Ski Team In First At Denver Invitational

Friday, January 28

Winter Park, Colo.

1st

University of Utah

Denver Invitational (GS)

1/28/2005 12:00 AM | Skiing

Jan. 28, 2005

Results

DU Invite 10-km Men Results in PDF Format
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DU Invite 5-km Women Results in PDF Format
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WINTER PARK, Colo. -- The University of Utah ski team out skied the entire Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association (RMISA), finishing in first-place midway through the Denver Invitational. Utah carries a slim lead over the competition after skiing the men's and women's giant slalom and freestyle events.

"I'm ecstatic over our team's performance today," said Head Coach Kevin Sweeney. "I think our results reflect how balanced and strong we are as a team. We have great depth in every discipline. I'm really happy with today's results and we are coming together as a team. And I think we can ski better than we did today."

Utah (279.0) is hopeful to hold on to its narrow first-place finish, while host Denver (270.0) currently lingers by nine-points to place second. The Lobos of New Mexico (256.0) skied third, while Colorado (230.5) notched fourth. The Seawolves of Alaska-Anchorage (196.0) claimed fifth after the opening day of this two day event.

The cross country exploded on the scene today, finishing first overall ahead of both Denver and Colorado in the 10/5-km FS events. Sophomore Daniel Sonntag (24:53.1) skated to another exceptional performance, placing second behind CU's Erling Christiansen (24:51.2). Magnus Carlsson has made a huge impact for the team, this time finishing in eighth-place. Sophomore Casey Simons rallied to 13th, while Jess Kiesel notched 27th. Junior Tony Bozzio ended the day finishing 33th.

On the women's side, Utah posted three scores into the top-10. Sophomore Sandra Gredig continues to have a breakout season, finishing with her second third-place finish. Nicole Naef broke into the top-10, posting a season best fifth-place finish. Junior Ashley McQueen was a top-finisher, placing seventh in the 5-km FS. Seniors Barbro Hatlevik (12th) and Anna Sprague (17th) ended with great results, while Linda Pettersson skated to 21st to round out the Utes' finishes.

"We came really close to scoring six skiers into the top -10, which is a huge goal for our team," said Sweeney. "It was great to see us rebound back from Jackson Hole. Sandra has been fantastic this entire season and has really been a true team leader. Daniel also had a huge finish, which was good knowing he had a tough weekend at the Alaska Invite."

"We have a tremendous blend of newcomers and returners laying down great results and that is exciting to see as a coach," added Sweeney.

The women's alpine team continues to show their dominance, finishing with two skiers into the top-five. Local freshman Kim Stephens piloted the Utes' attack, skiing to her best ever finish of the season. The Park City, Utah native raced to second with a two-run time of 2:01.6, just shy of DU's Florence Roujas' (1:59.82) first-place finish. All-American April Mancuso finished with her third top-five finish of the season, fresh off of skiing at the World University Games (WUG). Mancuso scorched the slopes, placing fifth overall with a time of 2:01.87. Senior Elisha Stephens posted her best ever finish in the GS, racing to a 13th-place performance. Fellow senior Lina Johansson took an unfortunate crash and was unable to finish the race after skiing second in the first run of the day.

"The women's team continues to ski exceptionally well and today was no exception," remarked Head Alpine Coach Aaron Atkins. "This was the first time Kim has been on the podium for awhile and it was great to see her have a breakout day. April was very tired from the University Games, but managed to ski another great race. I'm really happy with our women's performance."

The men's alpine team were without GS expert Ben Thornhill, who didn't make the trip due to illness. But that didn't stop the team from helping lead Utah to a third-place finish in the alpine events. Junior Will McDonald led the Utes, coming back from 38th to finish ninth overall with a time of 1:53.57. The Aspen, Colo. native won the second run, beating out WUG Champion Dominik Schweiger. Sophomore Gaspar Perricone skied to his best GS finish of the season, notching 14th-place. Senior Mark Heinrich-Wallace had a great first run finishing in the top of the field, but struggled to finish in the second and settled for 17th.

"This was an unbelievable day for the men's team," added Atkins. "Will's finish was awesome knowing he was up against a world class field of competition. Will and Gaspar are slalom specialist and today they showed they can compete well in the giant slalom. This was truly a break through day."

Tomorrow, Utah is hopeful to hold on to its lead, while competing in the men's and women's slalom and 15/10-km classical races (mass start). The alpine events will be held at Winter Park and the nordic events will be held at YMCA of the Rockies. Races will begin at 9:30 a.m. (MST).

Overall Team Scores (Day One)

Utah                    279.0Denver                  270.0New Mexico              256.0Colorado                230.5Alaska-Anchorage        196.0Montana State           189.0Nevada                  182.0Western State            92.0Whitman                  87.0Boise State              51.0