Skiing Opens 2020 Season in Colorado

Friday, January 10

Aspen, CO

All Day

University of Utah

Giant Slalom

1/6/2020 10:45 AM | Skiing

SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah ski team begins defense of its 2019 NCAA Championship on Friday, Jan. 10, as the collegiate season opens with an RMISA giant slalom qualifier in Aspen, Colo., before the alpine portion of the Denver Invitational begins on Saturday, Jan. 11.

RMISA qualifiers do not count towards any team scoring and are used as an extra opportunity for skiers to earn qualification points for the NCAA Championships at the end of the season. The Denver Invitational starts with the giant slalom on Saturday and follows with the slalom on Sunday. All three races will be held at Aspen Ski Resort.

The Nordic team begins competition on Jan. 18 at the Colorado Invitational.

Utah has won two of the last three NCAA Championships, with the last coming behind the leadership of veteran coach Fredrik Landstedt, who is in his second season as Director of Skiing.

Head Nordic coach Miles Havlick and head alpine coach JJ Johnson are also in their second season at Utah with assistant coach Mary Joyce joining the alpine team.

Alpine

Five-time All-American senior Roni Remme leads the women's field, balancing both an NCAA and World Cup schedule. She was the NCAA runner up in both the slalom and giant slalom last year. Remme finished seventh in the slalom in Killington earlier this season on the World Cup circuit.

Senior Eirin Engeset earned All-America honors in her first year last season with an eighth-place finish in the giant slalom at NCAA's. The first-team All-RMISA skier finished second in the league with six podium finishes and 11 top 10 finishes, including finishing second three times.

Sophomores Katie Vesterstein and Katie Parker both had solid results in their freshman seasons. Vesterstein had three top 10 finishes, with her season-best finish fourth in the slalom at New Mexico. Parker had her best finishes of the year in her final two races, placing ninth in the GS and 11^th in the slalom at the RMISA Championships.

Sophomore Sona Moravcikova transfers to Utah from New Mexico. She was second-team All-RMISA last season and just missed earning All-America honors after finishing 12^th in the slalom and 14^th in the GS at NCAA's. She had two podium finishes last year, including winning the second slalom at New Mexico. Freshman Mo Lebel, from Truckee, Calif., was the 2018 U.S. National Downhill Champion and finished third in the 2017-18 NorAm downhill standings.

For the men, junior Joachim Lien was second-team All-RMISA last year and finished tied for second in the league with four podium finishes, including three second-place finishes. He finished in the top 15 in both races at NCAA's last year.

Senior Addison Dvoracek, a 2017 All-American in the giant slalom, ranked second in the league last season with four victories, all in the GS. A three-time All-RMISA skier, he has seven career victories and 10 career podium finishes.

Junior Huston Phillip earned All-America honors in the giant slalom in 2018. He has 10 career top 10 finishes with a career-best finish of fifth in the Montana State RMISA giant slalom qualifier last season.

Junior Tomas Birkner had five top 20 finishes last year and competed at the FIS World Ski Championships. Senior Fredrik Maurstad has struggled with injuries during his Utah career, finishing in the top 15 twice last year.

Newcomer Gustav Vøllo placed fifth in the giant slalom at the 2018 FIS Junior World Ski Championships.

Nordic

On the women's side, the Utes return all five skiers from last season led by reigning 5-km freestyle champion Julia Richter and six-time All-American Guro Jordheim. Richter, who also finished second in the 15-km classic at NCAA's last season as a freshman, was the 2019 RMISA Female Nordic Athlete of the Year. She was second in the league with three wins last year and finished tied for second in the league with six podium finishes. Entering her fourth season at Utah, Jordheim was the 2018 RMISA Female Nordic Athlete of the Year and has 12 career race wins with 20 career podium finishes.

Juniors Karianne Moe and Mariah Bredal are also returning All-Americans while senior Leah Lange has also competed at NCAA's. Moe finished seventh in the 15-km classic at NCAA's last year and had two podium finishes with seven top 10 finishes last year. Bredal earned All-America honors in 2018 in the 5-km classic and has 15 career top 10 finishes. Lange has 11 career top 10 finishes.

For the men, junior Maximilian Bie was a two-time All-American in his first season last year, finishing third in the 20-km classic at NCAA's. He had two podium finishes and seven top 10 finishes last season. Junior Ola Jordheim also earned All-America honors in his inaugural campaign, finishing fifth in the 20-km classic at NCAA's. He had two podium and six top five finishes during the season with only one finish outside of the top 10 before NCAA's (a sprint race). Senior Logan Diekmann was first-team All-RMISA last year, finishing on the podium twice and his six top five finishes ranked third in the league.

Sophomore Noel Keeffe, who is also on the U.S. Development Team, competed in five races last year with his best finish ninth in the sprints at the UAA Invite. He finished 12^th in the sprint at the 2019 FIS Nordic Junior World Ski Championships. Junior Bjørn Riksaasen is a two-time second-team All-RMISA skier and has three career top five finishes.

Newcomers Luke Jager and Samuel Hendry also look to make noise for the Utes. Jager, a member of the U.S. Development Team, was on the 4x5-km relay team that finished first at the 2019 FIS Junior World Ski Championships and also placed 13^th in the 30-km classic. Hendry is a member of the Canadian Senior Development Team and won the 50-km classic at the 2019 Canadian National Championships. He also competed at the 2019 FIS Junior World Championships, finishing 20^th in the 30-km classic. Both have had impressive results in early FIS races for the Utes.