BIG SKY, Mont. – Sophomore
Sara Rask and senior
Nora Brand of the Denver Pioneers ski team finished first and second in women's giant slalom on Thursday in a RMISA Alpine Qualifier event at Big Sky Resort.
The Pioneer duo joined freshman
Christian Soevik and sophomore
Adrian Minde Hunshammer in the top 10 on the day.
Thursday's race was a prelude to the start of the three-day RMISA Championships and NCAA West Regionals that will be held over the weekend. No team scores were recorded on Thursday as the events served as an extra chance for the student-athletes to qualify for the NCAA Championships on March 6-9 in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.
This is the second of such races, as the Pioneers and the other RMISA athletes also competed in a giant slalom event in Steamboat on Feb. 1 prior to the Colorado Invitational.
The victory for
Rask was her first of the season and seventh of her career. She finished in 1:56.25, more than a second ahead of teammate Brand (1:57.30). The win is Rask's first since winning the GS at the 2023 RMISA Championships in Alaska and marked her third consecutive podium of the season.
Brand's runner-up result marked her second podium in giant slalom and best career result in the discipline. She placed third in GS at the 2023 Alaska Anchorage Invitational.
Colorado's Denise Dingsleder joined Rask and Brand on the stand in third.
Sophomore
Josephine Trueblood rounded out the Denver women in 30th. Sophomore
Mia Hunt and freshman
Liv Moritz are not racing this week and are competing at the Nor-Am Cup in Eastern Canada.
Soevik's placed ninth to lead the Denver men and post his best career result in giant slalom with a time of 1:54.51.
Hunshammer was one spot and seventh-hundredths of a second behind his teammate in 10th (1:54.58).
Sophomore
Thomas Hoffman tied for 14th, senior
Trey Seymour finished in 17th and sophomore
Jack Bowers came in 24th. Junior
Cooper Cornelius is also racing at the Nor-Am Cup this week as well.
Utah's Mikkel Solbakken won the men's giant slalom race, while CU's Filip Wahlqvist came in second and Montana State's Tanner Perkins rounded out the podium in third.
UP NEXT: The RMISA Championships begin on Friday with another day of giant slalom racing at Big Sky Resort. Alpine wraps up its conference championships on Saturday with the slalom event, while Nordic kicks off its races with the 7.5K freestyle interval start. The event concludes on Sunday with the 20K classic mass start.
DENVER WOMEN GIANT SLALOM INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
1.
Sara Rask, 1:56.25 (59.78/56.47)
2.
Nora Brand, 1:57.30 (1:00.60/56.70)
30.
Josephine Trueblood, 2:03.11 (1:04.11/59.00)
DENVER MEN GIANT SLALOM INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
9.
Christian Soevik, 1:54.51 (58.72/55.79)
10.
Adrian Minde Hunshammer, 1:54.58 (58.59/55.99)
T14.
Thomas Hoffman, 1:54.66 (59.11/55:55)
17.
Trey Seymour, 1:54.75 (58.81/55.94)
26.
Jack Bowers, 1:55.19 (59.43/55.76)
WOMEN'S GIANT SLALOM TOP 10 (46 total finishers): 1. Sara Rask, DU, 1:56.25; 2. Nora Brand, DU, 1:57.30; 3. Denise Dingsleder, CU, 1:57.38; 4. Giullia Tintorri, WMU, 1:57.54; 5. Emma Hammergaard, CU, 1:57.75; 6. Claire Timmerman, UU, 1:58.26; 7. Kristiane Bekkestad, MSU, 1:58.34; 8. Nicola Rountree-Williams, CMC, 1:58.37; 9. Evelina Fredricsson, WMU, 1:58.49; 10. Kaja Norbye, UU, 1:58.54.
MEN'S GIANT SLALOM TOP 10 (34 total finishers): 1. Mikkel Solbakken, UU, 1:53.25; 2. Filip Wahlqvist, CU, 1:53.47; 3. Tanner Perkins, MSU, 1:53.86; 4. Sindre Myklebust, UU, 1:54.07; 5. Etienne Mazellier, CU, 1:54.08; 6. Louis Fausa, CU, 1:54.13; 7. Jacob Dilling, CU, 1:54.25; 8. Gianluca Boehm, MSU, 1:54.34;
9. Christian Soevik, DU, 1:54.51; 10. Adrian Minde Hunshammer, DU, 1:54.58.
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