Utah finishes on top at Spencer J. Nelson Memorial Invitational

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. – The Utah Ski Team closed out a team victory in the Colorado Invitational with a strong Nordic performance on Sunday, as both the men’s and women’s teams were the highest-scoring team in each classical race. In alpine, Endre Bjertness won his second-straight giant slalom race in an RMISA qualifier.

In the men’s 20 kilometer classic, Utah had three skiers in the top six led by a third-place finish from Niklas Persson. It was his second podium finish of the weekend.

“Both the men’s and women’s team had great performances,” Persson said. “The men’s race started out really slow but going out on the third out of four laps the pace started to speed up. Being a little far back when the guys in front started to go for it, Bolger and I had to push hard to catch the first two guys. It wasn’t really there today but a good overall result.”

In the women’s 15 km classic, Veronika Mayerhofer earned her fifth podium of the season with a second-place finish.

“The Colorado Invite was the most successful meet I have experienced with the Utah ski team,” Mayerhofer said. “The best thing is that we will come back to the same venue for NCAA’s. I think this weekend gave us all a self-confidence boost and positive energy for the second half of the ski season. I am very happy with my race today. I felt very strong and was leading the last two loops out of three. Unfortunately I ended up second in the final spurt. Thank you to everyone who made this race weekend an unforgetable one!”

“Today we’re driving home from our sixth race in fourteen days, spanning three states,” Utah head Nordic coach Abi Holt said. “I think it’s fair to say that the entire RMISA circuit headed to the starting line feeling tired this morning. Days like this are a battle physically and mentally, so I am extra pleased with this team’s results today. Niklas and Veronika both pulled off double podium finishes this weekend. The entire team is fit, tough, and scrappy on the race course. We skied great today, and we’re ready for a weekend off.”

The Utes finished the meet with 649 points, beating Denver (587) and Colorado (583) for their second team win of the year. Montana State was fourth (516.5) with New Mexico fifth (514). The Utes were the highest-scoring Nordic team of the meet and also earned more overall points in the giant slalom than any other team.

“I am extremely impressed with our overall team performance at the CU Invite,” Utah Director of Skiing Kevin Sweeney said. “It was an excellent opportunity to race on the 2016 NCAA venues. We were very effective in striking the podium in every event as well as putting three scorers consistently in the top ten. It was impressive. There was excellent team skiing going on, good strategizing, excellent motivation and preparation and some real gutsy performances across the board. Both squads are super tight and having a lot of fun being together, and I think this is the true catalyst for our performance. Hands down, this was some great racing. We wrapped up this period with some excellent FIS points, NCAA qualifying and seeding points, and confidence. Kudus to the staff for excellent preparation. Super proud of our Utes!”

In alpine at the RMISA giant slalom qualifier, which did not count towards any team scoring but was used as an extra opportunity for skiers to earn qualification points for the NCAA Championships, Bjertness won his second-straight giant slalom race after recording the fastest first run of the day. He has two wins and three podium finishes this year, and Dominic Demschar earned his first podium finish of the year with a third-place result.

“Today went well too, I had a good first run and started second with a great position,” Bjertness said. “Luckily I finished the second run without any major mistakes and stayed in first place. Even better, we ended the meet with great results in Nordic as well as alpine, and I think it is very promising we did so at this year’s NCAA venue.”

In the women’s race, Chloe Fausa earned her third podium finish of the year with a second-place run after skiing the fastest first run of the day.

“I’m very excited about our team performance this weekend,” Fausa said. “We have proved how strong we can be on good days, and the fact that the NCAA championships will be in Steamboat on the same arenas is also very promising.”

“It was fantastic to see Endre outperform the competition again and win the second day in the row,” Utah head alpine coach Jaka Korencan said. “Great day also for Dom! On the women’s side it was very exciting to see Chloe back on the podium with two great runs. This weekend was a nice reminder that we don’t have just one ringer, but rather a group of very talented athletes who are all capable of performing at the front of this very competitive NCAA field.”

The Utes and the rest of the RMISA circuit takes a break from collegiate competition for the next several weeks before traveling to the New Mexico Invitational on Feb. 20-21.

Release courtesy of Utah Athletics