PARK CITY/MIDWAY, Utah – The University of Denver ski team is in third place after the 2022 NCAA Championships finally got underway on Thursday with both alpine and Nordic racing commencing in Utah.
 
After being postponed from Wednesday due to snow conditions on the alpine course at Park City Mountain Resort, the Pioneers put together a strong performance in the men's and women's giant slalom. As a team, DU won the women's GS with 69 points and finished second in the men's race with 63 points.
 
Senior Katie Hensien (second) and Galena Wardle (seventh) finished in the top 10 in the women's competition, while junior Eleri Smart also picked up points in 24th place.
 
Hensien was in fourth place after her first run and produced the second-fastest second run to move into a podium position. She finished just 25-hundredths of a second behind Colorado's Magdalena Luczak, who had the fastest run in both GS sessions to claim the individual national title. Utah's Katie Parker joined them on the podium in third.
 
Senior Tobias Kogler led the Pios in the men's giant slalom by coming in fourth, just eight-hundredths of a second behind third-place Riley Seger of Montana State (1:58.20). DU freshman Cooper Cornelius was 13th, and senior Simon Fournier was 17th.
 
Colorado's Filip Forejtek won the men's GS, while Utah's Gustav Vollo was second.
 
The Pioneers earned a second podium on the day in men's Nordic, as freshman Andreas Kirkeng finished second in the 10K classical at Soldier Hollow Nordic Center in Midway. Kirkeng finished the interval start race in 23:49.5, just six-plus seconds behind first-place Ben Ogden of Vermont (23:43.1). CU's Magnus Boee was third (24:03.7).
 
Denver finished tied for first in the men's team scoring with 76 points as junior Bernhard Flaschberger was 10th and senior Ole Marius Kirkeng was 13th.
 
In the women's 5K classical, sophomore Hanna Ray earned a top 10 in ninth place and junior Vera Norli came in 12th. Junior Emma Larsson finished 37th.
 
The Pioneers earned 249 points on the day and are only 37.5 behind leader and host Utah (286.5). DU trails second-place Colorado Buffaloes by just 13 points (262).
 
UP NEXT: The alpine squads wrap up their national championships on Friday with men's and women's slalom at Park City Mountain Resort.
 
DENVER WOMEN 5K CLASSIC INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
9. Hanna Ray, 14:13.8
12. Vera Norli, 14:20.1
37. Emma Larsson, 15:39.8
 
DENVER MEN 10K CLASSIC INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
2. Andreas Kirkeng, 23:49.5
10. Bernhard Flaschberger, 24.57.8
13. Ole Marius Kirkeng, 25.09. 6
 
DENVER WOMEN GIANT SLALOM INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
2. Katie Hensien, 2:03.28 (1:04.54/58.74)
7. Galena Wardle, 2:04.68 (1:04.31/1:00.37)
24. Eleri Smart, 2:07.83 (1:07.58/1:00.25)
 
DENVER MEN GIANT SLALOM INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
4. Tobias Kogler, 1:58.28 (1:01.45/56.83)
13. Cooper Cornelius, 1:59.48 (1:02.41/57.07)
17. Simon Fournier, 1:59.65 (1:02.69/56.96)
 
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM SCORING (through 4-of-8 events): 1. Utah 286.5; 2. Colorado 262; 3. Denver 249; 4. Vermont 235; 5. Middlebury 131.5; 6. Alaska Fairbanks 108; 7. Alaska Anchorage 103; 8. Westminster 101; 9. Montana State 100; 10. New Hampshire 97; 11. Michigan Tech 74; 12. Dartmouth 74; 13. St. Michael's 59; 14. Colby 31; 15. Northern Michigan 24; 16. St. Lawrence 20; 17. Plymouth State 15; 18. St. Scholastica 12; 19. Harvard 8; 20. Boston College & Bowdoin 4; 22. Green Bay 0.
 
WOMEN'S 5K CLASSIC TOP 10 (40 finishers): 1. Novie McCabe, UU, 13:22.8; 2. Anna Bizyukova, UVM & Sophia Laukli, UU, 13:36.3; 4. Anabel Needham, MTU, 13:48.6; 5. Hanna Abrahamsson, CU, 13:57.2; 6. Sydney Palmer-Leger, UU, 13:58.7; 7. Nea Katajala, MTU, 14:09.0; 8. Jasmine Lyons, UNH, 14:12.6; 9. Hanna Ray, DU, 14:13.8; 10. Weronika Kaleta, CU, 14:16.3.
 
MEN'S 10K CLASSIC TOP 10 (40 finishers): 1. Ben Ogden, UVM, 23:43.1; 2. Andreas Kirkeng, DU, 23:49.5; 3. Magnus Boee, CU, 24:03.7; 4. Christopher Kalev, UAF, 24:08.3; 5. Mike Ophoff, UAF, 24:25.6; 6. Jacob Nystedt, UVM, 24:35.6; 7. Will Koch, CU, 24:37.3; 8. Peter Wolter, MID, 24:40.1; 9. Espen Persen, UAA, 24:52.5; 10. Bernhard Flaschberger, DU, 24:57.8.
 
WOMEN'S GIANT SLALOM TOP 10 (30 finishers): 1. Magdalena Luczak, CU, 2:02.03; 2. Katie Hensien, DU, 2:03.28; 3. Katie Parker, UU, 2:03.63; 4. Nellie Talbot, MSU, 2:03.73; 5. Kaja Norbye, UU, 2:04.00; 6. Denise Dingsleder, WMC, 2:04.63; 7. Galena Wardle, DU, 2:04.68; 8. Ellie Curtis, DAR, 2:04.72; 9. Helene Kristoffersen, SMC, 2:05.20; 10. Marina Vilanova, UVM, 2:05.35.
 
MEN'S GIANT SLALOM TOP 10 (29 finishers): 1. Filip Forejtek, CU, 1:57.41; 2. Gustav Vollo, UU, 1:58.14; 3. Riley Seger, MSU, 1:58.20; 4. Tobias Kogler, DU, 1:58.28; 5. Bastian Meisen, UNH, 1:58.40; 6. Joachim Lien, UU, 1:58.61; 7. Mikkel Solbakken, WMC, 1:58.78; 8. Oliver Morgan, DAR, 1:58.89; 9. Joachim Lindstol, UVM, 1:58.96; 10. Simen Strand, SMC, 1:58.98.


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