MIDWAY, Utah – Senior
Andreas Kirkeng won the men's Nordic 15-kilometer freestyle on Sunday and led a group of six University of Denver skiers with top-10 finishes on the second day of the Utah Invitational at Soldier Hollow Nordic Center.
The Pioneers moved up to second place the conclusion of the Nordic portion of the meet with 331.5 points. The host Utes have a 57.5-point lead over Denver, but the Pios are still within striking distance of taking the meet win heading into next month's alpine races in Park City.
Colorado dropped to third place (299 points), while Alaska Anchorage is fourth (227), Alaska Fairbanks is fifth (217.5) and Montana State is sixth (217).
Four DU men and two women placed in the top 10 with career-best finishes in the mass start races. Senior
Elijah Weenig was sixth and
Krystof Zatloukal (tied) placed seventh in the men's competition, while freshman
Eve-Ondine Duchaufour picked up her first career podium in third place in the women's event and sophomore
Maja Moland earned her second career top five and a personal best in fourth.
"Really proud of how this team skied this weekend here at Soldier Hollow," said
Denver Nordic Head Coach Rogan Brown. "The racing was fast and times were tight, and it was great to see a lot of personal-best performances throughout the team. We carried some great momentum from Alaska and looking forward to doing the same into Montana next week."
Kirkeng won his third race of the season in a photo finish at the line. He just beat out Utah's Joe Davies in second place—both finished with a time of 34:49.9—and was four-hundredths of a second ahead of the Utes' Brian Bushey in third. UU's Walker Hall (34:50.2), CU's Will Koch (34:50.2), DU's Weenig (34:51.6) and Zatloukal (34:52.1) were all within three seconds of Kirkeng.
The win by Kirkeng marked the 15th of his career and his fifth in the freestyle discipline. The Norwegian has placed in the top five in each of the four races this season; he won RMISA's 10K freestyle on Jan. 2 at the Alaska Anchorage Invitational.
Weenig picked up his second top 10 of the season and sixth of his career, while Zatloukal also registered his second top 10 of the year and fourth-career seventh-place result. Graduate student
Florian Knopf joined his teammates in that category as well by placing 10th in the RMISA race, and junior
Micah Steinberg was 21st and freshman
Landon Wyatt was 23rd.
After just being off the podium in fourth in the 20K classic mass start at the UAA Invitational on Jan. 5, Duchaufour reached the stand for the first time in here career with a third-place finish on Sunday. She timed in at 40.16.9, with only Utah's Erica Laven (39:30.0) and Alaska Fairbanks' Kendall Kramer (39:49.2) placing ahead of her.
Duchaufour became the first Denver woman to finish on the podium in three years.
Vera Norli was the last to do it by also placing third on the Soldier Hollow course in the 10K classical at the 2022 Utah Invitational.
Moland was DU's second scorer in fourth—a career high for her after coming in fifth in the 10K freestyle at the UAA Invite on Jan. 2—and graduate student
Lea Wenaas was Denver's third point-getter in 15th. Junior
Selma Andersen had a season-best result in 18th, freshman
Anna Stewart placed 20th and senior
Sidney Barbier came in 31st.
Both of Denver's men's (92) and women's squads (82) placed second in team points in their respective races, with only leader Utah having more in each. Both groups recorded their second-most points in a race this season, behind only their performances in the 20K classic at the UAA Invitational on Jan. 5 (men 96 points, women 83 points).
UP NEXT: The Pioneers now head up to Bozman, Montana, for the start of the Montana State Invitational next weekend. The 20K freestyle mass start begins the Bobcats-hosted meet on Friday at Crosscut Mountain Sports Center and the 7.5K classic interval start wraps up the Nordic races on Sunday.
The Utah Invitational concludes with alpine races at Olympic Park in Park City on Feb. 8-9, but the next alpine events on the RMISA schedule are Feb. 3-4 with Days 3 and 4 of the MSU Invite at Bridger Bowl Ski Area in Bozeman.
DENVER MEN 15K FREESTYLE INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
1.
Andreas Kirkeng, 34:49.5
6.
Elijah Weenig, 34:51.6
7.
Krystof Zatloukal, 34:52.1
10.
Florian Knopf, 34.53.6
21.
Micah Steinberg, 36:44.1
23.
Landon Wyatt, 37:33.7
DNR:
Joe Graziadei
DENVER WOMEN 15K FREESTYLE INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
3.
Eve-Ondine Duchaufour, 40:16.9
4.
Maja Moland, 40:18.7
15.
Lea Wenaas, 42:21.7
18.
Selma Andersen, 42:42.1
20.
Anna Stewart, 42:48.9
31.
Sidney Barbier, 48:32.5
TEAM STANDINGS (through 4-of-8 events): 1. Utah 389;
2. Denver 331.5; 3. Colorado 299; 4. Alaska Anchorage 427; 5. Alaska Fairbanks 217.5; 6. Montana State 207
MEN'S 15K FREESTYLE TOP 10 (31 finishers): 1. Andreas Kirkeng, DU, 34:49.5; 2. Joe Davies, UU, 34:49.5; 3. Brian Bushey, UU, 34:49.9; 4. Walker Hall, 34:50.2; 5. Will Koch, CU, 34:50.8;
6. Elijah Weenig, DU, 34:51.6; 7. Krystof Zatloukal, DU, 34:52.1; 8. Matt Seline, UAA, 34:52.6; 9. Derek Deuling, UAA, 34:52.9;
10. Florian Knopf, DU, 34.53.6.
WOMEN'S 15K FREESTYLE TOP 10 (32 finishers): 1. Erica Laven, UU, 39:30.0; 2. Kendall Kramer, UAF, 39:49.2;
3. Eve-Ondine Duchaufour, DU, 40:16.9; 4. Maja Moland, DU, 40:18.7; 5. Selma Nevin, UU, 40:19.9; 6. Astri Lunde, CU, 40:36.4; 7. Karolina Kaleta, CU, 40:41.0; 8. Nina Schamberger, UU, 40:42.0; 9. Neve Gerard, UU, 40:49.0; 10. Anna Pryce, MSU, 40:51.
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