Tree stump, Pioneer illness, and Utah DNFs plague UNM Invitational

By Published On: February 1st, 2015Comments Off on Tree stump, Pioneer illness, and Utah DNFs plague UNM Invitational

RED RIVER, N.M. – The host University of New Mexico Lobos overcame a 10-point deficit at the midway mark of the Jade Enterprises Invitational to surge past the University of Colorado and claim the win.

Sitting in second behind the front-running Buffaloes after the classic and slalom races, the Lobos were locked in a tight battle as the top four teams were all within 34 points of each other. Colorado has 286 points, New Mexico 276, Utah 257, and Denver 252.

Colorado and New Mexico were solid throughout the opening day, which helped them to the top two spots. Utah hurt its cause with a disastrous turn in the women’s slalom, as four of their five skiers record DNFs. The Utes were able to salvage 34 points as Ana Kobal finished third. Meanwhile, Denver’s entire women’s Nordic squad sat out the classical race due to illness. New Mexico also took a hard hit, losing alpine contributor Karoline Soevik Myklebust for the remainder of the season with a broken ankle suffered earlier in the week.

Utah jumped out in front with the opening event the women’s 10 kilometer classical at Enchanted Forest Cross Country Ski Area. Ute Veronika Mayerhoffer won that event, her second classical win of the year, and second straight. Right behind her was New Mexico’s Emilie Cedervaern, who recorded UNM’s highest finish of the season with a second-place showing. Colorado’s Maja Solbakken rounded out the podium in third.

In the men’s 10 kilometer race, it was déjà vu as Colorado’s Rune Oedegaard claimed the victory and teammate Mads Stroem was second.  The two Buff teammates have finished 1-2 in five races this year, with Oedegaard winning four of them.

They helped pace Colorado to 92 points in the event and the lead after two races. Denver’s Moritz Madlener salvaged what he could on the Pioneer’s Nordic effort to finish third.

In the men’s alpine event on Friday, Denver’s Espen Lysdahl contested his first NCAA slalom race of the season and won it as Denver dominated the event, putting five in the top seven. Pioneer Trevor Philp finished second and Westminter’s Giulio Bosca was third. Denver picked up 108 points and Westminster picked up 80, with New Mexico grabbing 75.

Denver swept the slalom individual titles as Monica Huebner won the slalom, her second straight slalom victory after also winning last weekend in Colorado. Westminster’s Anna Goodman, returning from an ACL injury last season, finished second and Utah’s Kobal, as mentioned earlier, was third.

On Saturday, New Mexico’s Mats Resaland won his first career race in the 10 kilometer freestyle, ending CU’s dominance this season. His win helped the Lobos end Colorado’s dominance overall, as his victory propelled the Lobos to their second straight Jade Enterprises title.

New Mexico in the end edged Colorado 579-551, with Utah third at 505.5 and Denver fourth at 502.  While UNM did well across the board, the win can easily be traced to Resaland’s success.

This season, Colorado’s tandem of Oedegaard and Stroem had consistently collected 77 points between the two at each meet. However, a soft track that forced most of the skiers to labor through the course fed right into UNM’s hands, or rather, skis.

Resaland and teammate Aljaz Praznik, who finished second in the race, both got off to decent starts, but neither were in the top three heading into the final lap. Both found another gear, with Resaland pushing his lead so far he amazingly survived a fall on the final downhill slope. He made it with just 1.9 seconds to spare ahead of Praznik.

For Resaland, the win was his first of his career after three oh-so-close second-place finishes.  “It was very soft out there today, we had a lot of snow,” said Resaland. “In the very last turn I went too far out.  I’m so glad I still made it, even with the fall.”

One of the hardest things to do is get your first win in your final home race, but that’s exactly what he did, teaming up with Praznik to replace CU’s 1-2 punch with a 1-2 Lobo combo.  “It was about time, finally,” said Resaland with a laugh. “I heard on the last lap I was fighting with Aljaz for the win, and that’s exciting when you hear your teammates and your team is right there.”

Resaland and Praznik combined for 77 points, and Alaska’s Clement Molliet rounded out the podium in third.

On the women’s Nordic side, it was another brilliant race for Cedervaern who finished second, her third straight podium. She was defeated for the second straight race by Utah’s Mayerhoffer. Colorado’s Solbakken was another familiar face on the podium in third.

The drama then shifted to the second run of the second slalom races contested on the mountain at Red River, which bounced around from exciting to bizarre. After the men’s morning run, the women’s run was halted after 12 racers started due to a tree stump that became uncovered and posed a hazard, forcing a reset of the course, a re-inspection, and a restart of the whole race. The top two podium placings remained the same as the day before with Huebner’s win and Goodman’s second-place finish. Westminster’s Ann-Kathrin Bruening finished third.

In the men’s second slalom, Denver’s duo from Friday switched places as Philp claimed the lead ahead of Lysdahl. Freshman Erik Read of the Canadian national team, who also skis for Denver, pounced into third to complete the Pioneer podium sweep.

Still, all of Denver’s hard work on the alpine side could not overcome the loss of productivity among their ailing Nordic squad. New Mexico claimed its home invitational ahead of Colorado.

“We continue to get better, which is what our goal has been,” said head coach Fredrik Landstedt.  “Mats and Aljaz were really good today and run a great race.  It was great to see our alpines do well.  It was really nice to the support from our men’s and women’s soccer teams as well.”

The Lobos, and the rest of the RMISA, now have a long break before heading to Alaska for the University of Alaska Anchorage Invitational (Feb. 23-26) and the RMISA/NCAA West Regionals (Feb. 27-28).

Release courtesy, in part, of the University of New Mexico

 

Final Team Scores at the UNM Invitational

  1. New Mexico – 579
  2. Colorado – 551
  3. Utah – 505.5
  4. Denver – 502
  5. Alaska-Anchorage – 470.5
  6. Montana State – 423
  7. Westminster – 328
  8. Colorado Mountain – 56

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