Richter Earns First Career Win as Skiing Leads at UAA Invite

Monday, February 18

Anchorage, AK

All Day

University of Utah

Classic Sprints

Richter Earns First Career Win as Skiing Leads at UAA Invite

2/18/2019 7:08 PM | Skiing

2019 UAA Invite Day 2 Results

ANCHORAGE - Julia Richter won her first collegiate race and the Utah ski team jumped into the lead after the second day of the UAA Invitational in Alaska on Monday afternoon.

The Utah women were the top overall team with 94 points as Richter took the victory with Karianne Moe also making the finals and finishing fifth while Leah Lange placed seventh. Richter has back-to-back podium finishes while Moe earned her second top five finish of the season. Lange has six top 10 finishes this year. Mariah Bredal finished 13^th for the Utes.

"It was a fun sprint day and I am super happy with my first college win," Richter said. "The coaches did a great job with skis and support. I was really nervous before the final but I was prepared for a hard race. I knew that I am strong in the first uphill and my plan worked out very well and I led the whole race. Unfortunately no moose safari during the race today but we did have one show up at our door."

"Today's race was super fun," Moe said. "It was difficult conditions that changed throughout the day. I felt really strong through the qualifier, quarterfinal and semifinal. However, right before the start it started snowing a lot and my skis were grippy so I fell just 10 meters out of the start. I caught up to the second-to-last skier but had used too much energy and ended up last in the final."

In the men's race, Logan Diekmann finished fourth for his fifth top five finish of the year. Bjørn Riksaasen finished eighth for his third top 10 finish of the season while Noel Keeffe finished ninth for his best collegiate finish. Jacob Engström earned his best finish of the season with an 11^th-place run while Ola Jordheim finished 21st. The Ute men finished second overall in the race standings.

"I have been working hard to become a better distance skier since I joined the Utah ski team but I am probably still a better sprinter," Diekmann said. "Fourth today is among the top five races of my college skiing career and I am pumped heading into regionals. Getting to do a sprint on the college circuit only comes about once a year and it is always a blast. I think collegiate sprint racing is coming soon and I am excited for the day that sprinting gets integrated into the college race series!"

Utah holds a 16-point lead over Denver with 331 points. Colorado is also within 20 points with 312 points while New Mexico stands fourth and host Alaska Anchorage fifth. The races conclude the Nordic portion of the UAA Invitational with the next race the giant slalom in alpine on Feb. 22.

"We rarely get to participate in sprint racing since it is not an NCAA Championships event so it was cool to see everyone charging hard and skiing fast!" Utah head Nordic coach Miles Havlick said. "We were faced with some tough conditions out there today with new snow and temps hovering right around zero. Julia was strong through all the rounds today and held on for the W! Karianne also made it to the final but unfortunately took a spill at the start or else she would have been right in there fighting for the podium. On the men's side, Logan crushed the qualifier and seems to have found his form again from earlier this season. Noel was looking great in his quarter and semifinal until he broke a pole in the last 500 meters of the race. Bjørn also bounced back from a tough day yesterday with a solid top 10! All in all it was a great day for the Utes and we hope to carry this momentum into the RMISA Championships!"

"Great sprint race under crazy waxing conditions here at Kincaid," Utah Director of Skiing Fredrik Landstedt said. "Julia skied incredible and separated herself from the other college women in the final. Very happy for her first win. Karianne also skied great making the finals. Leah got a little tangled up in the semis but she was very strong today. Logan also had an awesome day for the men. Noel broke a pole in his semi or he most likely would have been in the final as well."

The Nordic teams take a day off and return to the track on Feb. 20 with the freestyle men's 10-km and women's 5-km freestyle races of the RMISA Championships/NCAA West Regional.