PARK CITY, Utah. – Graduate student Sara Rask won her 19th career race on Monday to set a new University of Denver skiing record for the most overall individual victories in program's 71-year history.
 
The Stockholm, Sweden, native won the women's giant slalom at the RMISA Alpine Qualifier at Utah Olympic Park to break a tie with Roberta Pergher for the top spot in the school's record book. The DU Athletics Hall of Fame member claimed 18 wins in women's alpine across three seasons from 1996-1998.
 
"It's an amazing honor to have," Rask said. "It's been an exciting time here at Denver—all the memories around all of the races and all of the wins and even all the bad results. It's been very fun and I'm happy about it."
 
Rask's earned her fourth win of the season and the second in GS after also taking the top spot on the stage in another RMISA individual qualifier race on Feb. 2 at Mount Rose-Ski Tahoe, Nevada. Seven of her 19 career wins have come in giant slalom, including a career-best four in the discipline as a freshman on 2024.
 
She had a blazing start to the second run on Monday at the University of Utah-hosted race, as she posted the fastest time in the first sector (31.595) and finished second-quickest in the afternoon descent to jump up a spot and move past teammate Cecilia Pizzinato with a total time of 2:08.18.
 
Pizzinato recorded her fourth podium of her freshman campaign by coming in third (2:09.17). Colorado's Louison Accambray, who had won four the of previous five women's giant slalom races before Monday, was runner-up behind Rask by eight-hundredths of a second (2:08.26).
 
Rask, who has won four Most Valuable Skier awards from the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association—the conference DU competes in—is the defending national champion in women's alpine after winning NCAA titles in both slalom and giant slalom last March in Dartmouth, New Hampshire. She has finished with All-American status in all six career races at the NCAA Championships, including earning five first-team honors (top-five finishes).
 
Nordic's Andreas Kirkeng and Pietro Broggini hold DU's men's record with 17 individual victories, while Tobias Kogler and Espen Lysdahl rank first in men's alpine wins with 16. Antje Maempe is first in women's Nordic victories at Denver with 13.
 
Senior Nicola Rountree-Williams joined Rask and Pizzinato near the top of the leaderboard with her fourth top 10 of the season. She was one of the biggest climbers from run 1 to run 2, as she finished 10th after placing 17th in the morning.
 
Mia Hunt came in 15th and has placed in the top 15 in all six of her races in her senior season, while freshman Elisabeth Creighton was 18th, sophomore Stella Buchheister came in 22nd and senior Josephine Trueblood rounded out the DU women in 28th.
 
Senior Adrian Minde Hunshammer led the Denver men with a sixth-place finish, picking up his eighth top 10 of the year in a time of 2:08.24. Classmate Christian Soevik matched a season best in giant slalom by finishing 14-hundredths of a second behind Hunshammer in the seventh position (2:08.38).
 
Additionally, senior Thomas Hoffman recorded a season-high result in GS by coming in 12th, while graduate student Eirik Kveno placed 17th. Freshman Caman Beauregard ended 26th.
 
Colorado's Feb Allasina won his first career event in the men's giant slalom, and teammate Filip Wahlqvist was close behind in second. Utah's Johs Herland came in third.
 
No team scores were recorded on Monday, as the race served as an individual qualifier for the skiers to earn additional points ahead of the NCAA Championships on March 11-14.
 
UP NEXT: The Utah Invitational resumes with the final day of racing on Tuesday with alpine slalom at Utah Olympic Park. The alpine RMISA circuit then travels to Bozeman, Montana, for the start of the RMISA Championship with giant slalom at Bridger Bowl Ski Area on Thursday. The Nordic races for the conference championships begin with the 20K freestyle mass start on Friday at Solider Hollow Nordic Center in Midway, Utah.
 
 
DENVER WOMEN GIANT SLALOM INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
1. Sara Rask, 2:08.18 (1:03.08/1:05.10)
3. Cecilia Pizzinato, 2:09.17 (1:02.90/1:06.27)
10. Nicola Rountree-Williams, 2:10.90 (1:04.74/1:06:16)
15. Mia Hunt, 2:11.20 (1:04.65/1:06.55)
18. Elisabeth Creighton, 2:11.64 (1:04.67/1:06.97)
22. Stella Buchheister, 2:12.24 (1:05.71/1:06.53)
28. Josephine Trueblood, 2:15.39 (1:06.63/1:08.76)
 
DENVER MEN GIANT SLALOM INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
6. Adrian Minde Hunshammer, 2:08.02 (1:01.97/1:06.27)
7. Christian Soevik, 2:08.38 (1:02.17/1:06:21)
12. Thomas Hoffman, 2:08.90 (1:02.95/1:05.95)
17. Eirik Kveno, 2:09.20 (1:03.17/1:06.03)
26. Caman Beauregard, 2:10.29 (1:04.30/1:05.99)
DNR: Pietro Motterlini
 
WOMEN'S GIANT SLALOM TOP 10 (31 finishers): 1. Sara Rask, DU, 2:08.18; 2. Louison Accambray, CU, 2:08.26; 3. Cecilia Pizzinato, DU, 2:09.17; 4. Guro Hestad Vognild, WU, 2:09.88; 5. Justine Lamontagne, MSU, 2:09.88; 6. Kaila Lafreniere, UU, 2:10.21; 7. Alexa Brownlie, CU, 2:10.77; 8. Ella Brownlie, UAA, 2:10.77; 9. Sophie Falter, UN, 2:10.86; 10. Nicola Rountree-Williams, DU, 2:10.90.
 
MEN'S GIANT SLALOM TOP 10 (32 finishers): 1. Feb Allasina, CU, 2:06.59; 2. Filip Wahlqvist, CU, 2:07.13; 3. Johs Herland, UU, 2:07.18; 4. Justin Bigatel, CU, 2:07.55; 5. Sindre Myklebust, UU; 2:08.02; 6. Adrian Minde Hunshammer, DU, 2:08.02; 7. Christian Soevik, DU, 2:08.38; 8. Torius Hepsoee, MSU, 2:08.44; 9. Stanley Buzek, CU, 2:08.56; 10. David Morken, UN, 2:08.70.
 

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