BOZEMAN, Mont./MIDWAY, Utah – The Nordic squad of the Denver Pioneers ski team had all six of its scorers place in the top 10 in the 20-kilometer freestyle mass start to conclude the 2026 RMISA Championships.
 
Denver had student-athletes finish fourth, eighth and ninth in both the men's and women's races to garner 152 points in the final cross-country events of the conference meet at Soldier Hollow Nordic Center on Saturday morning in Utah. DU men's sophomore Eemil Juntunen picked up his second career top five in fourth while senior Eve-Ondine Duchaufour earned her second straight top five on the women's side by also coming in fourth.
 
"What a great set of races, and it was amazing to close out the full-team racing season with such a good teaser for the next year," said Denver Head Nordic Skiing Coach Eliska Albrigtsen. "We missed two podiums by just a tiny bit, and that definitely built a lot of stamina for NCAA. The men and women both finished fourth, eighth and ninth today, shared their race experiences and cheered their hearts out for each other."
 
There were several blazing sprints to the finish line in both the men's and women events, with first place, third place and top-10 positioning all on the line. Colorado's Tilde Baangman (52:36.3) beat out Alaska Fairbanks' Rosie Fordham (52:36.7) for the women's win while Duchaufour (54:01.3) just missed out on a podium spot as Utah's Sofia Pedersen took the line by just one tenth of a second (54:01.2).
 
Overall, third to ninth place in the women's race was determined in less than six seconds, which included DU junior Maja Moland (54.06.6) and freshman Synne Bollingmo (54:06.7) finishing a tenth of a second of one another in eighth and ninth, respectively.
 
Utah's Mons Melbye (48:58.1) held off Montana State's Simon Chappaz (48:58.1) in a sprint for the top step in the men's 20K, and UU's Zachary Jayne (49:13.2) just beat Denver's Juntunen (49:13.8) by six-tenths in the battle for bronze. Pioneers graduate student Sondre Oestervold was eighth (49:26.5) and freshman Yannick Zellweger placed ninth (49:31.7).


"There were some crazy group crashes that our men got involved in, as the snow was quite icy at certain spots, but the organizers did an incredible job prepping the course so well in 50 degrees heat," Albrigtsen said. "I believe we have a strong competitive NCAA team to come back to Utah in less than two weeks. I am really proud of what we have accomplished together in such a short time. There is so much more to come from these hard working Pioneers."
 
Additionally, senior Micah Steinberg finished 17th, classmate Krystof Zatloukal was 22nd and sophomore Joe Graziadei placed 23rd for Denver in the men's event. DU's Estelle Darbellay, Ruby Serrouya and Anna Stewart all didn't race this weekend for the women, with Serrouya and Stewart getting set to compete at the FIS Nordic U23 and Junior World Championships with Team Canada this week.
 
Overall, the Pioneers placed third overall at the 77th annual RMISA Championships with 560 points, coming 34 points ahead of Montana State in fourth. Utah won the meet with 669 points and Colorado was second with 560 points.
 
MSU served as the host of the conference meet, which also doubles as the NCAA West Regional, but the Nordic races had to be moved to Utah due to snow conditions at the original venue, Crosscut Mountain Sports Center. The alpine races remained in Bozeman at Bridger Bowl Ski Area and wrapped up the RMISA Championships on Saturday afternoon with giant slalom.
 
Freshman Cecilia Pizzinato led Denver's women in GS by coming in sixth, and senior Adrian Minde Hunshammer was the top Pioneer man in 10th.
 
Graduate student Sara Rask and senior Mia Hunt placed 11th and 13th, respectively, as DU's other two women's scorers. Fellow upperclassmen Nicola Rountree-Williams was 16th and Josephine Trueblood was 25th, while sophomore Stella Buchheister and freshman Elisabeth Creighton didn't finish the event.
 
Senior Chrisitan Soevik in 14th and graduate student Eirik Kveno in 23rd were the Pioneers' other two men's finishers. Senior Thomas Hoffman was eventually disqualified from run 2 while freshman Caman Beaureard didn't finish the morning descent. Sophomore Pietro Motterlini did not race this weekend.
 
CU swept the men's giant slalom podium with Feb Allasina, Filip Wahlqvist and Justin Bigatel going one, two and three. The Buffaloes' Louison Accambray won the women's event and was joined on the stage with Montana State's Justine Lamontagne in second and Utah's Melanie Dahlberg in third.
 
UP NEXT: Denver now gets set for the 2026 NCAA Championships, which were also relocated to Utah from Montana last month due to snow conditions in Montana. The alpine races will be held at Utah Olympic Park in Park City while Soldier Hollow will host the Nordic events in Midway.
 
