Koch and Dengerud Win Championships in Westminster Freestyle Sprints

Thursday, January 4, 2024 • by Ron Knabenbauer, RMISA

MIDWAY, Utah—Colorado's Will Koch and Utah's Karianne Dengerud picked up individual national championships in freestyle sprints on Thursday on the second day of the Westminster Invitational at the U.S. Cross Country National Championships at Soldier Hollow Nordic Center.

The Nordic portion of the Westminster Invite was taking place in conjunction with U.S. Nationals, with the results of the RMISA athletes being pulled from the first two championship races to make up the first half of the RMISA-opening meet.

Koch paced the men's field throughout the day, posting the fastest qualifying time and then winning his quarterfinal, semifinal and final heat. Denver's Florian Knopf was the only other RMISA athlete to make it to the finals, earning a silver in the Westminster Invitational and fifth overall.

The Buffaloes were the biggest mover among the schools on the day, climbing from sixth to third on the team leaderboard. CU also received a RMISA podium appearance from Trey Jones and a sixth-place finish from Magnus Boee.

Utah extended its lead as the Nordic portion of the season-opening meet comes to an end, as the Utes have 353 points, leading second-place Denver by 44 points (309) and third-place Colorado by 88 (265). UU and DU both had their three scorers earn a top-10 nod, with Pioneers' Andreas Kirkeng in fifth and Elijah Weenig in seventh and the Utes' Tom Mancini in fourth, Walker Hall in eighth and Joe Davies in ninth.

UU had all three of its scorers place in the top seven in the women's freestyle sprints, with Sydney Palmer-Leger in fifth and newcomer Nina Schamberger in seventh.

Alaska Fairbanks (260) and Montana State (259) are also within 100 points of Utah heading into the alpine portion with strong showings in the women's sprints at Westminster. MSU had four athletes in the top 12, with two in the top four with Tilde Baangman placing second and Kate Oldham in fourth. UAF's Mariel Pulles earned a RMISA podium spot in third and Kendall Kramer came in sixth.

Rounding out the team scoring is Alaska Anchorage in sixth (236) and Wyoming in seventh (134).

The Westminster Invitational resumes on Jan. 17 and 19 with alpine giant slalom and slalom at Olympic Park in Park City, Utah. The RMISA Nordic circuit will stay in Soldier Hollow for another week, as the teams will race in classic sprints on Sunday at U.S. Nationals as part of a RMISA Nordic Qualifier before opening the Utah Invitational with the 7.5K freestyle on Jan. 12 and 10K classic pursuit on Jan. 13.

TEAM STANDINGS (through 4-of-8 events): 1. Utah 353; 2. Denver 309; 3. Colorado 265; 4. Alaska Fairbanks 260; 5. Montana State 259; 6. Alaska Anchorage 236; 7. Wyoming 134

MEN'S FREESTYLE SPRINTS RMISA TOP 10 (39 RMISA finishers): 1. Will Koch, CU; 2. Florian Knopf, DU; 3. Trey Jones, CU; 4. Tom Mancini, UU; 5. Andreas Kirkeng, DU; 6. Magnus Boe, CU; 7. Elijah Weenig, DU; 8. Walker Hall, UU; 9. Joe Davies, UU; 10. Hugo Hinckfuss, CU.

WOMEN'S FREESTYLE SPRINTS RMISA TOP 10 (43 RMISA finishers): 1. Karianne Dengerud, UU; 2. Tilde Baangman, MSU; 3. Mariel Pulles, UAF; 4. Kate Oldham, MSU; 5. Sydney Palmer-Leger, UU; 6. Kendall Kramer, UAF; 7. Nina Schamberger, UU; 8. Maja Moland, DU; 9. Astrid Stav, UAA; 10. Weronika Kaleta, CU.