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The University of Utah Athletics
Utes To Compete In Montana State Invitational
1/10/2000 12:00 AM | Skiing
Jan. 10, 2000
SALT LAKE CITY - The Utes look to compete in their second invitational of the year at the Montana State Invitational. The alpine portion of the competition will be held at Bridger Bowl in Big Sky, Mont., while the cross country events will have lieu at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah. Soldier Hollow, the new Olympic venue currently under construction, will play host to the 2000 Chevy Truck U.S. Nationals this week as well. Cross country skiers from the region will be competing in the Montana State Invitational as well as the U.S. Nationals. The week's schedule of events is as follows.
Dates: January 12-15, 2000
| Events: | January 12 - Men's 10km Freestyle, Women's 5km Freestyle |
| January 13 - Men's 15km Classic, Women's 10km Classic | |
| January 14 - Men's and Women's Slalom | |
| January 15 - Men's and Women's Giant Slalom |
Head Coach Kevin Sweeney - "I think we are really ready to compete. Despite marginal snow conditions, we've had excellent training for both cross country and alpine. We've also had great early season race starts. I think we are in a good position to open up the season. There always is a lot of anxiety for how we are going to stack up to the other schools. The skiers are ready to finally get things started."
After the four days competition, Denver University held on to its slim lead over defending national champion Colorado to win the Utah Ski Invitational. Despite a late charge by Colorado, gaining 13 points in the final day, the Pioneers held on to claim victory at the season's opening invitational. Host University of Utah placed third in the event followed by New Mexico in fourth.
There were several great performances by the Utes. In the women's 10km freestyle, junior Kristina Joder placed a team-high fifth for the Utes. Joder was an NCAA qualifier as a freshman and a sophomore for Utah, and originates from Landgrove, Vermont. Freshman Marika Engstrom took eighth in the same race. Liz Sherry took second in the women's giant slalom and Scott Woodland who placed fourth in the same event for the men. Utah's only race winner was sophomore Rob Whitney who beat out Colorado's Henrik Eriksson by just 0.7 seconds to win the men's 15km freestyle cross country race. Whitney is skiing in his first invitational as a Ute and was an alternate for the U.S. Olympic Team at the ?98 Nagano Olympics. Utah's Petter Svendsen took eighth and Zack Simons finished ninth in the same race.
The Utes will have one week off after the Montana State Invitational before traveling to Winter Park, Colo.. to compete in the Denver Invitational. This will be Utah's final competition in January. The Utes have two invitationals in February before the NCAA Championships on Mar. 8-11 here in Utah.
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