Alpine GS begins the national championship meet on March 11 before the 7.5K classic interval start gets the races underway for Nordic on March 12. Slalom wraps up the alpine events on March 13, and a NCAA champion will be crowned following the Nordic 20K freestyle mass start on March 14.
 
 
DENVER WOMEN 20K FREESTYLE INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
4. Eve-Ondine Duchaufour,
8. Maja Moland, 54:06.6
9. Synne Bollingmo, 54:06.7
DNR: Estelle Darbellay, Ruby Serrouya, Anna Stewart
 
DENVER MEN 20K FREESTYLE INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
4. Eemil Juntunen, 49:13.8
8. Sondre Oestervold, 49:26.5
9. Yannick Zellweger, 49:31.7
17. Micah Steinberg, 52:34.9
22. Krystof Zatloukal, 54:20.6
23. Joe Graziadei, 54:21.5
 
DENVER WOMEN GIANT SLALOM INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
6. Cecilia Pizzinato, 1:36.90 (48.46/48.44)
11. Sara Rask, 1:37.39 (48.84/48.55)
13. Mia Hunt, 1:38.14 (49.35/48.79)
16. Nicola Rountree-Williams, 1:38.60 (49.76/48.84)
25. Josephine Trueblood, 1:40.50 (50.12/50.38)
DNF: Stella Buchheister (51.13/DNF Run 2)
DNS: Elisabeth Creighton (50.03/DNS Run 2)
 
DENVER MEN GIANT SLALOM INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
10. Adrian Minde Hunshammer, 1:36.17 (48.37/47.80)
14. Christian Soevik, 1:36.40 (48.74/47.66)
23. Eirik Kveno, 1:37.03 (49.40/47.63)
DQ: Thomas Hoffman (49.10/DQ Run 2)
DNF: Caman Beauregard (Run 1)
DNR: Pietro Motterlini
 
FINAL TEAM STANDINGS (through 8-of-8 events): 1. Utah 669; 2. Colorado 651; 3. Denver 560; 4. Montana State 526; 5. Alaska Anchorage 348; 6. Alaska Fairbanks 245; 7. Nevada 229; 8. Westminster 186; 9. Colorado Mountain College 113
 
WOMEN'S 20K FREESTYLE TOP 10 (24 finishers): 1. Tilde Baangman, CU, 52:36.3; 2. Rosie Fordham, UAF, 52:36.7; 3. Sofia Pedersen, UU, 54:01.2; 4. Eve-Ondine Duchaufour, DU, 54:01.3; 5. Astri Lunde, CU, 54:02.2; 6. Katey Houser, MSU, 54:05.1; 7. Witta Walcher, UU, 54:05.2; 8. Maja Moland, DU, 54:06.6; 9. Synne Bollingmo, DU, 54:06.7; 10. Selma Nevin, CU, 54:30.9.
 
MEN'S 20K FREESTYLE TOP 10 (29 finishers): 1. Mons Melbye, UU, 48:58.1; 2. Simon Chappaz, MSU, 48:58.9; 3. Zachary Jayne, UU, 49:13.2; 4. Eemil Juntunen, DU, 49:13.8; 5. Johannes Flaaten, CU, 49:21.7; 6. Philipp Moosmayer, UAF, 49:24.8; 7. Luka Riley, CU, 49:25.7; 8. Sondre Oestervold, DU, 49:26.5; 9. Yannick Zellweger, DU, 49:31.7; 10. Blake Hanley, UAF, 49:40.0.
 
WOMEN'S GIANT SLALOM TOP 10 (30 finishers): 1. Louison Accambray, CU, 1:35.51; 2. Justine LaMontagne, MSU, 1:36.13; 3. Melanie Dahlberg, UU, 1:36.64; 4. Kaila LaFreniere, UU, 1:36.75; 4. Cathinka Lunder, CU, 1:36.75; 6. Cecilia Pizzinato, DU, 1:36.90; 7. Guro Hestad Vognild, WU, 1:37.02; 8. Sophia Falter, UN, 1:37.29; 9. Lily Sewell, MSU, 1:37.32; 10. Paige DeHart, CU, 1:37.36.
 
MEN'S GIANT SLALOM TOP 10 (38 finishers): 1. Feb Allasina, CU, 1:34.76; 2. Filip Wahlqvist, CU, 1:35.16; 3. Justin Bigatel, CU, 1:35.24; 4. Johs Herland, UU, 1:35.66; 5. Pietro Bisello, UN, 1:35.81; 6. Loic Spiegelberg, MSU, 1:35.94; 7. Will Steed, MSU, 1:35.98; 8. Pierick Charest, UU, 1:36.06; 8. Sindre Myklebust, UU, 1:36.06; 10. Adrian Hunshammer, DU, 1:36.17.
 

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