March 11, 2015

Team Scores

Men's 10K Results

Women's 5K Results

LAKE PLACID, N.Y. - The University of Denver, in their quest to repeat as NCAA Champions, received a good early result in Lake Placid Wednesday morning with Moritz Madlener (Sulzberg, Bavaria, Germany)taking second place in the Men's Nordic 10K freestyle event. Madlener, the first competitor of the day, turned in a stellar time of 25.11 that looked like it would hold up. However, late in the competition, Patrick Caldwell of Dartmouth was able to navigate the Mt. Van Hoevenberg course just two seconds better than Madlener. Colorado's Rene Malo Oedegaard took third place. Denver's Jorgen Brevik (Trondheim, Norway) finished in 28th place with Dag Frode Trolleboe (Oslo, Norway) taking 38th position for the Pioneers.

"Moritz raced with start number 1 today and held the lead until the last starter crossed the line," said Denver Nordic head coach David Stewart. "He was just two seconds from an NCAA title, but this is his first NCAA podium appearance and his best race of the year. He skied a tactical race, saving his energy for a blistering second lap that crushed everyone but Dartmouth's Paddy Caldwell, who was a very deserving winner today."

In the Women's Nordic 5K freestyle, DU standout Sylvia Nordskar(Bærum, Norway), coming off illness, was the first athlete out of the gate and turned in a solid second place result. Nordskar finished 13-seconds behind Veronika Mayerhofer of Utah. Meanwhile, Selma Ahlsand (Oslo, Norway) finished in 15th place for the Pioneers while Silje Benum (Trondheim, Norway) recorded a 38th place finish for DU.

"Sylvia also started with bib number one and, like Moritz, posted the fastest time until one of the last starters, Veronika Mayerhofer of Utah came in to take the win," Stewart said. "This was Sylvia's first race in over one month after missing weeks due to a persistent cold, so she defied everyone's expectations but her own to get on the podium at NCAA's for the third consecutive time today. Selma had her best race of the year, charging the second half of the race to move up through the field up and take 15th."

Looking ahead, tomorrow will feature the men's and women's giant slalom. Friday has the Men's Nordic 20K classical and the women's 15K classical and the championships wrap up Saturday with the slalom.

"I am so proud of the way our entire team performed today," said Stewart. "All six athletes from Denver left everything on the course, each of them collapsing in the finish, going for every seconds and every point for DU. Overall, Moritz and Sylvia claiming runner-up in the two races was good for sure, but they had their sights set on the top step of the podium, not second, and the team is here to defend our national title. Period. Almost every member of our team is stronger in the classic technique, so we are already looking forward to making up points lost today in Friday's classic race and setting the team up for victory on Saturday."

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