Utah Skies Third After Second Day of NCAAs

Thursday, March 11

Reno, Nev.

TBA

University of Utah

NCAA Championships (CC)

3/11/2004 12:00 AM | Skiing

March 11, 2004

DONNER'S SUMMIT, Calf. -- The University of Utah ski team moves up in the standings, skiing third in the second day of the 2004 NCAA Championships. The Ute cross country squad improved the Utes combined score to 304.5 and is down only 28.5 points off the leader Denver. Utah qualified three All-America honorees.

Denver remains in first place, while New Mexico jumped a spot to take second. The Utes rallied up two spots to finish third, and Vermont dropped in the standings, skiing fourth. The Buffs of Colorado finished up the top five, placing fifth.

"We had a good day of skiing," said Head Coach Kevin Sweeney. "We are hanging in there, chipping away at Denver's lead. The team is skiing great and we are really fired up. Our spirit is high and I'm happy with how the day went. The next two days are going to really be exciting."

Standout junior Henning Dybendal was crowned with his first 10-km freestyle championship, winning the event with a time of 21:27.9. The first-team All-American finished in front of Vermont's Lowell Bailey and Colorado's Erling Christiansen. The Skotselv, Norway, native is a first-year competitor at the U.

Nordic skier Daniel Sonntag skied 12th in 22:37.5, after battling illness for the last past weeks. The freshman has been out of action, not competing in either the Colorado Invitational or Regional Championships. Junior Benjamin Sonntag managed to ski to a 20-place finish with a two-run time of 23:04.4.

"Henning winning the skate was the highlight of the day," added Sweeney. "He has been skiing well all season and I'm really proud of his performance. The Sonntag brothers also skied great."

The women's cross country team compiled two first-team All-America honors. Junior Barbro Hatlevik skied third with a time of 12:06.8 in the women's freestyle. In last season's NCAAs, Hatlevik placed 20th in the same event. Sophomore and first-year competitor Jenny Hansson slid into the top 10, skiing to her best skating result of the season. Hansson finished 10th with a two-run time of 12:23.2. Freshman Sandra Gredig skated into 26th-place in 12:53.9.

"Barbro's and Jenny's results were fantastic," remarked Sweeney. "The women skied great. We had a few errors but it's not easy skiing at the NCAA Championships."

Tomorrow, March 12, the four-day championships continue featuring the men's and women's slalom races at the Sugar Bowl Ski Resort. Races will start at 9:30 a.m., near the mid-mountain lodge.

NCAA Championship Results:1. Denver               333.02. New Mexico           307.03. Utah                 304.54. Vermont              295.05. Colorado             275.06. Alaska-Anchorage     226.57. Middlebury           202.07. Dartmouth            202.09. Nevada               178.010. Alaska-Fairbanks    132.011. Colby               112.512. Williams             93.013. Montana State        81.014. Northern Michigan    77.015. New Hampshire        65.016. Western State        48.017. Boise State          41.018. St. Lawrence         24.019. Whitman              21.020. Bates                18.021. Harvard              17.022. Michigan Tech         2.023. Wisconsin-Green Bay   1.0