grøv was able to leap nearly everyone, including Torchia by just 0.3 seconds, coming in second place and earning UNM 37 points. Izquerido-Bernier wasn’t far behind, just 3.9 seconds from second, finishing fourth overall and scoring 31 points.

“I’m very proud of Kornelius for having a fantastic race,” said head Nordic coach Christian Otto. He was fifth for a while, until that last 500 meters when he turned it up to move into second. Ricky also had a great race, and I know he is hungry for more.”

UNM’s 68 in the race was good to place third behind Colorado (77) and Northern Michigan (70).

On the women’s side, UNM isn’t nearly as strong as they are on the men’s side, but the Lobos still got solid racing from three skiers making their debut at nationals.

Julie Spets was the top finisher and the only point scorer for the Lobos, coming in 25th place. She stayed consistent throughout her race, never wavering much from 25th place either way at her splits. In the end, she was just 9.3 seconds from a top 20 national finish in her debut. SHe picked up all of UNM’s six points in the race.

It was Dariya Kuznetsova who would be the most frustrated of any Lobo as she finished 32nd, just missing out on scoring points. She was just 2.9 seconds from the top 30. She was however as consistent as could be, sitting 32nd after the 2k split and the 3k split before crossing the line after 5k in 32nd.

Savanna Fassio was UNM’s third finisher, coming in 39th. She was as high as 34th after the opening 2k of the course, but she seemed to cross the open expense of the course at an inopportune time as the wind really kicked up during part of her race.

Said Otto, “Julie skied hard and had a solid race, and so did Dasha. Savanna gave it her all and didn’t have a perfect day but they are ready to get back out here on Friday and really attack the course. I think it was a great day for us overall”.

NOTES: Grøv earned his eighth podium (top-3 finish) in 11 races this season … Grøv now has 390 points on the season … Izquierdo-Bernier earned his 10th top-10 in 11 races on the season … has now has 346.5 points on the season … it’s the first time two Lobo men earned All-America in the Nordic freestyle in the same race since 2014 when Mats Rudin Reseland and current assistant coach Aljaz Praznik finished third and seventh … it’s the first time UNM has two First Team All-Americans in men’s Nordic freestyle since 1987.