MINTURN, Colo./PARK CITY, Utah – Led by Lea Wenaas' individual victory in the women's 10-kilometer freestyle pursuit, the Denver Pioneers ski team climbed up the standings on the final day of its own DU Invitational.
 
The Pioneers Nordic skiers led all squads on Sunday by combining for 179 points and jumping Utah to finish second place at its home meet, which concluded with the cross-country events at Maloit Park after alpine began the competition last month at Loveland Ski Area and Copper Mountain Resort.
 
It was another full day of racing for DU and the other RMISA squads, as the alpine portion of the Utah Invitational officially got underway with giant slalom at Utah Olympic Park in Park City while the Nordic racers were in Colorado.

WENAAS FOR THE WIN
 
Sitting fourth after the 7.5K classic interval start on Saturday, Wenaas posted the fastest time of 28:54.1 in the women's freestyle pursuit, making up 55 seconds to pick up her first career individual collegiate victory.
 
The graduate transfer from New Hampshire had helped the Wildcats win the 3x5K freestyle relay last season at the Williams Carnival, and while she had earned two podium spots at UNH, she had yet to reach the top step. Wenaas finally did that on Sunday on a sunny and perfect day for racing in the Vail Valley.
 
It was the first individual victory by a Denver women's Nordic skier since Eveliina Pippo won the 5K freestyle at the 2020 NCAA National Championships in Bozeman, Montana.
 
Overall, the Pioneers had each of their three scorers in the women's and men's Nordic races place in the top 10 and had 10 skiers finish in the top 16 overall.
 
"What a fantastic weekend here in Minturn, and we had some strong performances to wrap up our home DU Invite," said Denver Nordic Head Coach Rogan Brown. "We had great support out there, and it was a treat to see our women's triathlon team come cheer on the Nordic squad, along with many other parents and friends of DU skiing.
 
"This venue always excites and brings some surprises, and this year was no different with some tricky classic skiing conditions on Saturday and some intense battles out there today under bluebird skies. What a win by Lea today, and the team is in a great spot as we shift the focus to sea-level racing in Alaska in preparation for Regionals and NCAAs."
 
The Pioneers finished the Denver Invitational with 633.5 points, beating out third-place Utah by 32.5 points. Colorado won the meet after taking a dominant lead following the alpine portion and holding onto it during the Nordic races.
 
Junior Selma Andersen finished eighth in the women's pursuit, and freshman Eve-Ondine Duchaufour came in ninth and sophomore Maja Moland placed 11th. Senior Sidney Barbier was 19th.
 
Graduate student Florian Knopf picked up his second-straight third place finish in the men's race, while senior Elijah Weenig was the biggest mover of the day in fourth. Weenig had the fastest men's time in the 10K freestyle at 25:22.3 and climbed after being seventh in Saturday's 7.5K classical interval start.
 
Sophomore Krystof Zatloukal was right behind Weenig in fifth—his first career top-five finish—and senior Andreas Kirkeng was seventh. Junior Micah Steinberg came in 13th and freshman Landon Wyatt placed 16th.
 
UU's Zachary Jayne won the men's pursuit race.

UTAH INVITE ALPINE RACES BEGIN
 
In the alpine races at the Utah Invitational, senior Sara Rask once again led the Pioneers by finishing second in giant slalom for the second-straight day after also being runner-up on Saturday in the alpine qualifier race at Utah Olympic Park. Rask has now reached the podium in five of the six races this year, which includes three slalom victories.
 
Junior Mia Hunt recorded her third-straight top 10 and second in as many days in women's GS by coming in ninth. Freshman Stella Buchheister did not finish her first run while junior Josephine Trueblood did not start run 2.
 
Denver's men's alpiners had five finishers place in the top 20, with grad student Loic Chable leading the group in ninth. Seniors Eirik Kveno and Cooper Cornelius were 11th and 12th, respectively, and Adrian Minde Hunshammer placed 16th while junior Christian Soevik came in 18th. Junior Thomas Hoffman ended in 26th, while freshman Pietro Motterlini did not finish his second run.
 
Colorado's Etienne Mazellier won the men's GS while fellow CU teammate Louison Accambray won the women's event for the second-straight day.
 
The Pioneers are in third place at the Utah Invitational with 455.5 points but are just 29.5 points back on second-place Colorado heading into the final day of the meet on Monday. Host Utah holds the lead with 568 points.
 
UP NEXT: The Utah Invite wraps up with alpine slalom races at Utah Olympic Park on Monday, concluding a busy eight days that featured seven total races and three meets concluding. Nordic next heads to Alaska for its final regular-season meet on Feb. 16-17 with the UAF Nanook Invitational while alpine wraps up the UAA Seawolf Invite on Feb. 19-21. The RMISA Championships begin in 11 days in Anchorage, Alaska, from Feb. 20-22.
 

