Rask, Solbakken Win Giant Slalom Races at Montana's RMISA Alpine Qualifier

Thursday, February 22, 2024 • by Ron Knabenbauer, RMISA

BIG SKY, Mont.—University of Denver's Sara Rask and Utah's Mikkel Solbakken picked up individual giant slalom victories on Thursday in the RMISA Alpine Qualifier at Big Sky Resort.

Thursday's races were a prelude to the start of the three-day RMISA Championships and NCAA West Regionals that will be held over the weekend. No team scores were recorded, as the events served as an extra chance for the student-athletes to qualify for the NCAA Championships on March 6-9 in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

Rask guided the women's alpine field with the fastest first run and held onto the lead for her first victory of the season. She finished in 1:56.25, more than a second ahead of DU teammate Nora Brand (1:57.30) in second place.

Colorado's Denise Dingsleder joined Rask and Brand on the stand in third with a time of 1:57.38. Westminster University's Giulia Tintorri placed fourth while CU's Emma Hammergaard came in fifth as the second of five Buffaloes in the top 15.

Solbakken picked up his second win of the season in giant slalom of the season and of his career, as the Utah Ute also won the first RMISA Alpine Qualifier on Feb. 1 in Steamboat Springs. Like Rask, Solbakken was the fastest in the morning session and held his spot by clocking in with a total time of 1:53.25.

Also like in the women's race, Buffs were scattered throughout the top of the leaderboard as CU had four skiers in the top seven and five in the top 11. Filip Wahlqvist led his school as the runner-up behind Solbakken at 1:53.47, while Etienne Mazellier was fifth, Louis Fausa placed sixth and Jacob Dilling came in seventh. Jack Reich tied for 11th with Westminster's Roman Frost.

Montana State's Tanner Perkins timed in at 1:53.86 to place third. Utah's Sindre Myklebust was fourth.

UP NEXT: The RMISA Championships officially begin on Friday with another day of giant slalom racing at Big Sky Resort. Alpine wraps up its events on Saturday with slalom, while Nordic kicks off its races with the 7.5K freestyle interval start. The conference championships conclude on Sunday with the 20K classic mass start.

WOMEN'S GIANT SLALOM TOP 10 (46 total finishers): 1. Sara Rask, DU, 1:56.25; 2. Nora Brand, DU, 1:57.30; 3. Denise Dingsleder, CU, 1:57.38; 4. Giullia Tintorri, WMU, 1:57.54; 5. Emma Hammergaard, CU, 1:57.75; 6. Claire Timmerman, UU, 1:58.26; 7. Kristiane Bekkestad, MSU, 1:58.34; 8. Nicola Rountree-Williams, CMC, 1:58.37; 9. Evelina Fredricsson, WMU, 1:58.49; 10. Kaja Norbye, UU, 1:58.54.

MEN'S GIANT SLALOM TOP 10 (34 total finishers): 1. Mikkel Solbakken, UU, 1:53.25; 2. Filip Wahlqvist, CU, 1:53.47; 3. Tanner Perkins, MSU, 1:53.86; 4. Sindre Myklebust, UU, 1:54.07; 5. Etienne Mazellier, CU, 1:54.08; 6. Louis Fausa, CU, 1:54.13; 7. Jacob Dilling, CU, 1:54.25; 8. Gianluca Boehm, MSU, 1:54.34; 9. Christian Soevik, DU, 1:54.51; 10. Adrian Minde Hunshammer, DU, 1:54.58.