New Mexico Dominates Own Invitational

Saturday, February 6, 2010 – by Curtis Snyder, RMISASkiing.com

Results Available On Schedule/Results Page

RED RIVER & TAOS, N.M. – The University of New Mexico enjoyed one of the most dominant days in recent memory to run away with its own invitational Saturday with the slalom races taking place at Taos, N.M. and the freestyle races being held at Red River, N.M.

On the strength of a 1-2-3-4 finish in the men’s freestyle race and two victories and six skiers in the top six of the two slalom races, the Lobos finish with 961 points, 160 ahead of the second place University of Colorado (801). Denver completed a solid day to move from fifth to third with 785 points, while Utah finished fourth with 713 and Montana State fifth with 694. Nevada (658), Alaska Anchorage (573) and Wyoming (208) round out the scoring.

The men’s 10-k freestyle race was a close one with the Lobos’ Martin Kaas beating out teammate Tor-Hakon Hellobostad by just four-tenths of a second, 26:17.0 to 26:17.4. Pierre Ness finished third in 26:21.3 with Simon Riessman fourth in 26:23.7 to give the Lobos a 1-2-3-4 finish. It’s believed to be the first time in four or five years one team has had the top four finishers. It’s the first time a team got the maximum points for a race since last season when Colorado’s men’s nordic squad finished 1-2-3 at the Seawolf Invitational in the 15-k classic race.

The Lobos earned 141 points for their efforts with Colorado (107) and Denver (102) also hitting triple digits.

In the women’s 10-k freestyle race, Nevada’s Maria Graefnings won the race in a time of 29:16.8 and winning by nearly 40 seconds. Denver’s Antje Maempel finished second (29:55.2) while teammate Kate Dolan took third (30:06.3). New Mexico’s Polina Ermoshina took fourth in 30:43.6 and Montana State’s Kaelin Kiesel finished fifth in 30:51.6. Denver’s Mari Elden finished seventh to give the Pionners the race win with 126 points while Nevada had a strong showing, racking up 102 points.

New Mexico dominated the alpine portion of the event and in the women’s race, the Lobos’ finished 1-3-5 with Anne Brusletto winning in a time of 1:43.38. Utah’s Eva Huckova took second in 1:43.59 with the UNM’s Kate Williams third in 1:44.08, just one-hundredth of a second ahead of Denver’s Lindsay Cone (1:44.09). Maline Hemmingsson rounds out the top five with a time of 1:44.42. The Lobos racked up 133 points in the race with Utah (104) and Colorado (100) both hitting triple digits and Denver (98) just a few points off that pace, as well.

The Lobos’ women’s alpine team was nearly as dominate as its men’s team, scoring 131 points with a 1-3-6 finish as Petter Brenna continued his dominant season with a victory in 1:38.06. Denver’s Andreas Kilde took second in 1:38.11 while the Lobos’ Thomas Schwab took third in 1:38.70. Utah’s Torjus Krogdahl finished fourth in 1:38.89 and Nevada’s Martin Harris rounds out the top five in 1:38.99. Denver (110) and Utah (101) also finished with more than 100 points in the race.

Next up for RMISA schools will be the final regular season meet at Nevada Feb. 19-21. There will be an extra RMISA Alpine Qualifier giant slalom race for both genders on Feb. 21, as well.

Skiers of the Week

New Mexico also swept RMISA Skiers of the Week winners as they were awarded to Anne Brusletto for women’s alpine (first slalom, second giant slalom), the Thomas Schwab for men’s alpine (second giant slalom, third slalom), Polina Ermoshina for women’s nordic (first classic, fourth freestyle) and Pierre Niess for men’s nordic (second classic, third freestyle). The award is given to the skier with the top combined finish with ties being broken by combined times. Skiers cannot win twice in a season. The only racer that affected this week was the Lobos’ Martin Kaas, who won both men’s nordic races. He won skier of the week at Montana State by accomplishing the same feat.

RMISA Team Standings

New Mexico also took a somewhat commanding lead in the race for regular season champion honors. With one regular season meet left, the Lobos hold a 121 point advantage on Colorado (2,646-2,525). Denver (2,442) and Utah (2,163) are both over the 2,000 point barrier, as well.

The RMISA recognizes a regular season champion, and also awards for combined alpine, men’s alpine, women’s alpine, combined nordic, men’s nordic, women’s nordic, combined men’s and combined women’s champions.

New Mexico has a 196 point advantage over Denver in the combined alpine standings, 1,408-1,212 with Colorado right behind at 1,201. The Lobos also hold advantages in both men’s alpine and women’s alpine standings, leading Denver on the men’s side, 686-619 and Colorado on the women’s side (722-654).

Colorado holds the combined nordic edge at the moment with 1,324 points while New Mexico (1,241) and Denver (1,230) are right there in the mix. The Lobos hold a slim advantage over Colorado on the men’s side (719-700) and Denver leads the women’s nordic standings with 692 points while Colorado has 624.

The Lobos have a strong lead in the men’s standings with 1,405 points, ahead of Colorado by 158 points (1,247), while on the women’s side, it’s a three team race with Denver (1,285) holding off Colorado (1,278) and New Mexico (1,244).