MIDWAY, Utah – Junior
Elijah Weenig of the University of Denver ski team had a career day on Friday as he placed third among Americans and fifth overall in the 20-kilometer Nordic freestyle at the U.S. Cross Country National Championships at Soldier Hollow Nordic Center.
Weenig earned the bronze in the American championship with a total time of 47:37.3. He finished 1:01.5 behind 2024 U.S. National Champion John Steel Hagenbuch of Dartmouth. Peter Wolter of the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation earned the silver as the next highest American in fourth place overall.
France's Tom Mancini and Great Britain's Joe Davies, both of the Utah Utes, placed third and fourth, respectively. In addition to overall national champions, the top three athletes from the United States also earned recognition as American champions.
For Weenig, his performance marked one of the top finishes of his career, as his previous best was a sixth-place result in a FIS qualification race in freestyle sprints at Soldier Hollow on Jan. 2, 2021. The Jackson, Wyoming, native continues his solid week on the Utah snow, as he placed 12th in the 10K classic on Tuesday and was a career-high seventh in RMISA freestyle sprints at the Westminster Invitational on Thursday.
The season-opening Westminster Invite was being held in conjunction with U.S. Nationals, as the results of the RMISA athletes from the first two races made up the Nordic portion of the RMISA meet. DU is present second in the behind leader Utah, with the alpine races set for Jan. 17 and 19.
Overall, four Denver skiers placed in the top 20 of the 20K freestyle, with junior
Andreas Kirkeng finishing 14th and graduate student
Florian Knopf placing 19th on the men's side. Sophomore
Selma Andersen led the DU women in 11th.
Grad student
Henriette Saeterdal Semb placed 23rd, freshman
Maja Moland was 26th and senior
Hanna Ray came in 28th in the women's race. Junior
Jonah Steinberg placed 31st in the men's distance.
The Pioneers'
Sidney Barbier, Anna Espeli and
Micah Steinberg did not race.
Haley Brewster of the University of Vermont won the women's 20K freestyle while Alaska Fairbanks' Kendall Kramer was second and Margie Freed of the Craftsbury Ski Club placed third.
U.S. Nationals at Soldier Hollow conclude on Sunday with classical sprints, but that race won't be considered a national championship event. However, the classical sprints will be part of the U.S. SuperTour standings and will also serve as an extra qualifying race for DU and the rest of the RMISA athletes for the NCAA Championships in March.
DENVER WOMEN INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (66-of-73 finished)
11.
Selma Andersen, 56:15.0
23.
Henriette Saeterdal Semb, 56:55.3
26.
Maja Moland, 57:57.6
28.
Hanna Ray, 58:07.5
DENVER MEN INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (80-of-91 finished)
5.
Elijah Weenig, 47:37.3
14.
Andreas Kirkeng, 48:20.9
19.
Florian Knopf, 48:45.3
31.
Jonah Steinberg, 51:11.3
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