Utah Skiing Earns Four Podium Finishes on First Day of Competition

Saturday, January 7

Midway, Utah

All Day

University of Utah

Utah Invitational (10/15K Freestyle)

Utah Skiing Earns Four Podium Finishes on First Day of Competition

1/7/2017 9:32 PM | Skiing

Utah Invitational Day 1 Results MSU RMISA Giant Slalom Qualifier

BOZEMAN, Mont. and MIDWAY, Utah – The Utah ski team came away with four podium finishes and seven top-five finishes on the first day of competition for the 2017 season as the Nordic team competed in the Utah Invitational at Soldier Hollow Resort with the alpine team in an RMISA qualifier at Montana State.

Kevin Bolger earned his best career finish as the second RMISA skier to cross the line in the men's 15-km freestyle at the Utah Invite. Oscar Ivars earned a top-10 finish with a ninth-place run. Jacob Engström finished 14^th with Logan Diekmann 19^th in their career debuts for the Utes.

"Super excited to start the RMISA season off with the first podium of my college career, one of the hardest set courses I've seen Soldier Hollow put out," Bolger said. "I had a game plan heading into the race - I stuck to it and it paid off and I'm super stoked! Kevin [Sweeney] and Abi [Holt] nailed the skis and the splits which also was a huge help in obtaining one of my goals! I'm also very happy with the team's performance, both men and women. I think we are all headed towards success this season and I can't wait!"

In the women's 10-km freestyle, Guro Jordheim earned her first career podium in her first career race as the third RMISA skier to cross the line. Natalia Müller finished fourth, tying her career-best finish, to give the Utes two in the top five. Leah Lange placed 29^th in her first collegiate race while Anna-Lena Heynen was 38^th.

"Super happy to get a podium already on my first college race," Jordheim said. "And this in Utah and U.S. Nationals at Solider Hollow. Got to see how important it is to believe in your self. Very stoked to see what this team can do the rest of the season. Big thanks to the whole team and the coaches for great skis and support. This team is awesome."

"I think we had a great first day of racing today, alpine and Nordic!" Müller said. "In the beginning of the season you never know where you stand compared to your competitors, and since the Utah Invitational is part of U.S. Nationals there was an even stronger and bigger field at the start today. I'm stoked our team did well, and I'm impressed by my teammate's Guro & Kevin placing 13th and 15th overall! Today I crossed the finish line of the 10-km with mixed feelings. On one hand it was, as always, great to race 'at home,' having so many people cheering on the course. On the other hand, I realized that this is my last Utah Invitational and that made me feel sad. The races here at Soldier Hollow have always been my favorites. I love the courses here, the tracks are literally always perfect, and I love having friends and family around cheering for us! Thinking about this really helped me pushing hard today and I'm glad I had a good race!"

Both races were held in conjunction with the U.S. Cross Country National Championships.

Denver leads the Utah Invitational with 156 points followed closely by the Utes with 151 points. Colorado stands third (145) with New Mexico fourth (135) while RMISA newcomer Alaska Fairbanks stands fifth (122).

In alpine in the men's giant slalom RMISA qualifier, Sam Dupratt placed third in his first career collegiate race while Endre Bjertness finished fourth. Dominic Demschar placed seventh to give the Utes three racers in the top 10.Martin Grasic was 26^th followed by Sasha Zaitsoff in 31st, who makes his return to skiing after two years following a knee injury. Joergen Brath placed 32^nd with Ty Sprock 36^th.

In the women's GS qualifier, Utah put two in the top five with Roni Remme placing second and Chloe Fausa in fourth. Lauren Samuels, who was also returning from injury, was 16^th with Abby Ghent 17^th in her collegiate debut. Sabine Krautgasser, who just joined the Utes from Italy, placed 32^nd in her debut.

The RMISA qualifier races do not count towards any team scoring, but are used as an extra opportunity for skiers to earn qualification points for the NCAA Championships at the end of the season.

"What an exciting first race of the season for the Utes!" Utah head alpine coach Jaka Korencan said. "Very strong performances for both the men and the women up here in beautiful, but very cold, Big Sky. It was great to have Lauren and Sasha back with the team after both having missed two seasons to injury. Also we are very excited to welcome our freshman Sabine who just arrived from Italy a few days ago. Roni and Chloe both had amazing second runs, and an impressive third-place for freshman Sam Dupratt in his first race as a Ute! It was no surprise that our 2016 NCAA champion Endre Bjertness was sitting in second after the first run, but unfortunately a few costly errors in the second run bumped him back to fourth.

"This is a very talented group and very tightly knit, constantly supporting each other and pushing each other to get faster. The future is bright!"

The Utah Invitational continues for the Nordic teams on Sunday, Jan. 8, at Soldier Hollow, with the men's sprint classic beginning at 9:00 a.m. followed by the women at 11:00 a.m. Click here for live results: http://summittiming.com/races/race_results.php. The Montana State Invitational continues for alpine on Sunday with the giant slalom races. Live results at http://ussalivetiming.com/.