Completed Event: Skiing versus 20K Freestyle (M) on March 8, 2025 , , 1st
Final Score
Skiing
1st
vs 20K Freestyle (M)
Friday, January 24
Bozeman, Mont. / Crosscut Mountain
University of Utah
at
20K Freestyle (M)
Friday's podium for Selma Nevin was her first as a Ute.
Photo by: Eli Rehmer/Utah Athletics
Mass Starts Yield Wins and Four Podiums for Utes
1/24/2025 3:56 PM | Skiing
Davies, Lavén take gold in 20K freestyle on day one of Montana State Invitational
BOZEMAN, Mont. – Four podium results for the Utah Ski Team on Friday helped the Utes to the top of the team standings as the squad raced in 20K freestyle mass start competitions, opening the Montana State Invitational at Crosscut Mountain.
Both individual winners came from the Utes as Erica Lavén had nearly a minute's padding to pick up her third straight individual victory, while Joe Davies won the men's event by nearly two seconds over teammate Brian Bushey. In addition, freshman Selma Nevin won bronze in the women's 20K freestyle, skiing to her first RMISA podium.
Utah racked up 209 points in today's races, good for 51 points ahead of Denver for the lead. Colorado is third, while Alaska Anchorage, host Montana State and Alaska Fairbanks are fourth through sixth, respectively.
Director of skiing Fredrik Landstedt said, "It was another great day for the team today. Erica and (Utah alumna) Sydney Palmer-Leger skied away on the first lap and stayed together until the end with Erica pulling away for the win. Selma was solid the entire way, and Nina fought hard for her fourth place. Neve Gerard also had a great race. It is fun to see the three freshmen skiing so strong.
"Joe and Brian also looked super strong the entire race. Zach and Lucas had some of their best races as well. Overall, an amazing team effort in snowy conditions on a super tough course. It shows the strength of our team. We are very proud of how they stick together and work so hard for each other."
Women's Race
Erica Lavén continued a dominant stretch of racing with her third straight individual victory, racing a mass start time of 1:01:08.3 in the 20K freestyle. It was a commanding 59.9 seconds ahead of silver medalist Tilde Baangman of Colorado. Each of Lavén's five collegiate starts have netted a podium finish.
The Utes also had Selma Nevin ski to her first podium with a third-place result (1:02:30.5) with Nina Schamberger right behind her in fourth (1:03:41.4). The top-four combination gave Utah a team-best 105 points in the women's event.
"It was a tough race in the snowy conditions today," Nevin said. "I had a little bit of a bad start, so I was working hard to catch up on the first lap. I couldn't stay with Tilde when she increased the pace on the last lap, but I'm happy with third place and my first RMISA podium."
Lavén was in front at every split along the way, with her lead ballooning on the final two laps.
Neve Gerard added a top-nine finish and Celine Mayer was 16th in the morning competition.
Men's Race
After a silver medal to close out the Utah Invitational last Sunday, Joe Davies stood atop the freestyle podium this time around with a victorious time of 52:34.2. Fellow senior Brian Bushey was close behind for second place (52:36.1).
Placing sixth, Zachary Jayne (55:13.7) continued a nice start to his season, with Jayne's result counting as his best finish as a Ute. The scoring between Davies, Bushey and Jayne played a similar tune to the women's race as Utah led the men's standings with 104 points.
Lucas Wilmot was eighth for the Utes and Carl Rune tabbed the top-15, returning to action after missing the Utah Invitational last weekend.
Davies never fell below second and Bushey was in the top-five the entire race before skiing to silver on the podium.
Next Up | Full Schedule
The Montana State Invitational wraps up its Nordic half on Sunday with a 7.5K classic competition. Crosscut Mountain will also be host to a freestyle sprint race on Saturday that select Utes will race in as part of the SuperTour circuit, though this event is not part of the RMISA schedule.
