BOZEMAN, Mont. – Led by
Andreas Kirkeng's fourth victory of the season, the Denver Pioneers had eight skiers place in the top 10 on Saturday in the 7.5-kilometer Nordic classical at the Montana State Invitational.
Denver combined for 180 points on the second and final day of RMISA Nordic events at Crosscut Mountain Sports Center, eight more than Utah (172). The Pioneers closed the gap in the overall standings and are just 42 points behind the UU Utes going into the alpine races on Feb. 3-4.
"The weekend started out with an insane snowstorm, which is pretty characteristic for Montana and this area," said
DU Nordic Head Coach Rogan Brown. "It was a hard a battle on Friday for the whole team, and with that there were a lot of variables that effected people differently, but they fought through it well and we were able to finish with some strong results there.
"Today was fantastic winter conditions, super cold morning but it ended up being perfect classic skiing. Super strong on the men's side with the top four in the top of the field and the women as well—four in the top 10 in the college race is fantastic to see."
DU's men's team recorded a season-high 102 points, with graduate student
Florian Knopf joining Kirkeng on the podium in second place in the interval start event and senior
Elijah Weenig being the squad's third scorer in seventh. Sophomore
Krystof Zatloukal came in ninth, junior
Micah Steinberg was 17th and freshman
Landon Wyatt placed 23rd.
The senior Kirkeng won his second race of the year in the classic discipline and the 16th overall of his career in 40 events. It is the most wins by a RMISA athlete since Colorado's Magnus Boee also had 16 wins over the course of 58 races and five seasons (2020-2024).
Knopf (19:17.7) finished less than eight seconds behind Kirkeng (19:09.9) for his seventh runner-up performance in 16 races over the past season and a half. Utah's Joe Davies placed third.
The Denver women had four finishers in the top 10 for the first time in the last four years, with sophomore
Maja Moland leading the group with her third top five of the campaign in fourth place.
Graduate student
Lea Wenaas came in sixth in 7.5K interval start and freshman
Anna Stewart also scored by picking up her second top 10 of the campaign in fifth. Freshman
Eve-Ondine Duchaufour earned her fifth top 10 and third in a row in 10th place, while junior
Selma Andersen came in 20th.
This is the third race of the season that the Pioneers' Nordic women had each of its three scorers in the top 10, with the team also doing it in the 10K freestyle and 20K classic at the Alaska Anchorage Invitational on Jan. 2-5.
"What I have seen recently is that everybody is kind of stepping up and supporting each other through some low moments, which are pretty natural midseason,"
Brown said of the Denver women. "They just have really showed up for each other, and I think it's just been good vibes and we're just finding our stride through each invite."
Colorado won the women's team event with 92 points as Tilde Baangman was second and Astri Lunde was third. Utah's Erica Laven won her fourth-straight RMISA race by finishing in 22:30.5, more than 38 seconds ahead of Baangman.
Utah leads the overall standings with 380 points, while Denver has 338 points and a 24-point edge of CU (314).
UP NEXT: The Nordic circuit will take a two-week break before resuming in Colorado for the Denver Invitational in the Vail Valley at Maloit Park in Minturn. The DU Invite concludes with the 7.5K classic on Saturday, Feb. 8 and the 10K freestyle on Sunday, Feb. 9.
The Alpine squads resume their season with the conclusion of the Montana State Invite with giant slalom on Feb. 3 and slalom on Feb. 4 at Bridger Bowl Ski Area in Bozeman. That will be the start of a busy week as alpine also has three races in Park City on Feb. 7-9 to wrap up the Utah Invitational as well.
DENVER WOMEN 7.5K CLASSIC INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
5.
Maja Moland, 23:18.8
6.
Lea Wenaas, 23:33.9
9.
Anna Stewart, 23:39.6
10.
Eve-Ondine Duchaufour, 23:49.1
20.
Selma Andersen, 24:49.1
DNS:
Sidney Barbier
DENVER MEN 7.5K CLASSIC INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
1.
Andreas Kirkeng, 19:09.9
2.
Florian Knopf, 19:17.7
7.
Elijah Weenig, 19:56.3
9.
Krystof Zatloukal, 20:11.5
17.
Micah Steinberg, 20:43.9
23.
Landon Wyatt, 21:03.2
DNS:
Joe Graziadei
TEAM STANDINGS (through 4-of-8 events): 1. Utah 380;
2. Denver 338; 3. Colorado 314; 4. Alaska Anchorage 264 5. Montana State 200; 6. Alaska Fairbanks 148
WOMEN'S 7.5K CLASSIC TOP 10 (30 finishers): 1. Erica Laven, UU, 22:30.5; 2. Tilde Baangman, CU, 23:08.8; 3. Astri Lunde, CU, 23:10.4; 4. Beth Granstrom, UAA, 23:18.8;
5. Maja Moland, DU, 23:18.8; 6. Lea Wenaas, DU, 23:33.9; 7. Selma Nevin, UU, 23:34.2; 8. Anna Pryce, MSU, 23:35.0; 8.
9. Anna Stewart, DU, 23:39.6; 10. Eve-Ondine Duchaufour, DU, 23:49.1.
MEN'S 7.5K CLASSIC TOP 10 (32 finishers): 1. Andreas Kirkeng, DU, 19:09.9; 2. Florian Knopf, DU, 19:17.7; 3. Joe Davies, UU, 19:21.7; 4. Brian Bushey, UU, 19:40.3; 5. Will Koch, CU, 19:41.9; 6. Derek Deuling, UAA, 19:53.8;
7. Elijah Weenig, DU, 19:56.3; 8. Erling Bjoernstad, UAA, 20:10.6;
9. Krystof Zatloukal, DU, 20:11.5; 10. Corbin Carpenter, UAA, 20:12.7
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