FAIRBANKS, Alaska – The men's and women's 10K classical Nordic ski races for the RMISA Invitational on Sunday were canceled due to cold temperatures at Birch Hill Recreation Area.
The website that race organizers were using for temperature had it at minus-5 degrees Fahrenheit at race time, while the "feels like" (actual temperature) was at minus-11 degrees Fahrenheit.
Per RMISA rules, the results from Saturday's freestyle events were doubled to calculate the final results for team scoring in order to even out the alpine and Nordic points. For NCAA qualification, the race will be treated as a no result.
Due to the doubling of Saturday's results, the University of Denver finished third in the team standings at the meet with 571 points, 13 behind second-place Colorado (584). Utah won with 707 points, earning its third team victory of the season.
In Saturday's men's 10K freestyle, DU junior
Bernhard Flaschberger led the field by picking up his fourth victory in his last five races. Senior
Ole Marius Kirkeng placed 10th while freshman
Andreas Kirkeng was 15th. In the women's 5K freestyle, juniors
Vera Norli and
Emma Larsson led the Pios in 13th and 14th place, respectively, and freshman
Sidney Barbier was the third scorer in 21st.
The Pioneers and the other RMISA schools were in Fairbanks participating in the Besh Cup, a six-race series to select the Alaska team for the U.S. Junior National Championship and the Arctic Winter Games. The collegiate results from the two races this weekend were then going to be pulled for the RMISA Invitational, a generic meet that had alpine stops in Bozeman, Montana, and Park City, Utah.
The Nordic regular season now comes to an end, with the Pioneers and the other RMISA schools next set to compete in the conference and regional championships in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, later this month. The women's 5k and men's 10K classic is on Friday, Feb. 25, while the women's 15K and men's 20K freestyle is Saturday, Feb. 26.
UP NEXT: The alpine teams resume their season in two weeks with the Denver Invitational and an Alpine qualifier race. The date and locations of those race have been moved, with the giant slalom races taking place on Thursday and Friday, Feb. 17-18, at Copper Mountain, while the slalom event of the DU Invite will be held at Keystone resort on Monday, Feb. 21.
TEAM STANDINGS (through 8-of-8 events): 1. Utah 707; 2. Colorado 584; 2. Denver 571; 4. Montana State 492; 5. Alaska Anchorage 383; 6. Westminster 299; 7. Alaska Fairbanks 228; 8. 7. Colorado Mountain College 181
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