Completed Event: Skiing versus 20K Freestyle (M) on March 8, 2025 , , 1st
Final Score
Skiing
1st
vs 20K Freestyle (M)
Sunday, February 9
Minturn, Colo. / Maloit Park
University of Utah
at
10K Freestyle (P)
Zachary Jayne (52) earned his first win as a Ute during Sunday's freestyle pursuit. (Photo thanks to Matan Coll / Colorado Athletics)
Jayne’s First Win Caps off Denver Invitational
2/9/2025 5:49 PM | Skiing
Utes net three combined podiums between GS at home and freestyle at DU
PARK CITY, Utah and MINTURN, Colo. – It was the second of back-to-back split days for the Utah Ski Team on Sunday, as the Nordic team wrapped up the Denver Invitational while the Utes alpiners raced a giant slalom in their home meet, with races taking place at the Spencer F. Eccles Olympic Mountain Center at the Utah Olympic Park.
For Nordic, Zachary Jayne earned his first win as a Ute in the 10K freestyle pursuit start. Back home at the Olympic Park, Kaja Norbye was third in the women's giant slalom with teammate Simen Strand also in the third spot on the men's podium.
With one day remaining in Utah's home meet, the Utes lead the team standings with 568 points. It is 83 points of Colorado in second place and 112.5 points up on Denver for third.
Today's Nordic freestyle races closed out the Denver Invitational with Utah finishing third (601 points), a difference of 139 points from Colorado (740) which won the meet. The host Pioneers (633.5) placed second in their home meet.
Alpine Recap
Norbye and Strand Take Bronze in GS
Utah had all its women's scoring in the top-six and men's points in the top-eight, while all five women placed in the top-12.
Kaja Norbye and Simen Strand each earned bronze with Norbye combining for a 2:05.35 giant slalom time. In the men's race, Strand claimed third thanks to his 2:02.32 total mark.
Continuing down the women's scoring, Kaila Lafreniere tabbed the top-five (2:05.89) while Evelina Fredricsson shared sixth place (2:06.48). Claire Timmermann took eighth while Melanie Dahlberg was 12th on the day. The lineup helped the Utes to 89 women's GS points, the most of any team.
Norbye was second at the break while Lafreniere used a nice second run that was second-fastest for the afternoon. It lifted her three spots to fifth after she was in eighth place after the opening run.
For the men, Strand's result earned his first podium as a Ute. Right behind him in fourth was Johs Braathen Herland (2:02.39). And Sindre Myklebust took eighth (2:02.84) while Harry Hoffman added a 21st-place finish.
Strand and Myklebust were both in the top-four at flip time.
"I saw the same thing today that's been building over this last month," said head alpine coach JJ Johnson. "All 11 that were racing today can be right in there. They're trading spots and they're skiing with grit. They can all go fast."
Nordic Recap
Jayne Wins Pursuit Start at Maloit Park
A day after earning his first podium as a Ute, Zachary Jayne battled Colorado's Johannes Flaaten—yesterday's winner—and ultimately edged Flaaten by one-tenth of a second for the victory. It came all the way down to the last stride before Jayne had a ski tip in front of Flaaten to claim gold.
Jayne, who finished nearly 10 seconds behind Flaaten in yesterday's classic, had to make up that time today due to the pursuit start format. His 10K freestyle today clocked in at 25:34.4, second in the field, but the pursuit combines your two times (yesterday's classic and today's freestyle) which gave Jayne a winning total time of 47:56.9.
Carl Rune also contributed a sixth-place finish (48:51.1) among the 21 finishers.
On the women's side, both Utah racers placed in the top-six. Selma Nevin was fourth in the pursuit (56:16.3) and Celine Mayer took sixth (57:20.3). Nevin's freestyle time ranked fourth in the field of 22 athletes.
"I am super proud of today's performance in the skate pursuit," said director of skiing Fredrik Landstedt. "Erica has raced a lot lately, so she rested today and did not start. It was an amazing first win for Zach, outperforming yesterday's race leader and former Junior Worlds sprint champion, Johannes Flaaten, as well as Florian Knopf."
Utah was limited in the Nordic races this weekend due to several members of the team competing in Europe.
Next Up | Full Schedule | UOP Fan Guide
One more day remains on home snow for the Utah alpine team, as the Utes wrap up the Utah Invitational on Monday with a slalom race. First run is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. at the Spencer F. Eccles Olympic Mountain Center at Utah Olympic Park.
