ASPEN, Colo.— Utah's Johs Herland continued his dominant start to the alpine season with a third straight victory, but Colorado delivered the deepest performance of the day, sweeping both giant slalom races and surging into the overall lead at the Denver Invitational on Wednesday.
Herland claimed the men's giant slalom title for the second straight day and third consecutive race to open the season. Behind him, Colorado placed three skiers inside the top five and five inside the top 12, led by Justin Bigatel in second and Filip Wahlqvist in third, as the Buffaloes scored 100 points to win the race. Christoffer Oestroem finished fifth, while Feb Allasina placed eighth to round out Colorado's scoring group.
Colorado's women matched the men with a race victory of their own, led by Louison Accambray, who won the giant slalom after posting the fastest times in both runs. The Buffs placed four skiers in the top six and totaled 98 points, finishing 20 points ahead of Denver and 33 ahead of Utah in the event. Denver’s Sara Rask took second, her third straight podium after two slalom wins in Loveland earlier in the week.
Entering the day trailing Denver by eight points, Colorado flipped the standings with its sweep of the giant slalom races and now holds a 37-point lead, 353-316, with Utah third at 284.5 points.
TEAM SCORES (THRU 3 RACES): 1. Colorado, 353; 2. Denver, 316; 3. Utah, 284.5; 4. Montana State, 214; 5. Alaska Anchorage, 203; 6. Nevada, 195.5; 7. Colorado Mountain, 163; 8. Westminster, 119.
WOMEN'S GIANT SLALOM: 1. Louison Accambray, Colorado, 2:01.01; 2. Sara Rask, Denver, 2:01.71; 3. Guro Hestad Vognild, Westminster, 2:02.75; 4. Cathinka Lunder, Colorado, 2:03.34; 5. Melanie Dahlberg, Utah, 2:03.44; 6. Paige DeHart, Colorado, 2:03.54; 6. Alexa Brownlie, Colorado, 2:03.54; 8. Sarah Zoller, Westminster, 2:03.61; 9. Erica Lynch, Nevada, 2:03.65; 10. Cecilia Pizzinato, Denver, 2:03.67.
MEN'S GIANT SLALOM: 1. Johs Herland, Utah, 1:59.30; 2. Justin Bigatel, Colorado, 1:59.94; 3. Filip Wahlqvist, Colorado, 2:00.56; 4. Adrian Hunshammer, Denver, 2:00.95; 5. Christoffer Oestroem, Colorado, 2:00.97; 6. Sindre Myklebust, Utah, 2:01.64; 7. Jay Poulter, Utah, 2:01.87; 8. Feb Allasina, Colorado, 2:01.95; 9. Christian Soevik, Denver, 2:02.11; 10. Gianluca Boehm, Montana State, 2:02.13.
| Date | Race |
|---|---|
| Jan. 12 | Women's Slalom |
| Jan. 12 | Men's Slalom |
| Jan. 14 | Women's Giant Slalom |
| Jan. 14 | Men's Giant Slalom |
| Feb. 7 | Women's 10K Classic |
| Feb. 7 | Men's 10K Classic |
| Feb. 8 | Women's 7.5K Freestyle |
| Feb. 8 | Men's 7.5K Freestyle |