Utah Second at NCAA Regional

Friday, February 23

Norden, Calif.

All Day

University of Utah

Western Regionals

2/23/2007 12:00 AM | Skiing

Feb. 23, 2007

Team Results in PDF Format
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Men's Slalom Results in PDF Format
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Women's Slalom Results in PDF Format
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Men's 10K Results in PDF Format
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Women's 5K Results in PDF Format
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TRUCKEE, Calif. - The University of Utah completed one of their most impressive days of the season Friday at the NCAA West Regional. The Utes find themselves eight points out of first place, occupying second with 273 points. Colorado is third with 265 points.

"It's nice to have good results in the championship season," head coach Eli Brown said. "We're really excited about tomorrow."

In the men's alpine, sophomore Kyle Kung all but assured himself a berth in the upcoming NCAA Championships with a second place finish in the slalom. The Girdwood, Alaska native's two-run time of 1:22.85 should be enough to qualify. Tague Thorson (12th, 1:24.46) and Kyle Darling (17th, 1:26.26) gave the Utes three skiers in the top 20.

Kimberly Stephens, who was also on the NCAA Championships bubble heading into this weekend, solidified her status by racing to an impressive second-place finish in the women's slalom. Hot on Stephens' tail was teammate Chirine Njeim, who finished one-tenth of a second behind, finishing third with a two-run time of 1:36.62.

Freshman phenom Snorri Einarsson paced the Utes in the 10K Freestyle, earning a third-place finish with a time of 27:48.8. Joining Einarsson in the top ten were Ute sophomores Fabian Figi and Even Sletten. Figi placed seventh with a time of 29:00.3, while Sletten finished eighth with a time of 29:07.2.

Sara Schweiger made her return to the women's Nordic team, after being held out of the New Mexico Invitational. The Schwangau, Germany native's time of 15:52.8 was good enough for fourth place. Utah's other Sarah (MacCarthy), placed sixth with a time of 16:06.4. Annalies Cook skied to an 18th-place finish in 16:43.1.

The Utes will contend for the regional title at Saturday's mass-start Nordic events.