MIDWAY, Utah—The University of Utah men's and University of Alaska Fairbanks women's Nordic teams lead the way here Friday to open the Nordic portion of the Utah Invitational with the 7.5K freestyle races at Soldier Hollow.
The men opened the day in its interval start race and Utah's Brian Bushley led the way with and picked up the win in a time of 18:48.1. It was tight at the top, however, with the three podium performers just 6.2 seconds apart with Denver's Andreas Kirkeng taking second (18:50.1) and Colorado's Will Koch third (18:54.3).
The Utes and Pioneers dominated the race with the two schools accounting for seven of the top eight finishers and on the strength of Bushey's win along with Joe Davies in fourth and Walker Hall in sixth, the Utes won the race as a team with 98 points to the Pioneer's 91. Colorado was third with 72 points.
In the women's race, UAF's Kendall Kramer took the title in a much larger margin as the only women's skier under 22 minutes in a time of 21:56.7. She was 16.2 seconds ahead of Utah's Sydney Palmer-Leger (22:11.9) and the Seawolves' Rosie Fordham was third in 22:23.4.
UAF also place Mariel Pulles in seventh to win the race as a team with 99 points, 10 ahead of the Utes total of 89 with Colorado taking third with 71 points on the strength of Anna-Maria Dietze's fourth place finish.
Overall, Utah leads with 187 points while Alaska Fairbanks (148), Denver (145) and Colorado (143) are all within five points in the race for second and Alaska Anchorage (116), Montana State (103) and Wyoming (66) round out the team scoring.
Saturday will conclude over two weeks of action in Utah with the men's and women's 10K classic pursuit races. The women begin the racing at 9:30 a.m. and the men will follow at 10:45 a.m.
TEAM STANDINGS (Thru 2 of 8 Races): 1. Utah 187, 2. Alaska Fairbanks 148; 3. Denver 145; 4. Colorado 142; 5. Alaska Anchorage 116; 6. Montana State 103; 7. Wyoming 66.
MEN'S 7.5K FREESTYLE (42 collegiate finishers): 1. Brian Bushey, UU, 18:48.1; 2. Andreas Kirkeng, DU, 18:50.1; 3. Will Koch, 18:54.3; 4. Joe Davies, UU, 19:00.2; 5. Florian Knopf, DU, 19:04.0.
WOMEN'S 7.5K FREESTYLE (42 collegiate finishers): 1. Kendall Kramer, UAF, 21:56.7; 2. Sydney Palmer-Leger, UU, 22:11.9; 3. Rosie Fordham, UAF, 22:23.4; 4. Anna-Maria Dietze, CU, 22:26.1; 5. Nina Schamberger, UU, 22:29.4.
| Date | Race |
|---|---|
| Jan. 12 | Women's 7.5K Freestyle |
| Jan. 12 | Men's 7.5K Freestyle |
| Jan. 13 | Women's 10K Classic |
| Jan. 13 | Men's 10K Classic |
| Jan. 18 | Women's Slalom |
| Jan. 18 | Men's Slalom |
| Jan. 20 | Women's Giant Slalom |
| Jan. 20 | Men's Giant Slalom |