HOUGHTON, Mich. – The Denver Pioneers ski team concluded the RMISA Nordic Qualifiers on Wednesday with classic sprint races at Michigan Tech Trails as part of the 2023 U.S. Cross Country National Championships.
The results from DU's first events of the regular season were pulled from the overall national championship race, which totaled 241 men and 182 women skiers competing. No team results are being calculated in RMISA Qualifiers, which are designed to give athletes from the western schools another opportunity to qualify for the NCAA Championships in March.
Only two Denver skiers advanced out of qualifying on Wednesday, as sophomore
Andreas Kirkeng finished 10th in the men's RMISA race and junior
Hanna Ray placed 11th in the conference's women's sprints.
Kirkeng won his qualifying heat and posted the second-fastest time in the preliminary race, completing the windy, 1244-meter course in two minutes and 48.46 seconds. However, he couldn't advance out of the quarterfinals, placing fifth in his heat with a time of 3:02.03.
Ray had the 27th fastest qualifying time in 3:36.57, but she also couldn't get out of the quarterfinals despite posting a 3:56.04 mark. The Finn led Denver's women contingent in the RMISA standings, with all four athletes placing inside the top 30. Senior
Vera Norli was 20th, sophomore
Bettina Burgess was 23rd and sophomore
Sidney Barbier made her season debut by coming in 27th.
Behind Kirkeng on the men's side was sophomore
Elijah Weenig in 27th, sophomore
Jonah Steinberg in 29th, senior
Bernhard Flaschberger in 33rd and freshman
Sivert Wulff in 34th.
Kristoffer Alm Karsrud of Northern Michigan was the U.S. national champion in men's classic sprints, while Hailey Swirbul of APU Nordic Ski Center picked up her second national title of the week by winning the women's races.
The RMISA Nordic Qualifier men's podium featured Colorado's Magnus Boee in first place and Will Koch in third and Utah's Luke Jager in second. On the women's side, Alaska Fairbanks' Mariel Pulles was on the top step, while Montana State's Tilde Baangman was second and Utah's Sydney Palmer-Leger was third.
UP NEXT: The Pioneers continue the U.S. Cross Country National Championships this weekend with the 20K classic mass start on Friday and freestyle sprints on Saturday, but neither of those races will count toward the RMISA schools' regular-season standings. Denver begins its first official meet of the season with the 15K classic and 5/10K freestyle at the Montana State Invitational on Jan. 13-14 in Bozeman. The alpine squad is currently in Vermont taking part in Nor-Am Cup series and will start its collegiate campaign with slalom at the Westminster Invitational on Jan. 26-27 before concluding the MSU Invite with giant slalom races on Jan. 30-31.
NOTES
DENVER MEN INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (RMISA Qualifier)
10.
Andreas Kirkeng, 2:48.41 QFT/3:02.03 QF
27.
Elijah Weenig, 3:06.47 QFT
29.
Jonah Steinberg, 3:08.79 QFT
33.
Bernhard Flaschberger, 3:11.79 QFT
34.
Sivert Wulff, 3:11.79 QFT
DENVER WOMEN INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (RMISA Qualifier)
11.
Hanna Ray, 3:36.57 QFT/3:56.04 QF
20.
Vera Norli, 3:43.45 QFT
23.
Bettina Burgess, 3:51.59 QFT
27.
Sidney Barbier, 3:56.59 QFT
MEN'S CLASSIC SPRINTS TOP 10 (42 RMISA finishers): 1. Magnus Boee, CU; 2. Luke Jager, UU; 3. Will Koch, CU; 4. Christoper Kalev, UAF; 5. Hugo Hinckfuss, CU; 6. Sigurd Roenning, UAA; 7. Noel Keefe, UU; 8. Tom Mancini, UU; 9. Mike Ophoff, UAF;
10. Andreas Kirkeng, DU.
WOMEN'S CLASSIC SPRINTS TOP 10 (32 RMISA finishers): 1. Mariel Pulles, UAF; 2. Tilde Baangman, MSU; 3. Sydney Palmer-Leger, UU; 4. Kendall Kramer, UAF; 5. Weronika Kaleta, CU; 6. Novie McCabe, UU; 7. Karianne Dengerud, UU; 8. Sophia Mazzoni, MSU; 9. Celine Mayer, UU; 10. Pascale Paradis, UAA.
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