ASPEN, Colo. – University of Denver skiing senior Adrian Minde Hunshammer and freshman Cecilia Pizzinato each recorded their first career podiums and graduate student Sara Rask finished runner-up for the second consecutive day in alpine giant slalom on Thursday at the Colorado Invitational at Aspen Highlands.
 
DU won the meet's women's team competition with 94 points on the day and finished with a combined total of 198 across Thursday's GS and Tuesday's slalom at Loveland Ski Area. The Pioneers' men finished with two in the top 10 and four in the top 13 on Thursday to help them record 149 points across the two days of the meet.
 
Denver (347 points) remains in second place behind the host Buffaloes (356) in the CU Invitational and is just nine points off the lead going into the Nordic events next month in Steamboat Springs. Utah is in third place and trails DU by 47 points.
 
Rask has placed on the podium in each of the four races this season and has taken the first or second step on the stage in eight straight events dating back to last year's Alaska Anchorage Invitational. She moved up from third after the first run on Thursday to finish with a total time of 2:01.96.
 
After registering her first career top 10 on Wednesday in the Denver Invite's giant slalom, Pizzinato posted the second-fastest time in the afternoon to move through the field from 10th to third, clocking in with a total of 2:02.49.
 
Only Colorado's Louison Accambray was faster in the second descent, as she posted the fastest mark each session and won her home race by nearly a second and a half over Rask (1.49).
 
DU freshman Elisabeth Creighton picked up her second top 10 of her first week of college skiing and was the Pioneers' third women's scorer in eighth place. Senior Mia Hunt placed 15th, senior Josephine Trueblood was 22nd and sophomore Stella Buchheister came in 23rd. Senior Nicola Rountree-Williams didn't finish her opening run.
 
For Hunshammer, the first week of the 2026 campaign has seen him improve his finish each day, posting a career high each time. After starting the year with his first top 10 in eighth in Monday's slalom for the DU Invitational, he placed sixth in CU's slalom on Tuesday before picking up his first top five on Wednesday by coming in fourth in Denver's GS race in Aspen.
 
The Skedsmokorset, Norway, native recorded his first collegiate podium in third place on the final day of the Colorado meet with a total time of 1:58.30. He had been building momentum in his skiing throughout the pre-season as he placed third in a Holiday Classic giant slalom in December on this same Aspen Highlands course and tied for second in a GS race last week at the FIS Nor-Am Cup at Mont-Tremblant, Quebec.
 
Utah Johs Herland won for the fourth straight race to start the campaign with a time of 1:57.99, while CU's Filip Wahlqvist came in second and just 25-hundredths of a second ahead of Hunshammer (1:58.30).
 
Christian Soevik picked up his second top 10 in as many days in GS for the Pioneers by placing seventh and sophomore Pietro Motterlini and graduate student Eirik Kveno finished 12th and 13th, respectively. Senior Thomas Hoffman ended 25th and freshman Caman Beauregard DNF'd his first run.
 
The Colorado Invitational wraps up with two days of Nordic racing at Howelsen Hill Ski Area on Feb. 13-14 in Steamboat Springs. The cross country events get underway with the 20-kilometer freestyle mass start on that Friday before the meet concludes the following day with the 7.5K classic interval start.
 
UP NEXT: The alpine racers are off for the next two weeks as they next travel to Mount Rose-Ski Tahoe in Reno, Nevada, for four days of events for the Nevada Invitational and RMISA Qualifiers on Jan. 31-Feb. 3. Nordic has the next races on the collegiate schedule with the Utah Invitational at Solder Hollow Nordic Center on Jan. 24-25, featuring the 7.5K freestyle and 15K classic.
 
 
DENVER WOMEN GIANT SLALOM INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
2. Sara Rask, 2:01.96 (59.90/1:02.06)
3. Cecilia Pizzinato, 2:02.49 (1:01.10/1:01.39)
8. Elisabeth Creighton, 2:03.12 (1:01.22/1:01.90)
15. Mia Hunt, 2:03.87 (1:00.86/1:03.01)
22. Josephine Trueblood, 2:05.02 (1:02.26/1:02.76)
23. Stella Buchheister, 2:05.09 (1:01.81/1:03.28)
DNF: Nicola Rountree-Williams (Run 1)
DNR: Liv Moritz
 
DENVER MEN GIANT SLALOM INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
3. Adrian Minde Hunshammer, 1:58.55 (59.04/59.51)
7. Christian Soevik, 1:59.86 (1:00.16/59.70)
12. Pietro Motterlini, 2:00.52 (59.40/1:01.12)
13. Eirik Kveno, 2:00.54 (1:00.71/59.83)
25. Thomas Hoffman, 2:01.57 (1:01.18/1:00.39)
DNF: Caman Beauregard (Run 1)
 
TEAM STANDINGS (through 4-of-8 events): 1. Colorado 356; 2. Denver 347; 3. Utah 300; 4. Montana State 218.5; 5. Nevada 207.5; 6. Alaska Anchorage 181; 7. Westminster 136; 8. Colorado Mountain College 120
 
WOMEN'S GIANT SLALOM TOP 10 (31 finishers): 1. Louison Accambray, CU, 2:00.47; 2. Sara Rask, DU, 2:01.96; 3. Cecilia Pizzinato, DU, 2:02.49; 4. Melanie Dahlberg, UU, 2:02.80; T5. Erica Lynch, Nev, 2:02.83; T5. Guro Hestad Vognild, WU, 2:02.38; 7. Lily Sewell, MSU, 2:02.87; 8. Elisabeth Creighton, DU, 2:03.12; 9. Maisie Blyth, UU, 2:03.13; 10. Hannah Soria, CU, 2:03.16.
 
MEN'S GIANT SLALOM TOP 10 (40 finishers): 1. Johs Herland, UU, 1:57.99; 2. Filip Wahlqvist, CU, 1:58.30; 3. Adrian Minde Hunshammer, DU 1:58.55; 4. Justin Bigatel, CU, 1:59.23; 5. Gianluca Boehm, MSU, 1:59.76; 6. Christoffer Oestroem, CU, 1:59.83; 7. Christian Soevik, DU, 1:59.86; 8. Feb Allasina, CU, 1:59.95; 9 Sindre Myklebust, UU, 2:00.07; 10. Stanley Buzek, CU, 2:00.08.


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