Feb. 27, 2015
Official Results
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - It was a good day for the University of Denver alpine team at the NCAA West Regional in Anchorage as DU won the giant slalom in both the men's and women's events.
Denver's Kristine Haugen (Lommedalen, Norway), the two-time defending NCAA champ in the GS, won today's women's event by 1.44 over Kristina Rove of Utah. Haugen responded nicely after yesterday's second place result in the GS on the final day of the Seawolf Invitational. Devin Delaney (North Conway, N.H.) finished ninth for the Pioneers with Monica Hübner ( Garmisch-Partenkrichen, Germany) ending up in 12th place.
The men's giant slalom was captured by Denver's Espen Lysdahl (Asker, Norway), who was third in the GS yesterday in the Seawolf Invitatonal. Lysdahl, who was first in both of today's runs, bested runner-up David Neuhauser of Montana State by commanding 1.68. Sebastien Brigovic (Rijeka, Croatia) of DU finished seventh with teammate Max Marno (Centennial, Wyo.) grabbing 12th place.
"Kristine and Espen were outstanding again today," said Denver head coach Andy LeRoy. "They dominated our Western Regional Championship GS and left nothing to question about who the favorites will be heading into NCAA's. I am proud of their efforts and look forward to closing out this trip with tomorrow's SL (slalom)."
In the men's 10K Nordic freestyle event, DU's Dag Frode Trollebø (Oslo, Norway) reached the podium with a third place finish, trailing only a pair of Colorado skiers. Mads Stroem finished first followed by Rene Malo Oedegaard. Trollebø was just one second behind Oedegaard.
'We had some positive performances today, highlighted by Dag Frode's first podium appearance this year in third place," said Nordic head coach David Stewart. "Daggi has been training and preparing very well all year, so it is really rewarding for him and us to see him move up the result list at the end of the season and have his best race so far. He was skiing technically very well today and he deserves to have the results starting to show the work he has put in."
Denver's Moritz Madlener (Sulzberg, Bavaria, Germany) completed the race in ninth position while Christian Shanley (Edwards, Colorado) was 31st.
"Moritz was a few places back in 9th, but it was a very tight race, and he was just seconds outside the top-5," said Stewart. "It's a testament to his consistency this year that a race like today, where he is still top ten and within striking distance of the podium, is a bit of a disappointment. He has a good chance to be among the best in the mass start tomorrow, and of course has his sights set on both races at NCAA's."
On the women's side, Denver's Sylvia Nordskar ( Bærum, Norway) remains sidelined and did not compete due to illness.
Selma Ahlsand (Oslo, Norway) was the Pioneers top finisher in the women's 5K freestyle, ending up in 16th place with Silje Benum (Trondheim, Norway) in 21st.
"For the ladies, both Selma and Silje had positive races and were skiing technically well, but were just on the wrong side of a tightly packed field," explained Stewart. These races offer a good opportunity to find the next gear before we go to Lake Placid, so we are working to keep their trend on the upswing. Of course it's a bummer to have Sylvia miss these races, but long-term health and proper preparation is our focus, and she is sticking to that plan."
Nordic action tomorrow features the men's and women's Classical races with a mass start which Stewart says is the team's favorite event.
The Pioneers will enter tomorrow in fourth place overall with 268 points. Utah leads the way with 315 points, followed by Colorado with 307 and Montana State with 277. Each team is gearing up for the NCAA Championships in Lake Placid, New York beginning March 11th.
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