MIDWAY, Utah – The Kirkeng brothers led the University of Denver ski team in an RMISA Nordic Qualifier on Friday at Soldier Hollow as freshman Andreas Kirkeng placed fourth and senior Ole Marius Kirkeng finished sixth in men's classic sprints.
 
Denver sophomore Hanna Ray was the top women's finisher in ninth place, tying her career best that she set twice in the 5K classic at last year's RMISA Championships and NCAA Championships.
 
Ray was the only Pioneer woman to advance to the quarterfinals based on her qualifying run (4:02.49), while all three Denver men were able to move on with a top-30 time. Overall, 12 RMISA men and 10 RMISA women made it to the quarterfinals.
 
Utah's Sydney Palmer-Leger picked up her third collegiate victory this week by winning the women's race, while Alaska Anchorage's Tuva Bygrave was second and Weronika Kaleta of Colorado was third. The women's podium was decided in the semifinal round, as none of the three women advanced to the final.
 
Friday's races marked the final ones of the U.S. Cross Country National Championships, with the collegians having faced off against other amateur and professional athletes all week. The scores from this RMISA Qualifier were pulled from the results of the general race at the U.S. nationals. Since this was an individual qualifier event, no team scores were calculated.
 
Colorado's Magnus Boee won the men's classic sprints, and Alaska Anchorage's J.C. Schoonmaker earned his third collegiate podium of the week in second. Utah's Noel Keefe was third.
 
For Andreas Kirkeng, his fourth-place finish matched his season's best that he set in his debut race last Sunday in freestyle sprints. He's finished in the top 10 in all three RMISA races this week after placing sixth in the 15-kilometer classic race on Thursday. The freshman made it to the semifinals on Friday after winning his quarterfinal heat with a time of 4:00.97.
 
Ole Marius Kirkeng's sixth-place result was a career-high finish—his sixth top 10—and Nick Sweeney's 11th-place mark was his best spot on the leaderboard since placing eighth in the men's freestyle sprints at the 2018 U.S. Nationals. Neither athlete moved on from their respective quarterfinal heats.
 
Juniors Vera Norli and Emma Larsson and senior Sadie Cotton also competed in the women's race, and all three just missed qualifying for the quarterfinals despite placing in the top 15. Norli finished 12th (4:13.60), Larsson was 13th (4:13.69) and Cotton was 15th (4:18.02).
 
This was the first RMISA Qualifier event since alpine giant slalom in Montana on Feb. 27, 2020, and it was the first such competition on the Nordic side since the men's and women's 21K classic in Aspen on Feb. 9 of that year. There were no qualifier events last season.
 
UP NEXT: The Denver Nordic squad will have about a week to get some good training in before the start of its next meet in Sun Valley, Idaho, next weekend. The women's 5K and men's 10K freestyle races open the Montana State Invitational on Saturday, Jan. 15 before the women's 10K and men's 15K classic on Sunday, Jan. 16. The alpiners open their season on Jan. 18 at the MSU Invite with the giant slalom competition.
 
 
NOTES

• Andreas Kirkeng has finished in the top six in all three races this year.
• Ole Marius Kirkeng's sixth-place finish was his best result of his career in an RMISA competition and his sixth career top 10. His previous best was seventh in the 21K classic in an RMISA Qualifier on Feb. 9, 2020.
• Nick Sweeney recorded his best finish since placing eighth in the men's freestyle sprints at the 2018 U.S. Cross Country National Championships.
• Hanna Ray tied her career high in ninth place and earned her fourth career top 10. She also came in ninth in the 5K classic at both the 2021 RMISA and NCAA Championships.
• Sadie Cotton's 15th-place finish tied her career best, previously set in classic sprints at the Alaska Anchorage Invitational on Feb. 18, 2019.

 
DENVER MEN'S INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
4. Andreas Kirkeng, 3:15.00 QT/4.00.97 QF-1/4:13.31 SF-4
6. Ole Marius Kirkeng, 3:21.37 QT/4:07.41 QF-5
11. Nick Sweeney, 3:25.94 QT/4:18.22 QF-6
 
DENVER WOMEN'S INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
9. Hanna Ray, 4.02.49 QT/5:19.23 QF-6
12. Vera Norli, 4:13.69 QT
13. Emma Larsson, 4:16.47 QT
15. Sadie Cotton, 4:18.03 QT
DNS: Gracie Shanley
 
RMISA MEN'S CLASSIC TOP 10 (29 collegiate finishers): 1. Magnus Boee, CU; J.C. Schoonmaker, UAA; 3. Noel Keefe, UU; 4. Andreas Kirkeng, DU; 5. Sigurd Roenning, UAA; 6. Ole Marius Kirkeng, DU; 7. Mike Ophoff, UAF; 8. Reed Godfrey, MSU; 9. Bjorn Riksassen, UU; 10. Will Koch, CU
 
RMISA WOMEN'S CLASSIC TOP 10 (23 collegiate finishers): 1. Sydney Palmer-Leger, UU; 2. Tuva Bygrave, UAA; 3. Weronika Kaleta, CU; 4. Astrid Stav, UAA; 5. Hanna Abrahamsson, CU; 6. Abigail Jarzin, UU; 7. Julia Richter, UU; 8. Karolina Kaleta, CU; 9. Hanna Ray, DU; 10. Kendall Kramer, UAF
 
 
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