PARK CITY, Utah – Freshman
Liv Moritz picked up her first career podium on Friday in women's slalom and the Denver Pioneers ski team concluded the Westminster Invitational in second place.
Denver (557) finished just 22 points behind winner Utah, which paced the field with 579 points. The meet was one of the closet in recent history in the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association as five schools finished within 68 points of one another. Montana State placed third with 536 points while Colorado (525) was fourth and Alaska Anchorage came in fifth (511).
Moritz took the stand for the first time in her young career, finishing between two Westminster College Griffins in second place. Hannah Saethereng won for the first time this year while Evelina Fredricsson placed third.
The Pioneers' rookie from Vail, Colorado, posted the fourth-fastest first run at 1:09.80 and climbed up the leaderboard with a second run time of 1:07:37 to finish in 2:17.17. Saethereng completed the courses just two-tenths of a second faster than Moritz (2:16.97).
Sophomore
Sara Rask joined Moritz in the top 10 in the women's GS in sixth, and senior
Nora Brand was the Pioneers' third scorer in the event in 11th. Sophomore
Mia Hunt placed 14th and classmate Josephine
Trueblood ended up 24th, as DU finished with the second-highest women's team score on the day behind Westminster (92-84).
Junior
Cooper Cornelius led Denver in men's slalom in 10th with a total time of 2:12.51. He had the fifth-fastest second run of the day (1:05.06) to move up from 16th in the morning and earn his 11th career top 10.
Senior
Trey Seymour in 13th and freshman
Christian Soevik in 18th were DU's other men's scorers. Sophomores
Adrian Minde Hunshammer and
Jack Bowers placed 20th (tied) and 23rd, respectively.
Thomas Hoffman DNF'd in run 1.
Montana State's Gianluca Boehm won the men's event and Alaska Anchorage's Leon Nikic came in as the runner-up. Colorado's Filip Wahlqvist picked up his third podium in three days by placing third. MSU won the men's team race with 91 points as all three of its scorers were in the top 11.
UP NEXT: The four consecutive days of alpine races come to a close on Saturday with another giant slalom to wrap up the Utah Invitational.
DENVER WOMEN GIANT SLALOM INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
2.
Liv Moritz, 2:17.17 (1:09.80/1:07.37)
6.
Sara Rask, 2:17.81 (1:09.28/1:08.53)
11.
Nora Brand, 2:18.89 (1:10.67/1:08.22)
14.
Mia Hunt, 2:19.41 (1:11.45/1:07.96)
26.
Josephine Trueblood, 2:22.70 (1:13.98/1:08.72)
DENVER MEN GIANT SLALOM INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
10.
Cooper Cornelius, 2:12.51 (1:07.45/1:05.06)
13.
Trey Seymour, 2:12.82 (1:06.95/1:05.87)
18.
Christian Soevik, 2:13.40 (1:08.86/1:04.54)
T20.
Adrian Minde Hunshammer, 2:13.43 (1:08.14/1:05.29)
23.
Jack Bowers, 2:13.87 (1:08.60/1:05.27)
DNF:
Thomas Hoffman (Run 1)
FINAL TEAM STANDINGS (through 8-of-8 events): 1. Utah 579; 2. Denver 557; 3. Montana State 536; 4. Colorado 525; 5. Alaska Anchorage 511; 6. Alaska Fairbanks 260; 7. Westminster 254; 8. Wyoming 134; 9. Colorado Mountain College 108; 10. Nevada 101.
WOMEN'S GIANT SLALOM TOP 10 (27 finishers): 1. Hannah Saethereng, WMC, 2:16.97;
2. Liv Moritz, DU, 2:17.17; 3. Evelina Fredricsson, WMC, 2:17.41; 4. Justine Lamontagne, MSU, 2:17.55; 5. Denise Dingsleder, CU, 2:17.57;
6. Sara Rask, DU, 2:17.81; 7. Julia Toiviainen, CU, 2:18.35; 8. Lana Zbasnik, MSU, 2:18.44; 9. Nicola Rountree-Williams, CMC, 2:18.65; 10. Kaja Norbye, UU, 2:18.78.
MEN'S GIANT SLALOM TOP 10 (34 finishers): 1. Gianluca Boehm, MSU, 2:10.59; 2. Leon Nikic, UAA, 2:11.69; 3. Filip Wahlqvist, CU, 2:11.91; 4. Isak Staurset, MSU, 2:11.95; 5. Jeremie Lagier, WMC, 2:12.02; 6. Sindre Myklebust, UU, 2:12.12; 7. Ryder Sarchett, CU, 2:12.32; 8. Jack Reich, CU, 2:12.40; 9. Mikkel Solbakken, UU, 2:12.44;
10. Cooper Cornelius, DU, 2:12.51.
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