For Nordic, the Utes return to action next Sunday, February 16, with a classic sprint race in the Alaska Fairbanks Invitational. It'll be contested at Birch Hill in Fairbanks, Alaska.
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!
For Nordic, Zachary Jayne earned his first win as a Ute in the 10K freestyle pursuit start. Back home at the Olympic Park, Kaja Norbye was third in the women's giant slalom with teammate Simen Strand also in the third spot on the men's podium.
With one day remaining in Utah's home meet, the Utes lead the team standings with 568 points. It is 83 points of Colorado in second place and 112.5 points up on Denver for third.
Today's Nordic freestyle races closed out the Denver Invitational with Utah finishing third (601 points), a difference of 139 points from Colorado (740) which won the meet. The host Pioneers (633.5) placed second in their home meet.
Alpine Recap
Norbye and Strand Take Bronze in GS
Utah had all its women's scoring in the top-six and men's points in the top-eight, while all five women placed in the top-12.
Kaja Norbye and Simen Strand each earned bronze with Norbye combining for a 2:05.35 giant slalom time. In the men's race, Strand claimed third thanks to his 2:02.32 total mark.
Continuing down the women's scoring, Kaila Lafreniere tabbed the top-five (2:05.89) while Evelina Fredricsson shared sixth place (2:06.48). Claire Timmermann took eighth while Melanie Dahlberg was 12th on the day. The lineup helped the Utes to 89 women's GS points, the most of any team.
Norbye was second at the break while Lafreniere used a nice second run that was second-fastest for the afternoon. It lifted her three spots to fifth after she was in eighth place after the opening run.
For the men, Strand's result earned his first podium as a Ute. Right behind him in fourth was Johs Braathen Herland (2:02.39). And Sindre Myklebust took eighth (2:02.84) while Harry Hoffman added a 21st-place finish.
Strand and Myklebust were both in the top-four at flip time.
"I saw the same thing today that's been building over this last month," said head alpine coach JJ Johnson. "All 11 that were racing today can be right in there. They're trading spots and they're skiing with grit. They can all go fast."
Nordic Recap
Jayne Wins Pursuit Start at Maloit Park
A day after earning his first podium as a Ute, Zachary Jayne battled Colorado's Johannes Flaaten—yesterday's winner—and ultimately edged Flaaten by one-tenth of a second for the victory. It came all the way down to the last stride before Jayne had a ski tip in front of Flaaten to claim gold.
Jayne, who finished nearly 10 seconds behind Flaaten in yesterday's classic, had to make up that time today due to the pursuit start format. His 10K freestyle today clocked in at 25:34.4, second in the field, but the pursuit combines your two times (yesterday's classic and today's freestyle) which gave Jayne a winning total time of 47:56.9.
Carl Rune also contributed a sixth-place finish (48:51.1) among the 21 finishers.
On the women's side, both Utah racers placed in the top-six. Selma Nevin was fourth in the pursuit (56:16.3) and Celine Mayer took sixth (57:20.3). Nevin's freestyle time ranked fourth in the field of 22 athletes.
"I am super proud of today's performance in the skate pursuit," said director of skiing Fredrik Landstedt. "Erica has raced a lot lately, so she rested today and did not start. It was an amazing first win for Zach, outperforming yesterday's race leader and former Junior Worlds sprint champion, Johannes Flaaten, as well as Florian Knopf."
Utah was limited in the Nordic races this weekend due to several members of the team competing in Europe.
Next Up | Full Schedule | UOP Fan Guide
One more day remains on home snow for the Utah alpine team, as the Utes wrap up the Utah Invitational on Monday with a slalom race. First run is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. at the Spencer F. Eccles Olympic Mountain Center at Utah Olympic Park.
For Nordic, the Utes return to action next Sunday, February 16, with a classic sprint race in the Alaska Fairbanks Invitational. It'll be contested at Birch Hill in Fairbanks, Alaska.
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!
Players Mentioned
Alpine
/ Skiing
Alpine
/ Skiing
Alpine
/ Skiing
Alpine
/ Skiing
Nordic
/ Skiing
Alpine
/ Skiing
Nordic
/ Skiing
Alpine
/ Skiing
Nordic
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Alpine
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Nordic
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Alpine
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Alpine
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