Buffs win opening Utah Invitational on Nordic power
The University of Colorado men’s Nordic duo of Rune Oedegaard and Mads Stroem swept the top two podium spots for two straight days to power their team to victory at the 2015 Utah Invitational. Although Colorado was well within striking distance after the alpine races held Friday through Sunday, the Buffs made their greatest stride in the freestyle and classic races concluding on Monday.
Colorado’s Brooke Wales kicked off the weekend of racing with a victory in the opening women’s RMISA giant slalom of the season down Payday at Park City Mountain Resort. She was followed on the podium by Utah’s Chloe Margrethe Fausa in second and Denver’s Kristine Haugen in third.
“The day was awesome. … We’ve been training hard and the whole team has really been pushing each other in training, so it’s really a team win and it’s great to come out on the top step today,” said Wales. “It’s a lot more of a moderate hill. I know some are bummed we are not on CB’s, others are happy. You just have to take it for what it is – it’s nothing you can control and it’s still fun and like I said the snow was great out there today.”
Fausa echoed those sentiments: “Yeah it feels great. I’m super happy to have such a good start to the season. It really helps on the confidence for later.”
In the ladies slalom on Saturday, Colorado’s Thea Grosvold claimed the win ahead of Denver rookie Monica Huebner from Germany in second and Utah’s Kristiina Rove in third.
“Monica is a really good skier and is going to be a podium threat every time she skis,” Denver alpine head coach Andy LeRoy said. “It should come as no surprise for her to finish close to the top.”
In the men’s GS race on Saturday, Denver’s Sebastian Brigovic wasted no time getting back to business and taking a .29-second victory over Utah newcomer Dominic Demschar. Brigovic’s teammate Taylor Shiffrin finished third for his first career RMISA podium result.
Demschar skied the fastest second run of the day to charge from ninth after the first run onto the podium, turning a few of his competitors’ heads in the process.
“It was a tough day out there because the snow conditions were quite difficult and every mistake penalized the racers tremendously,” Utah head alpine coach Jaka Korencan said. “Congratulations to Dom, who has had an incredible start to his college career with two podiums in the first two races. We could not be more excited about his performances. He really deserves it.”
Brigovic doubled down in the Sunday slalom, taking his second victory in as many days. Westminster’s Tim Lindgren was a mere hundredth off the winning time as runner-up, and Shiffrin settled into his second third-place RMISA finish of the weekend.
“It feels really good. It’s team spirit – team effort – of course. I’m always good in January and February, and I’m really excited because it happened this year again,” said Brigovic. “It’s not going to be easy (defending the NCAA title), but I think we have to keep the spirit and keep going hard and keep training as hard as we can to keep the team spirit high and win it again.”
At the conclusion of the alpine events, the defending NCAA champion Pioneers led the standings with 357 points to Colorado’s 326.5. Utah sat third with 308 and mighty RMISA-affiliate school Westminster was a solid fourth with 249 points. But all of that was about to change once the skate races started.
Colorado’s Stroem, the sophomore, won the men’s freestyle race 18.7 seconds ahead of his teammate Oedegaard, a senior. The duo essentially picked up where they left off last season, both earning an individual NCAA Championship on the same course last March. Denver’s Moritz Madlener rounded out the podium in third.
“We know they can do it, it’s in them,” said Colorado head coach Richard Rokos. “But right now to do it right away in the first race, I know Rune traveled for two straight days from Norway, slept somewhere in an airport along the way, and practically went to the race from the airport, it’s good to see. They’re the cornerstone of our program right now.”
In the classic race the following day, the podium looked nearly the same if not for a swap in the Buffs’ positions, as two-time NCAA Classical Champion Oedegaard dominated the race and won by 42.6 seconds over Stroem. Madlener was edged out in a sprint and finished third by less than a half-second to Stroem.
In the women’s 5K freestyle, Denver’s Sylvia Nordskar outpaced Alaska junior Mackenzie Kanady (second) and Montana junior Cambria McDermott (third) for the Pioneer win. She again took the victory on Monday in the classical race despite deteriorating conditions for the ladies. Utah rookie Veronika Mayerhofer of Austria finished second ahead of her teammate Sloan Storey in third.
Colorado ended up taking the team win in both the 15K men’s and 10K women’s classic races on the final day and in the end won the meet by more than 70 points at 694.5. Host Utah scored 613 points, edging out Denver (612) by a single point for second place. New Mexico finished fourth with 465.5 points while Alaska Anchorage (411) took fifth and Montana State (394) sixth. Associate RMISA members Westminster College (249), Wyoming (162) and Colorado Mountain College (52) rounded out the team scoring.
“It’s good to wrap up the meet and see that in general, we are equal across the board with the strength of our team,” Rokos said. “It’s good to see the Nordic team so superior, going 1-2 in both races. The first meet oftentimes proves the outcome of the season, so hopefully we see that through.”
Next up the Buffs host their own Spencer James Nelson Memorial Invitational, set for Jan. 23-27. The Nordic teams get things started in Steamboat Springs Jan. 23-24 and then the alpine teams race at Eldora Jan. 25-27.
See more photos from these races here.
2015 Utah Invitational Final Team Scores
- Colorado – 694.5
- Utah – 613
- Denver – 612
- New Mexico – 465.5
- Alaska-Anchorage – 411
- Montana State – 394
- Westminster – 249
- Wyoming – 162
- Colorado Mtn. – 52
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