ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Senior Andreas Kirkeng led the Denver Pioneers ski to the top of the team leaderboard on Sunday as the Nordic portion of the Alaska Anchorage Invitational concluded with the 20-kilometer classical mass start at Kincaid Park.
 
Kirkeng swept the two men's races at the Seawolf Invite and picked up his second U.S. National Championship in as many days. Kirkeng won the UAA 10K freestyle and finished second overall on Thursday and led all athletes in the field on Saturday in classic sprints races.
 
This year's Alaska Anchorage Invitational is being held in conjunction with the U.S. Cross Country National Championships, with the RMISA athletes' results being pulled from the overall competition to serve as the season-opening meet.
 
The Pioneers had seven total skiers earn top-15 finishes on Sunday, with Kirkeng and graduate student Florian Knopf finishing 1-2 in the men's race and freshmen Eve-Ondine Duchaufour and Anna Stewart and graduate-transfer Lea Wenaas all registering top-10 placements on the women's side.
 
"It's been a fantastic week for the team here at U.S. Nationals and UAA Invite," said Denver Nordic Head Coach Rogan Brown. "It's always exciting to get the team back together after the holiday break, and this year we have really hit our stride with some top results overall and within the NCAA and RMISA teams here. We're excited to keep the momentum going heading into January."
 
Denver recorded 179 points on day 2 of the Alaska Anchorage Invitational and climbed from second to first place, jumping past Utah with 341 total points. The Pios are seven points ahead of the Utes (334) and 47 up on the defending national champion Colorado Buffaloes (294).
 
This year's UAA Invite will stretch across the entire regular season as the alpine races will be held on Feb. 19-21 just before the RMISA Championships conclude in Anchorage as well.
 
Kirkeng earned his 14th career victory and picked up his third meet sweep after also winning both men's Nordic events at the 2024 Denver and Colorado Invitationals. He finished the 20K distance on Sunday in 50 minutes and 47.3 seconds.
 
Knopf recorded his fifth career second-place finish with a time of 51:03.3, and CU's Will Koch rounded out the collegiate podium in third (51:11.2).
 
Sophomore Krystof Zatloukal was DU's third scorer in 13th, while senior Elijah Weenig (16th) and junior Micah Steinberg (18th) also posted top-20 results. Freshman Joe Graziadei came in 27th. Fellow rookie Landon Wyatt did not race in the 20K but competed in the U.S. Nationals' 10K under-20 classic mass start and came in 11th with a time of 27:08.8.
 
The women had another strong day as each of their three scorers placed in the top 10 for the third-straight RMISA race dating back to last year's conference championship.
 
Duchaufour led DU with her first career top five in fourth placed with a time of 1:00:01.2 and was about 10 seconds off the podium. Stewart earned her first career top 10 in sixth at 1:01:02.3, and Wenaas was five seconds behind her teammate to grab her second-straight top 10 in seventh.
 
Sophomore Maja Moland ended up 11th and senior Sidney Barbier placed 21st.
 
Kendall Kramer of Alaska Fairbanks won the UAA Invite race and the overall women's U.S. National Championship in a sub-hour time of 58:17.2. Utah's Erica Laven was second, and Montana State's Kate Oldham was third.
 
UP NEXT: The Nordic Pioneers' time in Alaska wraps up on Monday with a U.S. Super Tour freestyle sprints race, which is a non-national championship and collegiate event.
 
DU's alpine squad begins its season on Monday with a RMISA Alpine Qualifier slalom at Loveland Ski Area. The Denver Invitational starts with another slalom race on Tuesday at Loveland before the giant slalom on Wednesday at Copper Mountain Resort. The Alaska Anchorage Invitational wraps up on Feb. 19-21 with alpine events at Alyeska Resort in Girdwood.
 
 
DENVER MEN 20K CLASSIC INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
1. Andreas Kirkeng, 50:47.5
2. Florian Knopf, 51:03.3
13. Krystof Zatloukal, 53:48.0
16. Elijah Weenig, 54:28.4
18. Micah Steinberg, 54:56.2
27. Joe Graziadei, 1:01:24.6
 
DENVER WOMEN 20K CLASSIC INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
4. Eve-Ondine Duchaufour, 1:00:01.2
6. Anna Stewart, 1:01:02.3
7. Lea Wenaas, 1:01:02.3
11. Maja Moland, 1:01:46.4
21. Sidney Barbier, 1:08:54.6
DNS: Selma Andersen
 
TEAM STANDINGS (through 4-of-8 events): 1. Denver 341; 2. Utah 334; 3. Colorado 294; 4. Alaska Anchorage 242; 5. Alaska Fairbanks 231; 6. Montana State 229
 
MEN'S 20K CLASSIC TOP 10 (27 finishers): 1. Andreas Kirkeng, DU, 50:47.5; 2. Florian Knopf, DU, 51:03.3; 3. Will Koch, CU, 51:11.2; 4. Hugo Hinckfuss, CU, 51:40.0; 5. Walker Hall, UU, 51:40.4; 6. Brian Bushey, UU, 51:46.8; 7. Peter Hinds, UAA, 52:14.4; 8. Lukey Riley, CU, 52:38.2; 9. Erling Bjoernstad, UAA, 52:55.2; 10. Benjamin Dohlby, UAF, 52:56.3.
 
WOMEN'S 20K CLASSIC TOP 10 (22 finishers): 1. Kendall Kramer, UAF, 58:17.2; Erica Laven, UU, 58:19.6; 3. Kate Oldham, MSU, 59:51.3; 4. Eve-Ondine Duchaufour, DU, 1:00:01.2; 5. Selma Nevin, UU, 1:00.06.5; 6. Anna Stewart, DU, 1:01:02.3; 7. Lea Wenaas, DU, 1:01:02.3; 8. Beth Granstrom, UAA, 1:01:05.7; 9. Celine Mayer, UU, 1:01:06.11; 10. Hanna Abrahamsson, CU, 1:01:07.3.


DONATE: Fans interested in making a donation to the Pioneers Athletic Fund can do so by clicking here. Your gift will transform the lives of our student-athletes by giving them the first-class resources needed to excel in the classroom and beyond. Thank you for Building Pioneers for Life!