PARK CITY, Utah – The University of Denver ski team wrapped up the Utah Invitational on Tuesday with a strong showing in both men's and women's slalom at Park City Mountain Resort.
 
Senior Katie Hensien and junior Galena Wardle led the Pioneers in second and fourth place, respectively, in the women's event, and three Denver skiers finished in the top 12 in the men's race. The Pioneers recorded 133 points but remained in fourth place overall on the final day of the Utah Invite with 514 points.
 
"Katie and Galena had an awesome day today and then the other girls had a tough go—there were a couple gate straddles there," said Denver Alpine Head Coach Joonas Rasanen. "On the boy's side, it was pretty solid overall. Trey had a really good day with his 12th place, and Tobi and Simon had solid days, with some skiing still left in the tank.
 
"Overall, a couple of unlucky days. We were sitting pretty well and if both the girls and boys get their good days on a good weekend, we look very strong. So I'm not worried about anything at this point. Am I happy with fourth place? Absolutely not, but it's a step in the right direction."
 
The host Utes won the meet with 682 points, while Colorado was second with 562 and Alaska Anchorage was third with 537 points.
 
Led by Hensien and Wardle's top-five placements, the DU women finished second in their team event with 68 points. Both skiers had the top three times in the opening run, with Hensien leading the pack at 53.08 and Wardle in third at 53.94.
 
Hensien finished with a total of 1:43.73, coming just nine-hundredths of a second behind winner Eveline Fredricsson of Westminster. The WMC Griffins had a second athlete on the podium with Denise Dingsleder in third.
 
It was Hensien's fourth podium in the last four races, while Wardle picked up her second top five of her career, both of which have occurred in the past week. Her fourth-place finish was a new personal best.
 
"She was skiing really well out there, and it was fun to see," Rasanen noted of Wardle. "She was getting more confident each race and getting back to where she once was."
 
Junior Eleri Smart and sophomore Nora Brand both posted DNFs in the women's slalom after not being able to finish their second runs.
 
Senior Tobias Kogler led Denver in men's slalom in seventh place, posting his fifth-straight top 10. Senior Simon Fournier also had his best day of the season by coming in 10th, and sophomore Trey Seymour closed out the Pioneers' scorers with a career-best 12th place. Senior Tristan Lane was the only other DU skier to complete both runs, finishing in 16th.
 
DU and Utah were the only two schools to place all three of its scorers in the top 12.
 
Filip Forejtek of Colorado won the men's individual race, while Westminster's Francesco Gori (second) and Montana State's Henry Heaydon (third) joined him on the podium.
 
Tuesday marked the end of a busy week for the Pioneers and the other RMISA schools, as they competed in three meets and six races over eight days in Utah and Bozeman, Montana. As an entire team, DU finished third at the Montana State Invite and is presently second in the RMISA Invitational following the alpine portion.
 
"Every day we had something good and something to improve on. But the vibe of the team is really good, and I think everyone knows that there's still way more in the tank that we have to give," Rasanen said. "Overall, I would say it was a fairly successful week. Everyone had at least one run, if not a full race, that was good. It's a good stepping stone for the rest of the season."
 
The Utah Invitational began with Nordic races on Jan. 2 and 6 at Soldier Hollow Nordic Center in nearby Midway. Those races were also part of the U.S. Cross Country National Championships.
 
UP NEXT: The alpine Pioneers will now have roughly three weeks off before wrapping up their regular-season meets with their own Denver Invitational on Feb. 19-20. The Nordic skiers wrap up their regular-season slate in Alaska as they'll compete at the Alaska Fairbanks Invitational from Feb. 1-2 at Birch Hill and close the RMISA Invitational on the same course on Feb. 5-6. The RMISA Championships are slated for Feb. 23-26 in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.
 
NOTES

• DU finished second in the women's team event with 68 points and was fifth in the men's race with 65 points.
• Denver recorded the fourth-most points in both the alpine and Nordic portions of the meet.
• DU's women's alpine squad finished with the third-most points earned (124), while the men had the fourth-most (137) at the Utah Invite.
• Trey Seymour posted a new personal best in 12th, his first top 15 result of his career.
• Simon Fournier posted his first top 10 of the season and 14th of his career.
• Galena Wardle recorded a new career best in fourth, her second top-five result of the season/career—both of which came in slalom.

 
DENVER MEN INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
7. Tobias Kogler, 1:45.29 (51.45/53.84)
10. Simon Fournier, 1:46.05 (52.46/53.59)
12. Trey Seymour, 1:47.17 (53.80/53.37)
16. Tristan Lane, 1:48.07 (54.00/54.07)
DNF: Cole Puckett (Run 1), Cooper Cornelius (Run 1)
DNS: Colby Lane
 
DENVER WOMEN INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
2. Katie Hensien, 1:43.73 (53.08/50.65)
4. Galena Wardle, 1:44.93 (53.94/50.99)
DNF: Nora Brand (54.66/DNF R2), Eleri Smart (55.24/DNF R2)
 
TEAM STANDINGS (through 8-of-8 events): 1. Utah 648; 2. Colorado 562; 3. Alaska Anchorage 537; 4. Denver 514; 5. Montana State 477; 6. Westminster 313; 7. Alaska Fairbanks 224; 8. Colorado Mountain College 152; 9. Wyoming 97
 
MEN'S SLALOM TOP 10 (23 finishers): 1. Filip Forejtek, CU, 1:43.53; 2. Francesco Gori, WMC, 1:43.66; 3. Henry Heaydon, MSU, 1:44.34; 4. Jacob Dilling, CU, 1:44.55; 5. Wilhelm Normannseth, UU, 1:45.09; 6. Mikkel Solbakken, MWC, 1:45.21; 7. Tobias Kogler, DU, 1:45.29; 8. Jamie Casselman, MSU, 1:45.74; 9. Joachim Lien, UU, 1:45.86; 10. Simon Fournier, DU, 1:46.05
 
WOMEN'S SLALOM TOP 10 (26 finishers): 1. Evelina Fredricsson, WMC, 1:43.64; 2. Katie Hensien, DU, 1:43.64; 3. Denise Dingsleder, WMC, 1:44.47; 4. Galena Wardle, DU, 1:44.93; 5. Katie Vesterstein, UU, 1:45.06; 6. Alyssa Hill, UAA, 1:45.22; 7. Julia Toiviainen, WMC, 1:45.27; 8. Kaitlyn Harsch, CU, 1:45.30; 9. Ainsley Proffitt, CMC, 1:45.36; 10. Emma Hammergaard, CU, 1:45.40
 
 
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