BOZEMAN, Mont. – Seniors
Bernhard Flaschberger and
Emma Larsson led the Denver Pioneers ski team on Friday in 15-kilometer classic races on the first day of the Montana State Invitational at Crosscut Mountain Sports Center.
Flaschberger placed sixth (42:02.8) in the men's race and posted his third consecutive top-10 finish in full-distance classic events (non-sprint), while Larsson earned her third career top 10 by coming in ninth in the women's race (33:56.5). Both the men and women competed at the same distance in a mass start format.
Denver is fifth in the team standings after the first day of the MSU Invite with 124 points but is part of a group of four teams within 12 points of one another. Utah leads after two-of-eight events with 199 points, while Alaska Anchorage is second with 136 points. The Pioneers trail Colorado by just three points (127) and are nine points behind third-place Alaska Fairbanks (133), which is right on the tail of UAA.
Sophomores
Elijah Weenig and
Jonah Steinberg followed Flaschberger in the men's event by both posting personal bests by coming in 12th and 14th place, respectively. Freshman
Sivert Wulff did not finish the race.
Senior
Vera Norli finished two spots behind Larsson in 11th place in the women's 15K, and sophomore
Bettina Burgess also scored for DU with a career-high 16th-place result. Sophomore
Sidney Barbier rounded out the Pioneers in 18th.
Denver and many of the other RMISA schools are a bit shorthanded at the meet, as several of their student-athletes are representing their respective home countries at the Winter World University Games in Lake Placid, New York. DU was down three skiers, as junior
Hanna Ray is representing Finland while sophomore
Andreas Kirkeng and freshman
Selma Andersen are competing with Norway.
Utah leads the meet after having all six of their scorers on the day place in the top five of their respective races. The Utes' Novie McCabe won the women's 15K in 47:53.6 while 2022 national champion Sophia Laulki placed third behind silver medalist Hanna Abrahamsson of CU. UU's Sydney Palmer-Leger was fourth
In the men's race, Sam Hendry came in third behind fellow Utes Brian Bushey and Luke Jager in fourth and fifth. Alaska Fairbanks took the top two steps of the podium after Mike Ophoff beat out teammate Joe Davies at the finish line in a photo finish (41:17.2).
UP NEXT: Denver wraps up the Nordic portion of the Montana State Invitational on Saturday with the women's 5K freestyle (10 a.m. MT) and men's 10K freestyle (11 a.m. MT) via an interval start. The MSU Invite concludes on Jan. 30-31 with two days of alpine giant slalom races at Bridger Bowl Ski Area.
NOTES
- Senior Bernhard Flaschberger placed sixth in the men's classic and has now placed in the top 10 in each of the last three and in four of the past five non-sprint classical races.
- Sophomore Jonah Steinberg had a career-best finish in 14th place and scored for the Pioneers for the first time in his career.
- Sophomore Elijah Weenig had his best career result in 12th place.
- Senior Emma Larsson picked up her third career top-10 finish and her first since placing eighth in the 10K classic at the 2022 MSU Invite
- Sophomore Bettina Burgess recorded her first career top-15 result and scored for the Pioneers as well.
- Sophomore Sidney Barbier earned her fourth career top-20 finish.
DENVER MEN INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
6.
Bernhard Flaschberger, 42:02.8
12.
Elijah Weenig, 44:34.8
14.
Jonah Steinberg, 45:27.9
DNF:
Sivert Wulff
DENVER WOMEN INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
9.
Emma Larsson, 53:56.5
11.
Vera Norli, 54:59.0
16.
Bettina Burgess, 56:41.8
18.
Sidney Barbier, 57:21.2
TEAM STANDINGS (through 2-of-8 events): 1. Utah 199; 2. Alaska Anchorage 136; 3. Alaska Fairbanks 133; 4. Colorado 127;
5. Denver 124; 6. Montana State
MEN'S 15K CLASSIC TOP 10 (23 finishers): 1. Mike Ophoff, UAF, 41:17.2; 2. Joe Davies, UAF, 41:17.2; 3. Sam Hendry, UU, 41:18.3; 4. Brian Bushey, UU, 41:40.2; 5. Luke Jager, UU, 41:46.3;
6. Bernhard Flaschberger, DU, 42:02.8; 7. Ari Endestad, UAA, 43:02.5; 8. Walker Hall, UU, 43:03.0; 9. Hugo Hinckfuss, CU, 43:45.3; 10. Magnus Noroey, UAA, 44:17.7.
WOMEN'S 15K CLASSIC TOP 10 (20 RMISA finishers): 1. Novie McCabe, UU, 47:53.6; 2. Hanna Abrahamsson, 47:57.8; 3. Sophia Laulki, UU, 48:17.3; 4. Sydney Palmer-Leger, UU, 48:55.8; 5. Karolina Kaleta, CU, 52:18.5; 6. Astrid Stav, UAA, 52:36.1; 7. Tuva Bygrave, UAA, 52:41.0; 8. Tilde Baangman, MSU, 52:52.3;
9. Emma Larsson, DU, 53:56.5; 10. Ezra Smith, UU, 54:33.6.
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