Utah Skiing to Host Alpine Portion of Utah Invite, Nordic at Montana State Invitational

Utah Skiing to Host Alpine Portion of Utah Invite, Nordic at Montana State Invitational

1/10/2017 4:31 PM | Skiing

SALT LAKE CITY - The Utah ski team continues this weekend hosting the alpine portion of the Utah Invitational from Jan. 12-14 at Snowbasin while the Nordic teams travel to the Montana State Invitational, competing at Bohart Ranch from Jan. 14-15.

The Utah Invite gets underway on Thursday, Jan. 12, with the women's giant slalom, followed by the men's giant slalom on Friday. The men's and women's slalom races will be held on Saturday, Jan. 14.

Utah is also hosting a men's and women's slalom RMISA qualifier race on Sunday, Jan. 15. The RMISA qualifier races do not count towards any team scoring, but are used as an extra opportunity for skiers to earn qualification points for the NCAA Championships at the end of the season.

All eight races will be held at Snowbasin, which is a new competition venue for the Utes. The run is City Hill to Wildflower. Live timing will be available at www.ussalivetiming.com .

The Utes are currently third at the Utah Invite following the Nordic races with 277 points, just behind Colorado (303.5) and Denver (295).

At Bohart Ranch for the Montana State Invitational, action kicks off with the freestyle races (women's 5-km, men's 10-km) on Saturday, Jan. 14, and follows with the classical (women's 15-km, men's 20-km) on Sunday, Jan. 15.

Utah is third at the Montana State Invitational after the alpine races with 286.5 points behind Colorado (334) and Denver (308).

The Utes had several strong performances during the opening weekend of competition.

In Nordic, Kevin Bolger was the RMISA Skier of the Week after earning his first career victory in the classic sprint and finishing second in the 15-km freestyle, both which were his first career collegiate podiums. He also won the classic sprint at the U.S. Cross Country Championships. Oscar Ivars also had a top-10 finish in the 15-km freestyle. Newcomer Jacob Engström had a pair of top-15 finishes, placing 12th in the sprint and 14th in the 15-km freestyle while fellow newcomer Logan Diekmann had a pair of top-20 finishes, placing 17th in the sprints and 19th in the 15-km freestyle. Martin Bergström and Martin Mikkelsen both struggled with illness during the opening weekend and look to get back to competition this weekend.

For the women's Nordic team, Guro Jordheim had her first career podium in her first career race with a third-place finish in the 10-km freestyle last weekend. She was also Utah's top finisher in the sprint race, placing 12th. Natalia Müller placed fourth in the 15-km freestyle. Josefin Nilsson earned a top-15 finish in the sprint race despite illness while newcomer Leah Lange placed in the top 20 in the sprints. Also competing for Utah was four-year competitor Anna-Lena Heynen. Merete Myrseth looks to make her debut next weekend after battling illness in the opening weekend.

In women's alpine, Chloe Fausa had a pair of top-four finishes in the MSU Invite and RMISA qualifier giant slalom races. Roni Remme was second in the RMISA qualifier giant slalom and also placed sixth in the slalom for the MSU Invite. Julie Mohagen finished fifth in the slalom for her top finish of the weekend while newcomer Abby Ghent tied for 11th in the giant slalom for her best result. Lauren Samuels returned to action after missing most of the last two years with injury and Sabine Krautgasser hit the hill just days after arriving from Italy to join the Utes.

For the men, Sam Dupratt earned his first career victory in the men's giant slalom and placed third in the event in the RMISA qualifier. Endre Bjertness finished in the top 10 in all three races last weekend, including fourth in the giant slalom RMISA qualifier. Dominic Demshar had a pair of top-10 finishes in the giant slalom races with a top finish of seventh in the RMISA qualifier. Also notable for the Utes was Sasha Zaitsoff, who made his return to ski racing after sitting out the past two seasons following an injury, while Martin Grasic, Joergen Brath and Ty Sprock also competed for the Utes.