ANCHORAGE – Martin Bergström, Håkon Hjelstuen and Guro Jordheim all finished in the top five as the Utah ski team opened its season at the U.S. Cross Country Championships on Wednesday, Jan. 3.
 
The U.S. Cross Country Championship races are being held independent of a team meet and races will not be scored, but results will be used for NCAA qualification.
 
Bergström placed fourth in the men's race for his ninth career top-four finish at Utah while Hjelstuen, making his Utah debut, placed fifth. Logan Diekmann placed 16^th with newcomer Bjørn Riksaasen coming in 18^th.
 
In the women's race, Jordheim led the Utes with a fifth-place run for her eighth career top-five finish. Mariah Bredal finished 10^th in her NCAA debut. Leah Lange placed 18^th with Karianne Moe in 21^st.
 
"Alaska never seems to come up short on challenging race days, and today was no exception," Utah head Nordic coach Abi Holt said. "The morning opened with a wet, sleety precipitation for the women and then evolved into a full-on blizzard for the men's race. As a team, I think we had a decent performance today. With many new faces this year, I think we all felt a sigh of relief to just get the first RMISA race under our belt and to get the season going. Martin, Hakon, Guro, and Maria all had a solid start with top ten results, but I think that everyone on the team will be looking to move up in the standings as the season progresses. Now we are all looking ahead to Friday's freestyle sprint race, as well as the RMISA season ahead. It feels great to be racing again!"
 
In the overall race results, notable for the Utes was alumni Kevin Bolger, who finished 11th.
 
The Utes continue in Alaska on Friday, Jan. 5, for the men's and women's freestyle sprint races. Live results are available at http://my1.raceresult.com/88247/?lang=en with video at https://www.facebook.com/usskiandsnowboard/.