MINTURN, Colo. – Andreas Kirkeng completed the Colorado sweep of Nordic events on Saturday as the Denver Pioneers skiing junior won the men's 5-kilometer freestyle at Maloit Park to conclude the 2024 Denver Invitational, presented by Daehlie.
Kirkeng's fourth consecutive victory and fifth of the season helped DU gain 133 points on the day, but it wasn't enough for the Pioneers to hold on for the meet victory. Colorado battled back from third place after the alpine events earlier in the week and registered 338 points in the four Nordic races to win its second consecutive invitational.
Denver finished 11 points behind CU (626) with 615 points and 66 points ahead of defending national champion Utah in third place (549). Several programs, including the Pioneers, were a bit shorthanded this weekend with FIS World Cup races in Canmore, Alberta, and Junior World Championship events in Planica, Slovenia, happening at the same time. Sophomore
Micah Steinberg (Canada) and graduate student
Florian Knopf (Germany) are presently competing in Canada, while junior
Elijah Weenig was representing the United States at the FIS Nordic U23 World Championship in Slovenia.
Kirkeng's fourth win in the last nine days is nevertheless impressive. Like he did in Friday's 10K classical mass start event, the DU Norwegian gained the edge on the podium over Utah's Tom Mancini (11:35.5) by finishing the interval 5K distance in 11:25.7. He also won the Colorado Invitational's 20K classic mass start and 7.5 freestyle interval start last weekend in Steamboat Springs.
Friday's victory marked a new career high for a single season (five) for Kirkeng, who now owns 11 collegiate gold medals and 14 podium appearances in 33 races since joining the RMISA circuit in 2021. It was also just his third career win in the freestyle discipline.
Freshman
Krystof Zatloukal placed 13th in the men's 5K (12:21.6) and junior
Jonah Steinberg finished 16th (12:25.3) for the Pioneers.
Sophomore
Selma Andersen led DU's women in 10th place for her third straight top 10, completing the two-lap course at approximately 8,000 feet in the Vail Valley in 14:23.8.
Freshman
Maja Moland (14:24.1) was the Pioneers' next finisher in 12th and just three-tenths of a second behind Andersen, and graduate student
Henriette Saeterdal Semb was the squad's final scorer in 13th with a time of 14:25.9. Senior
Hanna Ray placed 15th (14:28.9), junior
Sidney Barbier was 26th (15:30.0) and freshman
Anna Espeli came in 29th (16:25.6).
Montana State picked up three individual podium appearances on the final day of the DU Invitational and won both team events. Tilde Baangman joined Kirkeng in sweeping the Nordic races at meet and was joined on the stand by teammate Kate Oldham right behind her in second. MSU's Fredrik Nilsen placed third in the men's 5K, leading four Bobcat finishers in the top 10.
UP NEXT: There is a month remaining in the collegiate season, and the Pioneers now turn their attention to the RMISA Championships in less than two weeks in Bozeman, Montana, before traveling back to Steamboat Springs for the NCAA Championships on March 6-9. Alpine opens the RMISA Championships with a qualifying giant slalom event on Feb. 22 before the meet begins on Feb. 23-24 with giant slalom and slalom races at Big Sky Resort. Nordic opens regionals with the 7.5K freestyle on Feb. 24 at Crosscut Mountain Sports Center before the 20K classic on Feb. 25.
DENVER MEN INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
1.
Andreas Kirkeng, 11:25.7
13.
Krystof Zatloukal, 12:21.6
16.
Jonah Steinberg, 12:25.3
DENVER WOMEN INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
10.
Selma Andersen, 14:23.8
12.
Maja Moland, 14:24.1
13.
Henriette Saeterdal Semb, 14:25.9
15.
Hanna Ray, 14:28.9
26.
Sidney Barbier, 15:30.0
29.
Anna Espeli, 17:32.5
FINAL TEAM STANDINGS (through 8-of-8 events): 1. Colorado 626; 2. Denver 615; 3. Utah 549; 4. Montana State 520.5; 5. Alaska Anchorage 495; 6. Westminster 241.5; 7. Alaska Fairbanks 204; 8. Nevada 118; 9. Colorado Mountain College 116; 10. Wyoming 112.
MEN'S 5K FREESTYLE TOP 10 (26 finishers): 1
. Andreas Kirkeng, DU, 11:25.7; 2. Tom Mancini, UU, 11:35.5; 3. Fredrik Nilsen, MSU, 11:41.5; 4. Hugo Hinckfuss, CU, 11:47.3; 5. Johannes Flaaten, CU, 11:57.2; 6. Kai Meyers, MSU, 12:08.8; 7. Florian Winker, MSU, 12:13.7; 8. Phineas Fischer, MSU, 12:15.8; 9. Ari Endestad, UAA, 12:16.5; 10. Max Kluck, UU, 12:18.0.
WOMEN'S 5K FREESTYLE TOP 10 (30 finishers): 1. Tilde Baangman, MSU, 13:30.7; 2. Kate Oldham, MSU, 13:46.5; 3. Astrid Stav, UAA, 13:58.1; 4. Weronika Kaleta, CU, 13:59.4; 5. Hanna Abrahamsson, CU, 14:13.1; 6. Karolina Kaleta, CU, 14:15.4; 7. Tuva Bygrave, UAA, 14:16.0; 8. Witta Walcher, UU, 14:19.6; 9. Elsie Weiss, UAF, 14:23.5;
10. Selma Andersen, DU, 14:23.8.
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