ANCHORAGE - Behind a pair of top-seven finishes in the 4x5-km mixed classic relay, the Utah Nordic team led the Utes to an overall victory at the Seawolf Invitational on Wednesday afternoon.
Utah's first team of
Martin Bergström,
Guro Jordheim,
Kevin Bolger and
Merete Myrseth finished second overall. The Utes second team of
Martin Mikkelsen,
Natalia Müller,
Jacob Engström and
Leah Lange finished seventh.
Utah also competed with three of four skiers on a mixed team with
Logan Diekmann,
Oscar Ivars and
Josefin Nilsson joining Alaska-Anchorage's Michaela Keller-Miller, finishing 14th overall.
Each school had two teams scored with skiers racing in a male-female-male-female format. Each skier raced a one-lap 5-km.
The Utes had 665 points for their first meet win of the season. Denver finished second with 569 points followed by Colorado (549), Montana State (479) and New Mexico (464).
"This win is an excellent motivator for us," Utah Director of Skiing
Kevin Sweeney said. "Alpine started the meet off skiing exceptionally well in difficult conditions. This set the tone for a very motivated Nordic team to respond with equal intensity. I feel like we are improving at each meet and are starting to understand team scoring. I like what I see from an overall team perspective. We are charging. We also all know there is still much upside to be seen from this entire team."
Utah continues in Alaska with the UAA Invitational. The women's 5-km and men's 10-km classical races are Saturday, Feb. 11, with the men's 20-km and women's 15-km freestyle on Sunday, Feb. 12.