Saturday, January 12, 2019 • by Brooke Frederickson, RMISA
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo.—Utah's Guro Jordheim and New Mexico's Kornelius Groev won the women's and men's freestyle races at the Colorado Invitational on Saturday morning.
The Utes took over the team lead in the standings with a strong Nordic day, leading Denver 410 to 400 points. Colorado is third with 330.5 points with Alaska Anchorage fourth (305), Montana State fifth (285) and New Mexico sixth (270.5).
The Colorado Invitational continues on Sunday, Jan. 13, with the women's and men's 10-km classic mass start races, beginning at 10:00 a.m.
Women's 5-km Freestyle
- Guro Jordheim, Utah
- Taeler McCrerey, Denver
- Hedda Baangman, Colorado
- Emma Tarbath, Montana State
- Kati Roivas, Alaska Fairbanks
- Anna Darnell, Alaska Anchorage
- Karianne Moe, Utah
- Christina Rolandsen, Colorado
- Mariah Bredal, Utah
- Anne Siri Lervik, Colorado
- Team scores: Utah 87, Colorado 78, Denver 75, Alaska Anchorage 63, Montana State 56, Alaska Fairbanks 56, New Mexico 29.
- Utah's Guro Jordheim, last year's RMISA women's Nordic Athlete of the Year, picked up where she left off last year with her eighth career win.
- Denver's Taeler McCrerey finished second for her second career podium finish.
- Colorado's Hedda Baangman placed third for her fifth career podium.
- Montana State's Emma Tarbath finished in the top five for her sixth career top five finish.
- Alaska Fairbanks' Kati Roivas earned her best career finish since 2016 when she skied at New Mexico.
Men's 10-km Freestyle
- Kornelius Groev, New Mexico
- Sigurd Roenning, Alaska Anchorage
- Logan Diekmann, Utah
- Toomas Kollo, Alaska Anchorage
- Ola Jordheim, Utah
- Erik Dengerud, Colorado
- Wyatt Gebhardt, Colorado
- Ricardo Izquierdo-Bernier, New Mexico
- Sondre Bollum, Colorado
- Borgar Norrud, Denver
- Team scores: Alaska Anchorage 84, Utah 82, Colorado 74.5, New Mexico 72.5, Denver 54, Montana State 43, Alaska Fairbanks 44, Wyoming 24.
- The top five featured three skiers making their collegiate debuts: New Mexico's Kornelius Groev, Alaska Anchorage's Sigurd Roenning and Utah's Ola Jordheim.
- Groev earned the Lobos first men's Nordic win since 2015.
- Utah's Logan Diekmann, in his third season with the Utes, earned his first career podium finish.
- Alaska Anchorage's Toomas Kollo earned his best career finish with a fourth-place run.