Completed Event: Skiing versus 20K Freestyle (M) on March 8, 2025 , , 1st
Final Score
Skiing
1st
vs 20K Freestyle (M)
Sunday, January 26
Bozeman, Mont. / Crosscut Mountain
University of Utah
at
7.5K Classic (I)
Photo by: Jackson Bilawa/Utah Athletics
Utes Lead MSU Invitational at Halfway Point
1/26/2025 1:14 PM | Skiing
Lavén takes fourth straight gold, Davies finishes third in 7.5K classic interval start
BOZEMAN, Mont. – The Utah Ski Team leads the Montana State Invitational at the conclusion of Nordic races after the Utes competed in 7.5K classic interval start competitions on Sunday at Crosscut Mountain.
Helped by another commanding victory on the women's side for Erica Lavén, plus a third-place men's finish for Joe Davies, Utah currently has a meet-leading 380 points in the team standings. It is 40 points ahead of Denver, with Colorado, Alaska Anchorage, Montana State and Alaska Fairbanks holding the Nos. 3-6 spots.
The Utes racked up 190 points apiece on the men's and women's sides this weekend (combined classic and freestyle), leading both Nordic team totals for the meet.
Director of skiing Fredrik Landstedt said, "It was a very cold morning, but the race went off as planned. Erica again showed her dominance, and right now nobody can stay close. Selma, Celine and Nina also had good races after a tough three-race weekend. Joe and Brian showed again that they are right at the top; only daily shape determines if they are 1-2 or 3-4. It was a great weekend for the team--now it's time for some rest and continuing to train."
Utah was a little shorthanded, albeit for good reason. Senior Walker Hall was unavailable this weekend on the men's side; Hall earned a start in Sunday's World Cup 20K skate race in Engadin, Switzerland. Making his World Cup season debut and third career World Cup start, Hall placed 51st. In addition, Neve Gerard and Lucas Wilmot did not race today after departing for the Junior World Championships.
Women's Race
Erica Lavén had a lead of more than 38 seconds and cruised to her fourth straight win with a 7.5K classic time of 22:30.5. Lavén has skied to the podium in all six of her starts as a Ute.
Selma Nevin was seventh in the RMISA field (23:34.2) and Celine Mayer picked up points for the Utes with a top-12 result (23:56.8). Nina Schamberger added a 16th-place finish as well.
Lavén opened the race with a first lap time of 10:56 to lead the field by 25 seconds.
"It was a very beautiful day today," said Lavén, "it was very cold but nice conditions for skiing. I felt good today and had the best skis I have had--that helped a lot. The team did so good this weekend and that was a lot of fun."
Men's Race
The Utah senior tandem of Joe Davies and Brian Bushey went 3-4 in the men's 7.5K classic, giving Davies his second podium of the weekend after Davies won the 20K freestyle on Friday.
Davies clocked a 19:21.7 in today's classic interval start to place third, with Bushey finishing fourth (19:40.3). Zachary Jayne scored for Utah as well in a top-11 result (20:14.7). Carl Rune also contributed his best finish as a Ute, placing 12th.
"Honestly, today was a bit of a bummer for me; I was looking for more out there," Davies said. "Think I'm just feeling a bit of fatigue after a sharp introduction back into racing after being sick for a bit. But we'll get some good training in and I should be back to my old self in no time. Result aside, I love racing at Crosscut. It's such a sweet venue. The courses are hard and the altitude always adds an interesting factor. As a whole, the team crushed it this weekend. It was awesome to see Erica keep up her dominant winning streak!"
Next Up | Full Schedule
Today's races wrapped up the Nordic portion of the Montana State Invitational. Teams are idle on the RMISA circuit this coming week, before the alpine half of the meet takes place on February 3-4 at Bridger Bowl in Bozeman, Montana.
The Utah Nordic team will be back in action on Saturday, February 8 to begin the Denver Invitational. In that meet, the Utes are currently second in the team standings; the alpine races took place on January 7-8.
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!
Helped by another commanding victory on the women's side for Erica Lavén, plus a third-place men's finish for Joe Davies, Utah currently has a meet-leading 380 points in the team standings. It is 40 points ahead of Denver, with Colorado, Alaska Anchorage, Montana State and Alaska Fairbanks holding the Nos. 3-6 spots.
The Utes racked up 190 points apiece on the men's and women's sides this weekend (combined classic and freestyle), leading both Nordic team totals for the meet.
Director of skiing Fredrik Landstedt said, "It was a very cold morning, but the race went off as planned. Erica again showed her dominance, and right now nobody can stay close. Selma, Celine and Nina also had good races after a tough three-race weekend. Joe and Brian showed again that they are right at the top; only daily shape determines if they are 1-2 or 3-4. It was a great weekend for the team--now it's time for some rest and continuing to train."
Utah was a little shorthanded, albeit for good reason. Senior Walker Hall was unavailable this weekend on the men's side; Hall earned a start in Sunday's World Cup 20K skate race in Engadin, Switzerland. Making his World Cup season debut and third career World Cup start, Hall placed 51st. In addition, Neve Gerard and Lucas Wilmot did not race today after departing for the Junior World Championships.
Women's Race
Erica Lavén had a lead of more than 38 seconds and cruised to her fourth straight win with a 7.5K classic time of 22:30.5. Lavén has skied to the podium in all six of her starts as a Ute.
Selma Nevin was seventh in the RMISA field (23:34.2) and Celine Mayer picked up points for the Utes with a top-12 result (23:56.8). Nina Schamberger added a 16th-place finish as well.
Lavén opened the race with a first lap time of 10:56 to lead the field by 25 seconds.
"It was a very beautiful day today," said Lavén, "it was very cold but nice conditions for skiing. I felt good today and had the best skis I have had--that helped a lot. The team did so good this weekend and that was a lot of fun."
Men's Race
The Utah senior tandem of Joe Davies and Brian Bushey went 3-4 in the men's 7.5K classic, giving Davies his second podium of the weekend after Davies won the 20K freestyle on Friday.
Davies clocked a 19:21.7 in today's classic interval start to place third, with Bushey finishing fourth (19:40.3). Zachary Jayne scored for Utah as well in a top-11 result (20:14.7). Carl Rune also contributed his best finish as a Ute, placing 12th.
"Honestly, today was a bit of a bummer for me; I was looking for more out there," Davies said. "Think I'm just feeling a bit of fatigue after a sharp introduction back into racing after being sick for a bit. But we'll get some good training in and I should be back to my old self in no time. Result aside, I love racing at Crosscut. It's such a sweet venue. The courses are hard and the altitude always adds an interesting factor. As a whole, the team crushed it this weekend. It was awesome to see Erica keep up her dominant winning streak!"
Next Up | Full Schedule
Today's races wrapped up the Nordic portion of the Montana State Invitational. Teams are idle on the RMISA circuit this coming week, before the alpine half of the meet takes place on February 3-4 at Bridger Bowl in Bozeman, Montana.
The Utah Nordic team will be back in action on Saturday, February 8 to begin the Denver Invitational. In that meet, the Utes are currently second in the team standings; the alpine races took place on January 7-8.
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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