FAIRBANKS, Alaska – The University of Denver ski team won the 2025 Alaska Fairbanks Invitational on Monday as the two-day meet concluded with the Nordic 10-kilometer freestyle on the competition trails of the UAF campus.
The Pioneers recorded a season-high 345 points in the Nordic-only meet, beating out second place Utah (307) by 38 points and were 53.5 points ahead of Alaska Fairbanks in third (291.5). Colorado finished fourth with 258 points.
It was Denver's first team meet victory since the 2020 RMISA Championships in Bozeman, Montana.
"Coming off a successful sprint day with five of our athletes in the finals and Andreas and Florian finishing 1-2, it was great to see the team show their strength and depth today with the UAF Invite team win," said
Denver Nordic Head Coach Rogan Brown. "We're in a great spot heading into regionals and the postseason, and we're excited to link up with the alpine team later this week in Anchorage."
DU had a 28-point lead over Utah after the classic sprint races on Sunday and extended it on Monday with a 163-point day. Only host Alaska Fairbanks had a better performance in the freestyle discipline with 169.5 points.
The Pioneers had nine skiers finish in the top 15 in the interval start on Monday, with both the men and women placing each of their three scorers in the top 10.
Senior
Andreas Kirkeng led DU for the second-straight day and earned back-to-back podiums by placing second in the men's freestyle with a time of 23:22.5. Graduate student
Florian Knopf (23:38.9) and senior
Elijah Weenig (23:43.6) scored for the Pios in fifth and sixth, respectively, and sophomore
Krystof Zatloukal was 15th.
Graduate student
Lea Wenaas paced the Denver women in sixth place with a time of 27:20.09 and had three teammates finish within 45 seconds behind her. Sophomore
Maja Moland was ninth (27:49.7) and freshman
Eve-Ondine Duchaufour was less than two seconds back in 10th (27:51.4). Junior
Selma Andersen placed 11th (28:04.1) and freshman
Anna Stewart came in 15th (28:30.7).
Senior
Sidney Barbier came in 30th in the women's event, while junior
Micah Steinberg was 22nd and freshman
Landon Wyatt placed 24th in the men's individual start race.
Alaska Fairbanks had three individuals on podiums, with Benjamin Dohby coming in nearly 17 seconds ahead of Kirkeng to win the men's freestyle while Kendall Kramer beat out Utah's Erica Laven to take the women's race by 15.6 seconds. The UAF Nanooks' Tabitha Williams was third in the women's race, while the Utes' Brian Bushey was in the bronze-medal position in the men's skate.
Temperatures on Monday were a little colder than the previous day, with the men's race being conducted at 11 a.m. local time in single-digits Fahrenheit and cloud cover overhead.
The Pioneers are in position to possibly earn another meet win later this week as they currently hold the lead at the Alaska Anchorage Invitational, which concludes on Wednesday and Friday with the alpine giant slalom and slalom events.
UP NEXT: Nordic now heads south in Alaska for the RMISA Championships, which will be held at the tail end of the UAA Invite. The conference championships begin with alpine giant slalom on Thursday before the Nordic portion gets underway with the 7.5K individual classic on Friday. The final meet before the NCAA Championships wraps up on Saturday with alpine slalom and the Nordic 20K freestyle mass start.
The Nordic events are being held at Kincaid Park in Anchorage while alpine is racing at Alyeska Resort in nearby Girdwood.
DENVER MEN 10K FREESTYLE INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
2.
Andreas Kirkeng, 23:22.5
5.
Florian Knopf, 23:38.9
6.
Elijah Weenig, 23:43.6
15.
Krystof Zatloukal, 24:31.6
22.
Micah Steinberg, 25:20.0
24.
Landon Wyatt, 25:23.1
DNS:
Joe Graziadei
DENVER WOMEN 10K FREESTYLE INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
6.
Lea Wenaas, 27:20.9
9.
Maja Moland, 27:49.7
10.
Eve-Ondine Duchaufour, 27:51.4
11.
Selma Andersen, 28:04.1
15.
Anna Stewart, 28:30.7
30.
Sidney Barbier, 31:54.3
FINAL TEAM STANDINGS (after 4-of-4 events): 1. Denver 345; 2. Utah 307; 3. Alaska Fairbanks 291.5; 4. Colorado 258; 5. Alaska Anchorage 250.5; 6. Montana State 232
MEN'S 10K FREESTYLE TOP 10 (34 finishers): 1. Benjamin Dohlby, UAF, 23:05.8;
2. Andreas Kirkeng, DU, 23:22.5; 3. Brian Bushey, UU, 23:27.2; 4. Luka Riley, CU, 23:32.7;
5. Florian Knopf, DU, 23:38.9; 6. Elijah Weenig, DU, 23:43.6; 7. Philipp Moosmayer, UAF, 23:48.7; 8. Johannes Flaaten, CU, 24:06.4; 9. Carl Rune, UU, 24:06.9; 10. Eemil Juntunen, CU, 24:07.9.
WOMEN'S 10K FREESTYLE TOP 10 (33 finishers): 1. Kendall Kramer, UAF, 25:57.4; 2. Erica Laven, UU, 26:13.0; 3. Tabitha Williams, UAF, 27:07.9; 4. Katey Houser, MSU, 27;17.9; 5. Anna Pryce, MSU, 27:18.5;
6. Lea Wenaas, DU, 27:20.9; 7. Selma Nevin, UU, 27:22.4; 8. Hanna Abrahamsson, CU, 27:40.1;
9. Maja Moland, DU, 27:49.7; 10. Eve-Ondine Duchaufour, DU, 27:51.4.
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