Ute Skiers Notch Second At WSC Invitational

Saturday, February 8

Gunnison, Colo.

TBA

University of Utah

Western State Invitational (Alpine/C.C.)

2/10/2003 12:00 AM | Skiing

Feb. 10, 2003

Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader

GUNNISON, Colo. --The University of Utah ski team placed second in the Western State Invitational over the weekend. The Utes were edged out by New Mexico by a margin of 568-552. However, Utah was able to beat out both the University of Denver and the University of Colorado.

The cross country team came away with some great individual results in both the men's and women's freestyle events. Katrin Smigun and Sara Svendsen gave the Utes the advantage skiing well in the 10 km FS. Smigun's time of 35:53.7 earned her a first-place finish, while Svendsen's 37:36.6 overall time nabbed her third. Freshman Ashley McQueen finished on a high note placing 12th, followed by Anna Sprague who skied 16th.

The men's squad finished with top scores, once again led by seniors Ryan Quinn and Zack Simons. Quinn was just a few seconds short of the third-place spot, but managed to grab fourth with a time of 41:26.9. Simons skied to an impressive fifth-place finish with an overall time of 41:45.4. Freshman Jess Kiesel held on to 13th, while fellow freshman Tony Bozzio garnered 18th.

"The nordic team was very consistent," remarked Head Coach Kevin Sweeney. "Ryan's back-to-back fifth-place results were awesome. I was rather pleased with the cross country team's results."

Although the alpine team dropped a little from day one, they managed to ski to some notable individual results in the slalom event. Senior Jernej Bukovec's time of 1:17.14 nabbed him a sixth-place finish. Sophomore Josh Whitham gave a strong 14th place effort, while teammate Benjamin Thornhill finished 22th.

The women's squad was headed by junior Lina Johansson's third-place effort. Senior Petra Svet and sophomore Elisha Stephens finished 37th and 39th respectively.

"We ran into some bad luck," said Sweeney. "I'm not sure if it was nerves or just being tired. It's unfortunate, but I think we will rebound from this. We did have some good results in Jernej and Lina, which are important. I'm optimistic and I hope we can learn from our mistakes and prepare better for regional championships."

The Ute ski team will have some time off before competing in the DU/ RMISA Regional Championships. The Championships will be skied in Winter Park, Colo., Sunday and Monday, Feb. 23-24. Times for the events are TBA.