New Mexico Leads Utah Invite After First Day

Monday, January 11, 2010 – by Curtis Snyder, RMISASkiing.com

Results Available On Schedule/Results Page

PARK CITY, Utah – Fueled by three of the top six finishers in the women’s giant slalom, the University of New Mexico Lobos lead after the first day here at the Utah Invitational. The defending RMISA Champions racked up 231 points to lead the defending NCAA Champion Denver by 19 points after Day One.

Host Utah is third with 195 points with Nevada (189) taking fourth place and Colorado (173) fifth. Alaska Anchorage (162) and Montana State (139) round out the action.

The Lobos saw Stefanie Demetz finish second, Malin Hemmingsson fourth and Anne Cecilie Brusletto sixth to earn 125 points in the race and combined with 106 points in the men’s race, they lead the Invitational by 19 points after the first day.

The RMISA has changed its scoring format for the 2010 season to match the NCAA Championships format. It’s based on a 50 point system as opposed to a 30 point system used the last few years, and the scoring system is top-loaded, so the top finishers earn more points for their team than they have previously.

Utah’s Eva Huckova won the women’s race on her home course in a two-run time of 1:56.15. Demetz came in just behind at 1:56.41 with Alaska Anchorage’s Alexandra Parker finishing third in 1:56.81. Hemmingsson ran the course twice in a combined time of 1:57.14 and Colorado’s Erika Ghent finished fifth in 1:57.34. Ghent finished in the top five despite a start number of 25.

The Lobos were the only team scoring 100 points and it was a log jam after them with Colorado scoring 98 points, Alaska Anchorage and Utah 96 apiece and Denver 91.

On the men’s side, Denver had nearly a dominant of day as the UNM women, finishing with 121 points. Unlike the women’s side, the men had two other teams finish with over 100 points as Nevada racked up 110 and the Lobos 106. Both Utah (99 points on the men’s side) and the Pioneers had three top 10 finishers.

Denver’s Seppi Stiegler won the race with a combined time of 1:56.44 while the top six skiers were all within a half-second of Steigler. Nevada’s Martin Harris finished second in 1:56.70, New Mexico’s Petter Brenna third in 1:56.74, DU’s A.J. Arvin fourth in 1:56.82 while Nevada’s Shane Collins and New Mexico’s Thomas Schwab tied for fifth in a time of 1:56.96. Host Utah’s men finished seventh-eighth-ninth.

The action continues here Tuesday with the slalom races. The action is slated to start at 9:15 a.m. with the men’s first run followed by the women’s first run at 10:45 a.m. The men’s second run will begin at noon with the women’s second run set to start at 1 p.m.

Only the alpine portion of the Utah Invitational will take place with the nordic action set for January 22-23 in Soldier Hollow, Utah. Prior to that, the entire Montana State Invitational along with an RMISA Alpine Qualifier will take place in Big Sky and Bohart Ranch Mont., from January 15-17.