PARK CITY, Utah. – Graduate student
Sara Rask and senior
Adrian Minde Hunshammer led the Denver Pioneers ski team on Sunday at the Utah Invitational with top-five finishes at Utah Olympic Park.
Rask and Hunshammer each placed fourth in their respective alpine giant slaloms to kick off a busy week of racing on the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association circuit. Rask earned her 38th top-five in 49 career races and has also finished in the top five in all seven events she's completed this season. Hunshammer snagged his third top-five of the year, all of which have come in GS.
Overall, Denver placed four skiers in the top 10 and had eight in the top 15 on the first day of alpine races at the Utah Invite. The Pios have three races at Olympic Park—the site of this year's NCAA Championships—before beginning another three days of events on Thursday at Bridger Bowl Ski Area in Bozeman, Montana, for the RMISA Championships.
Freshman
Cecilia Pizzinato tied for sixth in the women's race and fellow rookie
Elisabeth Creighton was DU's third scorer in 12th—a personal best for her this season in GS. Senior
Mia Hunt came in 13th and classmate
Nicola Rountree-Williams placed 15th. Sophomore
Stella Buchheister was 23rd and senior
Josephine Trueblood came in 28th.
Joining Hunshammer in the top 10 was sophomore
Pietro Motterlini in sixth, and senior
Thomas Hoffman also scored for the Pioneer men in 14th to match a season high.
Christian Soevik, fresh off his Olympic debut for Team Brazil in men's slalom last week in Italy, finished 17th, while fellow senior
Eirik Kveno placed 20th and freshman
Caman Beauregard ended up 29th.
The University of Colorado had all three of its men's scorers place in the top five, with Justin Bigatel taking the win, while Feb Allasina was third and Filip Wahlqvist was fifth. Utah's Johs Herland earned a podium spot in second.
CU's Louison Accambray won the women's event and was joined on the stage by the Utes' Melanie Dahlberg in second and Nevada's Erica Lynch in third.
Denver moved up to third place in the overall team standings of the Utah Invitational with 405 points. Colorado is currently in first (556), while host Utah is second (504).
The UU Invite began with Nordic races on Jan. 24-25 at Soldier Hollow Nordic Center in Midway.
UP NEXT: The teams has another day of giant slalom on Monday at Utah Olympic Park, but that event is a RMISA Alpine Qualifier event, a non-team-scored race that gives the athletes an additional opportunity to qualify for the NCAA Championships. The Utah Invitational concludes on Tuesday with alpine slalom before the tour heads to Bozeman for the RMISA and NCAA West Regional Championships starting on Thursday.
DENVER WOMEN GIANT SLALOM INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
4.
Sara Rask, 2:00.47 (58:10/1:02.37)
T6.
Cecilia Pizzinato, 2:01.12 (58.71/1:02.41)
12.
Elisabeth Creighton, 2:02.44 (1:00.58/1:01.86)
13.
Mia Hunt, 2:02.74 (59.84/1:02.90)
15.
Nicola Rountree-Williams, 2:02.80 (1:00.45/1:02.35)
23.
Stella Buchheister, 2:03.39 (1:01.01/1:02.38)
28.
Josephine Trueblood, 2:06.64 (1:01.44/1:05.20)
DENVER MEN GIANT SLALOM INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
4.
Adrian Minde Hunshammer, 1:58.52 (57.88/1:00.64)
6.
Pietro Motterlini, 1:59.00 (57.81/1:01.19)
14.
Thomas Hoffman, 1:59.90 (59.18/1:00.72)
17.
Christian Soevik, 2:00.18 (59.31/1:00.87)
20.
Eirik Kveno, 2:00 (59.99/1:00.41)
29.
Caman Beauregard, 2:03.14 (1:01.05/1:02.09)
TEAM STANDINGS (through 6-of-8 events): 1. Colorado 556; 2. Utah 504;
3. Denver 405; 4. Montana State 378; 5. Alaska Anchorage 264; 6. Alaska Fairbanks 215; 7. Nevada 124; T8. Westminster 62; T8. Colorado Mountain College.
WOMEN'S GIANT SLALOM TOP 10 (33 finishers): 1. Louison Accambray, CU, 1:59.78; 2. Melanie Dahlberg, UU, 2:00.34; 3. Erica Lynch, UN, 2:00.41;
4. Sara Rask, DU, 2:00.47; 5. Justine Lamontagne, MSU, 2:00.62;
T6. Cecilia Pizzinato, DU, 2:01.12; T6. Cathlinka Lunder CU, 2:01.12; 8. Kaila Lafreniere, UU, 2:01.48; 9. Guro Hestad Vognild, WU, 2:01.61; 10. Ella Bromee, UAA, 2:01.97.
MEN'S GIANT SLALOM TOP 10 (34 finishers): 1. Justin Bigatel, CU, 1:57.43; 2. Johs Herland, UU, 1:57.49; 3. Feb Allasina, CU, 1:58.05;
4. Adrian Minde Hunshammer, DU, 1:58.52; 5. Filip Wahlqvist, CU, 1:58.99;
6. Pietro Motterlini, DU, 1:59.00; 7. Torius Hepsoee, MSU, 1:59.31; 8. Pierick Charest, UU, 1:59.39; T9. David Morken, UN, 1:59.48; T9. Christoffer Oestroem, CU, 1:59.48.
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