FRISCO, Colo. – Freshman
Yannick Zellweger's win in the men's Nordic 7.5-kilometer freestyle on Sunday highlighted a strong overall performance by the Denver Pioneers ski team on the final day of its home meet at Frisco Nordic Center.
Overall, four DU men placed in the top 10 and the four women earned top-15 results to close out the DU Invitational.
"They had the fight, and it was great," said Denver Nordic Head Skiing Coach
Eliska Albrigtsen of her squad. "Obviously, home-course advantage, so they knew how to execute the course, but they just went into it with heart and didn't doubt they would get the results. Especially the guys. They just went and balled into it, and it was so awesome. We had great energy this morning, we watched Olympics, and they just took it on the course."
Zellweger's victory in the interval start race was the first of his collegiate career and he finished the two-day Nordic competition with consecutive top-five results after coming in fourth on Saturday in the 10K classic. He finished the three-lap course at more than 9,000 feet of elevation, beating out second-place Storm Pedersen of Colorado by more than 10 seconds (18:49.6) and was 16 seconds ahead of Montana State's Simon Chappaz in third (18:55.5).
"I felt pretty good, and I had really good skis and the crowd was amazing,"
Zellweger said. "It feels really good to get the first win at home.
"I tried to start really fast, even if it was at high altitude. I felt a little tired after the first loop, but I knew I had to push all out. That is what I tried to do, and I'm happy I was able to manage that and push it to the end."
Sophomore
Eemil Juntunen picked up his first career top five in fourth as the Pios, and senior
Krystof Zatloukal was the squad's third scorer with a a season best in seventh. Graduate student
Sondre Oestervold came in ninth for his second straight finish inside the top 10.
The Pioneers won the men's team event in the interval freestyle with 94 points for the program's first individual team victory in Nordic this season.
Denver finished second overall at its own meet with 638 points—the most the team has garnered in a full, eight-race meet since winning the 2020 RMISA Invitational with 688 points.
CU had three individuals on the podiums on Sunday and won the overall team title at the meet with 714 points. Tilde Baangman won her second straight women's race by taking the women's 7.5K freestyle's top spot in 20:56.4, as she finished more than 30 seconds ahead of teammate Astri Lunde (21:31.0).
Senior
Eve-Ondine Duchaufour led Denver's women in a season-high fourth place, clocking in at 22:07.9 and 17.8 seconds behind Utah's Sofia Pedersen in third. It was her fourth top five of her career.
"I thought my first lap was pretty good,"
Duchaufour said. "I managed to have a good pace all along and not die (of exhaustion) at the end was really good. I also thought a lot about my technique and tried to keep skiing well, which helped a lot."
Freshman
Synne Bollingmo in 11th and junior
Maja Moland in 12th were DU's other two women's scorers, while sophomore
Anna Stewart placed inside the top 15 as well in 13th.
Freshman
Estelle Darbellay ended up 23rd while fellow rookie
Ruby Serrouya did not start for the women. DU's other men's finishers were
Micah Steinberg in 23rd and
Joe Graziadei in 24th.
The Denver Invitational was the first full RMISA meet to conclude this season. The schools had raced in the Nordic-only RMISA Invitational at the U.S. Cross Country National championships in Lake Placid in early January and the alpine-only Nevada Invitational last weekend. The CU Invitational (alpine) and Utah Invitational (Nordic) are also both in progress.
Denver's home meet began three weeks ago with the alpine events with slalom at Loveland Ski Area on Jan. 12 and giant slalom at Aspen Highlands on Jan. 14.
UP NEXT: The Nordic Pioneers return to Denver this week before heading to Steamboat Springs for the conclusion of the Colorado Invite in Steamboat Springs at Howelsen Hill Ski Area next weekend. The 20K freestyle is Friday and the 7.5K classic is Saturday. The next alpine races are Jan. 22-24 in Park City with the Utah Invitational and a RMISA Alpine Qualifier giant slalom.
DENVER MEN 7.5K FREESTYLE INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
1.
Yannick Zellweger, 18:39.4
4.
Eemil Juntunen, 19:06.2
8.
Krystof Zatloukal, 19:13.3
9.
Sondre Oestervold, 19:21.8
23.
Micah Steinberg, 20:39.9
24.
Joe Graziadei, 20:49.2
DENVER WOMEN 7.5K FREESTYLE INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
4.
Eve-Ondine Duchaufour, 22:07.9
11.
Synne Bollingmo, 22:47.4
12.
Maja Moland, 23:05.4
13.
Anna Stewart, 23:09.6
223.
Estelle Darbellay, 24:04.1
DNS:
Ruby Serrouya
FINAL TEAM STANDINGS (after 8-of-8 events): 1. Colorado 714;
2. Denver 638; 3. Utah 499.5; 4. Montana State 480; 5. Alaska Anchorage 457; 6. Alaska Fairbanks 226; 7. Nevada 195.5; 8. Colorado Mountain College 163; 9. Westminster 199
MEN'S 7.5K FREESTYLE TOP 10 (26 finishers): 1. Yannick Zellweger, DU, 18:39.4; 2. Storm Pedersen, CU, 18:49.6; 3. Simon Chappaz, MSU, 18:55.5;
4. Eemil Juntunen, DU, 19:06.2; 5. Gavin Galyardt, MSU, 19:09.2; 6. Gabriele Rigaudo, UAF, 19:11.8; 7. Philipp Moosmayer, UAF, 19:13.3;
8. Krystof Zatloukal, DU, 19:13.3; 9. Sondre Oestervold, DU, 19:21.8: 10. Johannes Flaaten, CU, 19:22.9.
WOMEN'S 7.5K FREESTYLE TOP 10 (26 finishers): 1. Tilde Baangman, CU, 20:56.4; 2. Astri Lunde, CU, 21:31.0; 3. Sofia Pedersen, UU, 21:51.1;
4. Eve-Ondine Duchaufour, DU, 22:07.9;
5. Marit Flora, UAA, 22:22.5; 6. Witta Walcher, UU, 22:29.1; 7. Felicie Chappaz, MSU, 22:32.9; 8. Ally Wheeler, UU, 22:34.6; 9. Katey Houser, MSU, 22:38.4; 10. Selma Nevin, 22:40.6.
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