Engel, Lien, Engeset Podium in Slalom as Skiing Wins UAA Invite

Saturday, February 23

Girdwood, AK

All Day

University of Utah

Slalom

Engel, Lien, Engeset Podium in Slalom as Skiing Wins UAA Invite

2/23/2019 8:06 PM | Skiing

2019 UAA Invite Results FINAL

GIRDWOOD, Alaska – Three Utes finished on the podium in the slalom as the Utah ski team closed out the team win in the UAA Invite on Saturday afternoon.

The Utes were the top scoring team in men's slalom with Mark Engel and Joachim Lien both tying for second and Addison Dvoracek finishing eighth for 94 team points. It was Engel's third podium of the year and Lien's fourth. Ty Sprock finished 14^th with Linus Walch 16^th and Huston Philp 28^th. Tomas Birkner did not finish his first run.

"JJ told me yesterday that nobody remembers second place, so it was time to step up the game," Lien said. "It was a solid first run, and it was fun skiing last in the second run to fight for the win. Unfortunately it was one mistake that killed some speed going into the flat. My third second place in three days up here in Alaska. It was fun sharing it with my teammate and senior Mark, who made an awesome song for his senior speech yesterday. Now I'm looking forward to tomorrow's race and the last one for our seniors. We have such a good team this year - on and off the hill!"

"Today was fun!" Engel said. "I am proud to be part of such a strong team. It was a fight in both runs, congrats to [Denver's Simon] Fournier for the win!"

In the women's race, Eirin Engeset finished on the podium for the sixth time this season. Katie Vesterstein finished ninth for her third top 10 finish of the year. Katie Parker placed 15^th for the Utes. Julie Mohagen did not start her second run. The women had the second-highest team score on the day.

"It's my first podium in slalom this season, so I'm really happy about it," Engeset said. "I feel like I'm improving my slalom skiing and getting closer to where I want to be. The guys also did an excellent job today, awesome team effort! Huge thanks to the coaches and course crew for making a great race."

The Utes won with 638 points over Denver (598.5) and Colorado (585).

"The team has really come together over the past two weeks," head alpine coach JJ Johnson said. "We have put a ton of effort into doing the work needed to perform on any stage. They have bought in and are having fun with the process. Being around them you can tell how much of a family this group is and how far they will go to help one another!"

The teams have one more day of racing with the slalom races to decide the RMISA Championship on Sunday.