Follow the Utah Ski Team
Follow the Utes on social media @utahskiteam.
Official Mobile App of Utah Athletics – Utah 360
The official mobile app of Utah Athletics is Utah 360. Download it today for access to news and information, schedules, rosters, stats and behind-the-scenes videos directly from your mobile device. The app is available in both the Apple Store (download) and Google Play (download). Add it today, access your game tickets and download them to your smartphone's wallet to make yourself game-day ready!
Both individual winners came from the Utes as Erica Lavén had nearly a minute's padding to pick up her third straight individual victory, while Joe Davies won the men's event by nearly two seconds over teammate Brian Bushey. In addition, freshman Selma Nevin won bronze in the women's 20K freestyle, skiing to her first RMISA podium.
Utah racked up 209 points in today's races, good for 51 points ahead of Denver for the lead. Colorado is third, while Alaska Anchorage, host Montana State and Alaska Fairbanks are fourth through sixth, respectively.
Director of skiing Fredrik Landstedt said, "It was another great day for the team today. Erica and (Utah alumna) Sydney Palmer-Leger skied away on the first lap and stayed together until the end with Erica pulling away for the win. Selma was solid the entire way, and Nina fought hard for her fourth place. Neve Gerard also had a great race. It is fun to see the three freshmen skiing so strong.
"Joe and Brian also looked super strong the entire race. Zach and Lucas had some of their best races as well. Overall, an amazing team effort in snowy conditions on a super tough course. It shows the strength of our team. We are very proud of how they stick together and work so hard for each other."
Women's Race
Erica Lavén continued a dominant stretch of racing with her third straight individual victory, racing a mass start time of 1:01:08.3 in the 20K freestyle. It was a commanding 59.9 seconds ahead of silver medalist Tilde Baangman of Colorado. Each of Lavén's five collegiate starts have netted a podium finish.
The Utes also had Selma Nevin ski to her first podium with a third-place result (1:02:30.5) with Nina Schamberger right behind her in fourth (1:03:41.4). The top-four combination gave Utah a team-best 105 points in the women's event.
"It was a tough race in the snowy conditions today," Nevin said. "I had a little bit of a bad start, so I was working hard to catch up on the first lap. I couldn't stay with Tilde when she increased the pace on the last lap, but I'm happy with third place and my first RMISA podium."
Lavén was in front at every split along the way, with her lead ballooning on the final two laps.
Neve Gerard added a top-nine finish and Celine Mayer was 16th in the morning competition.
Men's Race
After a silver medal to close out the Utah Invitational last Sunday, Joe Davies stood atop the freestyle podium this time around with a victorious time of 52:34.2. Fellow senior Brian Bushey was close behind for second place (52:36.1).
Placing sixth, Zachary Jayne (55:13.7) continued a nice start to his season, with Jayne's result counting as his best finish as a Ute. The scoring between Davies, Bushey and Jayne played a similar tune to the women's race as Utah led the men's standings with 104 points.
Lucas Wilmot was eighth for the Utes and Carl Rune tabbed the top-15, returning to action after missing the Utah Invitational last weekend.
Davies never fell below second and Bushey was in the top-five the entire race before skiing to silver on the podium.
Next Up | Full Schedule
The Montana State Invitational wraps up its Nordic half on Sunday with a 7.5K classic competition. Crosscut Mountain will also be host to a freestyle sprint race on Saturday that select Utes will race in as part of the SuperTour circuit, though this event is not part of the RMISA schedule.
Follow the Utah Ski Team
Follow the Utes on social media @utahskiteam.
Official Mobile App of Utah Athletics – Utah 360
The official mobile app of Utah Athletics is Utah 360. Download it today for access to news and information, schedules, rosters, stats and behind-the-scenes videos directly from your mobile device. The app is available in both the Apple Store (download) and Google Play (download). Add it today, access your game tickets and download them to your smartphone's wallet to make yourself game-day ready!
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