Utah Nordics preserve lead for team win at CU Invite

By Published On: January 15th, 2012Comments Off on Utah Nordics preserve lead for team win at CU Invite

Accumulating a total of 896 team points over five days of competition, the University of Utah Utes secured the first overall victory of the 2012 NCAA season over the Colorado Buffaloes at the CU Invitational/Spencer Nelson Memorial.

The Utes led Colorado by 29 points at the conclusion of the alpine events, and their men’s Nordic team locked up the top two steps of the podium in the 10K Freestyle with Didrik Smith and Miles Havlick’s performance. Havlick also took second in the 15K Classical to further bolster his team’s lead. Michael Schallinger (Montana State) rounded out the freestyle podium in third while his teammate David Norris stole the victory in the classical event. Rune Oedegaard found third in the classical for critical Colorado points.

The Buffaloes could not be silenced in the women’s races as Joanne Reid secured the win in the 5K Freestyle and was third in the 10K Classical. The University of Alaska Anchorage emerged as a serious threat when Jaime Bronga won the classical race and skated into second in the freestyle. Fellow Seawolf Laura Rombach joined Bronga on the classical podium in second, howling a sonorous roar to the collegiate circuit and propelling their team into third overall. Watch out, Nordies, these ladies are out for blood.

Final team scores of the CU Invitational/Spencer Nelson Memorial:
University of Utah – 896
University of Colorado – 872
University of Alaska Anchorage – 741
University of Denver – 732
Montana State University – 707
University of New Mexico – 706
Westminster College – 293
University of Wyoming – 183
Colorado Mountain College – 87

Photo of Joanne Reid (CU) by University of Colorado

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About the Author: C.J. Feehan

Christine J. Feehan is a USSA Level 300 coach who spent more than a decade training athletes at U.S. ski academies - Burke, Sugar Bowl, and Killington - before serving as Editor in Chief at Ski Racing Media through 2017. She worked for the FIS on the World Cup tour for three years and then settled into her current home in Oslo, Norway.