Grøv Earns UNM’s First Men’s Nordic Win Since 2015
Colorado Invitational Results through Five Events
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. — Kornelius Grøv won the men’s 10K freestyle race at the Colorado Invitational, becoming the first Lobo men’s Nordic skier to take home a race title in nearly four years. That win, coupled with Ricardo Izquierdo-Bernier’s tie for eighth-place helped UNM pick up 72.5 points in the men’s race, good for fourth in the race as UNM sits sixth overall through five events.
The last time a Lobo men’s Nordic skier took home a first-place finish, UNM head Nordic coach Christian Otto was there. On the course. Watching his teammate Mats Rudin Resaland win the UNM Invitational 10K on January 31, 2015. Otto was there again, this time in his first race as head coach, and Grøv didn’t disappoint.
Grøv wearing bib No. 2 was the second skier on the course, and he blazed a quick trail at Howelson Hill’s 5K lap course. He lapped the only skier on the course that started ahead of him near the back stretch of the opening lap, besting Colorado’s Andrew Potyk as each skier started in 30 second intervals.
From there, it was go time, and Grøv never wavered, handling the large steep climb in the first 2K section with ease. His split in the second lap was the third-best, and it was just 26 seconds behind his initial lap.
Only one other competitor was within 21.1 seconds of him, and that was second-place finisher Alaska Anchorage’s Sinard Roenning. The drama ended up being where Izquierdo-Bernier would end up. Izquierdo-Bernier was sixth at the turn, and a hustled down the back stretch after dropping out of the top 10. However, he made up ground and desperation lunge at the end was just enough to end up in an eighth-place tie.
“Ricky was ill last week and didn’t have the best races last week so I’m really happy for him,” said Otto, who officially made his Nordic head coaching debut. “He will just get better and better. Kornelius raced very well.” When informed that it was UNM’s first Nordic win since 2015, he deadpanned, “Wow…it was about time then. I’m very happy for him. He’s going to be very good.”
Grøv scored a perfect 40 points, and Izquierdo-Bernier picked up 22.5. UNM’s other scoring came from Johan Eirik Meland, who finished 28th to score 10 points. He finished a few seconds ahead of teammate Ben Berend, who was 30th. Meland is a traditional biathlete, and Berend went to the 2018 Olympics in the Nordic combined, which includes freestyle Nordic skiing and jumping. This was their first official collegiate races.
The women’s race went off first, and only two of the four Lobos skied, with Brenna Egan and Julie Spets being held out due to illness. The women’s 5K interval was just a single lap around the course. UNM’s two rookie racers were Savanna Fassio and Daria Kuznetsova, who ended up finishing right behind each other in 21st and 22nd place, with Fassio coming in at 16:06.0 and Kuznetsova at 16:07.9. Fassio scored 15 points and Kuznetsova had 14 in their first collegiate races.
NOTES: The freestyle win was just the third men’s freestyle win in the last nine years for UNM, with Aku Nikander picking up the other win … Grøv will now attempt to win both Nordic races in the same meet with the 20K Classical mass start tomorrow. Just three Lobos have ever won both ends in the same meet, Martin Kaas at the MSU Invitational, January 15-16, 2010, Jiimy Vika at the Western State Invitational, February 7-8, 2003, and Tomas Dohnal at the Colorado Invitational January 26-27, 2001 … Egan may attempt the 15K Classical race on Sunday.