Photo: Nick Grace/Utah Athletics
The first day of the RMISA Invitational was hosted at Bridger Bowl on Thursday with the GS on Sunday at Park City. This slalom immediately followed the Montana State University Invitational. Utah won both events, placing them atop the overall rankings.
The current overall rankings are:
- Utah
- Denver
- Colorado
- Montana State
- Alaska Anchorage
- Alaska Fairbanks
- Westminster
- Colorado Mountain College
- Wyoming
Kristiane Bekkestad, a sophomore at MSU, claimed her first win of the RMISA season. She is starting the season strong, improving on her second-place finish at the MSU Invitational slalom.
“Starting the season in Bridger was immaculate. Having our friends, nordics and staff cheering for us made me super motivated, I wish we could bring them to every race. I’m so proud of the team and how hard they pushed everyday, especially since the conditions were a bit rough. I’m convinced this is going to be an awesome year for the bobcats.”
The GS was hosted at Park City, the University of Utah’s home hill. Katie Hensien of the U.S. Ski Team and Denver won, Kaja Norbye of Utah was second and Wesminster’s Julia Toiviainen. Utah was the top women’s GS team, then Westminster in second and Denver in third.
The men
The men’s race was won by Francesco Gori, who is a Sophomore at Westminster. This was an improvement on his sixth-place result the previous day at the MSU Invitational. The next fastest Westminster skier on Thursday was Gustav Dalmalm, who finished in 19th excluding independent racers.
Snow conditions were a factor on Thursday, so start position made an impact.
“My day was good and it’s been a good three days of races,” said Gori. “Super happy to start the NCAA with my first college win. The conditions were pretty soft so the second run was a fight, but I am glad I managed to make it down”
Colorado University’s Filip Foretjek and Leon Nikic from Alaska Anchorage rounded out the podium in second and third place, respectively.
Colorado had the best men’s scoring for the slalom day. Utah and Montana were second and third.
The top three men in the GS were: Riley Seger (Montana), Joachim Bakken Lien (Utah) and Mikkel Solbakken (Westminster). These men led their schools to top three GS team results for the day. Utah in first, Westminster second, and Montana in third.
See the team standings here.
The Utah Invitational is also at Park City. The GS runs on Jan. 24 and slalom on Jan. 25. Stay tuned for the recap.
About the Author: Lexi Hanus
