Lange Wins to Lead Skiing at RMISA Qualifier

Saturday, February 8

Aspen, CO

All Day

University of Utah

5/10K Freestyle (I)

Photo by: Steve C. Wilson

2/8/2020 2:33 PM | Skiing

2020 Aspen Freestyle RMISA Qualifier Results

ASPEN - Leah Lange earned her first career victory and all five Utah women finished in the top six while Logan Diekmann finished third to lead the men as the Utah Nordic ski team competed in an RMISA qualifier freestyle race in Aspen, Colo.

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.

Lange's previous best finish was second, which she had done twice, including earlier this year in the 15-km classic at the Colorado Invitational.

"So excited to get my first college win!" Lange said. "All the girls absolutely destroyed, so fun to have all five in the top six. It was a perfect day in Aspen with sun and a hard course, such a cool day!"

Also in the women's 5-km race, Guro Jordheim finished second for the first time this year after winning the previous four races. She has a total of 25 career podium finishes. Julia Richter finished fourth in her first race at full strength for her best finish of the season. Karianne Moe finished fifth for her second top five of the year while Mariah Bredal placed sixth, putting her in the top seven for all five races this season.

In the men's 10-km race, Diekmann earned his first podium of the season and third of his career. He has finished in the top six in every race this year. Bjørn Riksaasen finished seventh for his best finish of the year and second top 10. Ola Jordheim continued his string of top-10 finishes with a ninth-place run while Maximilian Bie finished 10^th on the day.

"Today was a good day!" Diekmann said. "The snow set up nicely after yesterday's storm making the conditions hard and fast. It was also super sunny which is always nice. Ola started 30 seconds ahead of me and I was able to catch up and work with him for the second lap of the race. I ended up falling about 1.5-km from the finish but am very happy that I was able to get back up and push hard enough to hold onto third place."

"It was an unbelievable day for our women's team," head Nordic coach Miles Havlick said. "It really seemed like they were skiing on another level than the rest of the field today. Amazing race from Leah today reaching the top step of the podium, it's been a long time coming! We missed the skis slightly for the men today but Logan was still able to land on the podium despite a fall as well. The times were super tight in the men's field with a few seconds separating several spots on the result sheet. All in all, a really great day. We are gearing up for the 21-km Owl Creek Chase from Snowmass to Aspen tomorrow. Some new snow and warm temperatures will certainly make things interesting!"

"Super fun day here in Aspen," Director of Skiing Fredrik Landstedt said. "Some incredible skiing under sunny skies and temperatures in the 30's. Placing four men in the top 10 without having Luke [Jager] and Sam [Hendry] here is just amazing. Fun for Logan to make the podium. Leah's win was something we have been waiting for and she led the race all the way. Just incredible to have five women in the top six and the only other skier breaking up our team is a World Cup skier from Finland who joined the Denver team this spring. Looking forward to another fun day tomorrow."

The Utes continue in Aspen with the 21-km classic Owl Creek Chase on Sunday, Feb. 9.