MIDWAY, Utah – The Denver Pioneers ski team is in third place at the halfway point of the Utah Invitational as the Nordic portion of the meet concluded on Saturday with the 10K classic pursuit at Soldier Hollow Nordic Center.
DU has 280 points after four-of-eight events, trailing leader Utah (382) by 102 points. The Pioneers are just nine points behind second-place Colorado (289) heading into next week's alpine races.
Denver was once again led on the day with three men placing in the top 10, as junior
Andreas Kirkeng earned his third podium of the campaign in third place and graduate student
Florian Knopf came in fourth.
Kirkeng had the fifth-fastest time in the 10K on Saturday but still earned his 15th career spot on the stage with a total time of 44:49.7 and a 25:46.3 mark in the classical. Knopf climbed up from fifth to fourth in the 10K by clocking in with a total time of 44:50.4.
The times of Friday's 7.5K freestyle and Saturday's 10K classic are combined to form the final results of the pursuit race. Utah's Joe Davies climbed from fourth to first to win the Saturday's event, while teammate Brian Bushey picked up the silver after winning Friday's opener.
Junior
Elijah Weenig was the DU men's third scorer in ninth for his third top-10 finish of the season. Freshman
Krystof Zatloukal was 21st, junior
Jonah Steinberg finished 23rd and sophomore
Micah Steinberg came in 27th.
Graduate student
Henriette Saeterdal Semb paced the Pioneer women in the 10K classical in 13th and senior
Hanna Ray placed in 15th. Sophomore
Selma Andersen was DU's third scorer in 22nd, while freshman
Maja Moland came in 23rd and junior
Sidney Barbier placed 30th.
Alaska Fairbanks' Kendall Kramer earned the sweep of the Utah Invite by winning the classical pursuit after also taking the freestyle on Friday. Utah's Sydney Palmer-Leger was second and Montana State's Tilde Baangman placed third.
UP NEXT: The alpiners begin their campaign next week by concluding the Westminster and Utah Invitationals at Olympic Park in Park City on Jan. 17-20. The next Nordic events will be in nearly three weeks with the Colorado Invitational in Steamboat Springs on Feb. 2-3.
DENVER MEN INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (7.5K/10K)
3.
Andreas Kirkeng, 44:49.7 (18:50.1/25:59.7)
4.
Florian Knopf, 44:50.4 (19:04.0/25:46.3)
9.
Elijah Weenig, 45:45.6 (19:15.8/26:30.6)
21.
Krystof Zatloukal, 47:35.8 (19:43.3/27:52.8)
23.
Jonah Steinberg, 47:57.9 (20:08.3/27:49.9)
27.
Micah Steinberg, 48:12.6 (20:41.2/27:31.6)
DENVER WOMEN INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (7.5K/10K)
13.
Henriette Saeterdal Semb, 54:48.5 (23:13.9/31:35.5)
15.
Hanna Ray, 54:59.8 (23.19.2/31:40.8)
22.
Selma Andersen, 55:40.8 (24:10.8/31:30.8)
23.
Maja Moland, 56:07.4 (23:38.90/32:29.4)
30.
Sidney Barbier, 59:04.4 (24:33.3/34:31.4)
DNS:
Anna Espeli
TEAM STANDINGS (through 4-of-8 events): 1. Utah 382; 2. Colorado 289;
3. Denver 280; 4. Alaska Fairbanks 275; 5. Alaska Anchorage 240; 6. Montana State 218; 7. Wyoming 112.
MEN'S 10K CLASSIC TOP 10 (40 finishers): 1. Joe Davies, UU, 44:15.8; 2. Brian Bushey, UU, 44:33.5;
3. Andreas Kirkeng, DU, 44:49.7; 4. Florian Knopf, DU, 44:50.4; 5. Will Koch, CU, 44:52.8, 6. Tom Mancini, UU, 45:09.9; 7. Walker Hall, UU, 45:12.5; 8. Johannes Flaaten, CU, 45:44.7;
9. Elijah Weenig, DU, 45:45.6; 10. Florian Winker, MSU, 45:52.6.
WOMEN'S 10K CLASSIC TOP 10 (35 finishers): 1. Kendall Kramer, UAF, 51:24.7; 2. Sydney Palmer-Leger, UU, 52:00.0; 3. Tilde Baangman, MSU, 52:19.1; 4. Karianne Dengerud, UU, 53:03.2; 5. Weronika Kaleta, CU, 53:06.9; 6. Astrid Stav, UAA, 53:09.0; 7. Mariel Pulles, UAF, 53:22.5; 8. Nina Schamberger, UU, 53:26.0; 9. Hanna Abrahamsson, CU, 53:42.5; 10. Anna-Maria Dietze, CU, 54:04.8.
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