RESULTS 
DENVER WOMEN DU INVITATIONAL 10K FREESTYLE PURSUIT INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
1. Lea Wenaas, 54:45.0 (25:50.9/28:54.1)
8. Selma Andersen, 58:12.6 (26:55.9/31:16.7)
9. Eve-Ondine Duchaufour, 58:27.1 (27:43.1/30:44.0)
11. Maja Moland, 59:09.6 (28:20.2/30:49.4)
19. Sidney Barbier, 1:04:12.2 (30:20.5/33:51.7)
DNR: Anna Stewart
 
DENVER MEN DU INVITATIONAL 10K FREESTYLE PURSUIT INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
3. Florian Knopf, 48:00.6 (22:26.1/25:34.5)
4. Elijah Weenig, 48:38.2 (23:15.9/25:43.7)
5. Krystof Zatloukal, 48:48.7 (23:05.0/25:43.7)
7. Andreas Kirkeng, 49:17.5 (22:48.2/26:29.3)
13. Micah Steinberg, 50:43.7 (23:44.1/26:59.6)
16. Landon Wyatt, 52:10.8 (24:35.2/27:35.6)
DNR: Joe Graziadei
 
FINAL DU INVITATIONAL TEAM STANDINGS (after 8-of-8 events): 1. Colorado 740; 2. Denver 633.5; 3. Utah 601; 4. Montana State 435; 5. Alaska Anchorage 210; 6. Westminster 191.5; 7. Alaska Fairbanks 185; 8. Nevada 165.5; 9. Colorado Mountain College 133.5; 10. Wyoming 113
 
MEN'S 10K FREESTYLE PURSUIT TOP 10 (21 finishers): 1. Zachary Jayne, UU, 47:56.9; 2. Johannes Flaaten, CU, 47:57.0; 3. Florian Knopf, DU, 48:00.6; 4. Elijah Weenig, DU, 48:38.2; 5. Krystof Zatloukal, DU, 48:48.7; 6. Carl Rune, UU, 48:51.1; 7. Andreas Kirkeng, 49:17.5; 8. Philipp Moosmayer, UAF, 50:17.6; 9. Eemil Juntunen, CU, 50:18.6; 10. Alexander Maurer, CU, 50:19.5 .
 
WOMEN'S 10K FREESTYLE PURSUIT TOP 10 (25 finishers): 1. Lea Wenaas, DU, 54:45.0; 2. Tilde Baangman, CU, 25:18.6; 3. Astri Lunde, CU, 55:17.0; 4. Selma Nevin, UU, 56:16.3; 5. Anna Pryce, MSU, 56:44.8; 6. Celine Mayer, UU, 57:20.3; 7. Hanna Abrahamsson, CU, 57:29.5; 8. Selma Andersen, DU, 58:12.6; 9. Eve-Ondine Duchaufour, DU, 58:27.1; 10. Karolina Kaleta, CU, 58:36.3.
 
 
DENVER WOMEN UTAH INVITATIONAL GIANT SLALOM INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
2. Sara Rask, 2:05.26 (1:01.99/1:03.27)
9. Mia Hunt, 2:06.65 (1:02.27/1:04.38)
DNS: Josephine Trueblood (1:06.38/DNS run 2)
DNF: Stella Buchheister
DNR: Nicola Rountree-Williams
 
DENVER MEN UTAH INVITATIONAL GIANT SLALOM INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
9. Loic Chable, 2:02.86 (1:02.05/1:00.81)
11. Eirik Kveno, 2:03.19 (1:02.16/1:01.03)
12. Cooper Cornelius, 2:03.28 (1:02.15/1:01.13)
16. Adrian Minde Hunshammer, 2:03.83 (1:02.41/1:01.42)
18. Christian Soevik, 2:04.02 (1:02.84/1:01.198)
26. Thomas Hoffman, 2:04.92 (1:02.91/1:02.01)
DNF: Pietro Motterlini (1:02.23/DNF run 2)
 
UTAH INVITATIONAL TEAM STANDINGS (Through 6-of-8 events): 1. Utah 568; 2. Colorado 485; 3. Denver 455.5; 4. Montana State 3340; 5. Alaska Anchorage 316.5; 6. Alaska Fairbanks 217.5; 7. Westminster 101; 8. Nevada 85.5; 9. Colorado Mountain College 36.
 
 
WOMEN'S UTAH INVITATIONAL GIANT SLALOM TOP 10 (25 finishers): 1. Louison Accambray, CU, 2:04.85. 2. Sara Rask, DU, 2:06.21; 3. Claire Timmermann, UU, 2:07.49; 4. Elise Hitter, WM, 2:07.99; 5. Justine Lamontagne, MSU, 2:08.22; 6. Mia Hunt, DU, 2:08.30; 7. Kaja Norbye, UU, 2:09.33; 8. Evelina Fredricsson, UU, 2:09.38; 9. Ashley Campbell, CU, 2:10.08; 10. Melanie Dahlberg, UU, 2:10.52.
 
MEN'S UTAH INVITATIONAL GIANT SLALOM TOP 10 (41 finishers): 1. Louis Fausa, CU, 2:03.44; 2. Jacob Dilling, CU, 2:03.55; 3. Johs Herland, UU, 2:03.81; 4. Sindre Myklebust, UU, 2:03.98; 5. Etienne Mazellier, CU, 2:04.01; 6. Loic Chable, DU, 2:04.13; 7. Filip Wahlqvist, CU, 2:04.36; 8. Justin Bigatel, CU, 2:04.47; 9. Gianluca Boehm, MSU, 2:04.86; 10. Simen Strand, UU, 2:04.94.


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