Utah Skiing Posts Three Podium Finishes

Saturday, February 4

Anchorage, Alaska (Kincaid Park)

TBA

University of Utah

Classical (5/5K Interval Start)

2/4/2012 12:00 AM | Skiing

Feb. 4, 2012

2012 UAA Invite Day 1 --- Complete Results

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Senior Maria Graefnings turned in a second-place effort in the women's 5k classical race during her season debut at Kincaid Park as part of the first day of the UAA Invitational.

The Utes rank second after day one of the UAA Invitational as they combined for 228 points and only trail defending national champion Colorado by three points (231). Led by a pair of podium finishes, Utah's women's team posted a meet-high 124 points and the men's squad turned in a 104-point day.

"I am very pleased with how we opened the UAA Invite today," Utah Director of Skiing Kevin Sweeney said. "It was certainly a confidence booster for us. A few team members are shrugging off some colds so it was nice to see us put up solid team results. Didrik Smith was out with illness, but hopefully he can start later in the week.

"It was also nice to see that [Graefnings] is skiing well too, and Rose [Kemp] on the podium is just a standout performance. We are excited to have the first race under our belt and looking forward to the next event. It is not always easy coming down in altitude to sea level and having a nice quick tempo. I think we executed well today and focused on good leg speed and skiing the transitions well. I am happy with the results, plus we scored some excellent individual NCAA qualifying points today, which is just what we wanted to do."

Graefnings returned to the Utah squad after competing in the Swedish national championships and led the Ute women during her season debut by turning in a second-place effort, the 11th time in her Utah career that she has finished second or better.

"I'm stoked to be back in the USA and to be back with the team," Graefnings said. "The conditions were great and I had a lot of fun out there. I'm looking forward to the next races and love skiing as a Ute again."

Kemp joined Graefnings on the podium with a third-place effort, which was the first time she has placed on the podium during her career.

"It was an awesome day in Alaska and I felt really strong during my race," Kemp said. "The snow and our skis were perfect and I am psyched to be on the podium representing the Utes."

Junior Parker Tyler joined her teammates in the top 10 with an eighth-place effort. Tyler has now been in the top 10 twice during her career.

Mali Noyes rounded out Utah's effort with a 20th-place finish. She has placed 20th or better four times as a Ute.

On the men's course, Miles Havlick took third place. He has now been recognized on the podium in four out of five races this season and in 13 of his races during his time at Utah.

"Today was as perfect as a day as you can get for ski racing," Havlick said. "The groomers did a fantastic job with all the recent snow. The coaches put some solid skis together and we all fought hard. Today's race was tough coming down to sea level and only racing 5k today, but we hammered home some good results. We felt the absence of Didrik, who was sick today, but it's great to have Maria [Graefnings] back. The girl's performance today was very inspirational. Unfortunately, Parker [Tyler] was slowed for a significant amount of time by a moose on the course so it could have been even better. We are all fired up for Monday."

Tom Smith was the second Ute in the top 10 as he recorded a ninth-place effort for a season-best mark. Smith has earned top-10 finishes during eight races over his career.

Rolf Figi followed two spots behind Smith in 11th place.

The UAA Invitational resumes Monday with the 10k freestyle races at Kincaid Park.