ANCHORAGE, Alaska—The RMISA Nordic teams take their turn in Alaska this week with their portion of the UAA and Seawolf Invitationals, held Feb. 7-8 and Feb. 11-12 in Anchorage and Girdwood, Alaska.
The week begins with the freestyle sprints for the Seawolf Invite on Feb. 7, followed by a 4x5-km mixed classical relay event on Feb. 8. The UAA Invite begins on Feb. 11 with the women's 5-km and men's 10-km classic, with the freestyle events on Feb. 12 with the women's 15-km and men's 20-km events.
Montana State leads the Seawolf Invitational through the alpine portion of the meet with 333 points followed by Utah (311), Denver (283), Colorado (274) and New Mexico (234). Denver holds the edge in the UAA Invite with 319 points, just edging out Utah (318) for the lead. New Mexico stands third (307) followed by Montana State (271) and Colorado (250).
Colorado has had one of the strongest teams in women’s Nordic, led by Petra Hyncicova’s three victories and four podium finishes. Ane Johnsen also has two podium finishes for the Buffs this year while Christina Rolandsen has one podium finish. Also with four podium finishes this year is New Mexico’s Krista Niiranen, who also has a race win. Utah’s Guro Jordheim also has a podium finish this year. Alaska Fairbanks Nichole Bathe is one of just three skiers (the others being Hyncicova and Niiranen) to finish in the top 10 in all four races this year. Other skiers who have been consistently strong include Utah’s Merete Myrseth and Denver’s Taeler McCrerey.
For the men, Utah’s Kevin Bolger has podium finishes in all four races with two victories. Also earning wins this year are Denver’s Moritz Madlener and Colorado’s Petter Reistad, who also have three podium finishes apiece. Also with podium finishes this year are New Mexico’s Arnaud Guyon and Denver’s Lars Hannah. Denver’s Eivind Kvaale, Montana State’s Karsten Hokanson and New Mexico’s Petteri Vaherkoski each have three top-10 finishes on the season while other skiers who have been strong include Utah’s Martin Bergstroem, Denver’s Dag Trolleboe, Alaska Fairbanks’ Michael Fehrenbach and Alaska Anchorage’s Zackarias Toresson.