Completed Event: Skiing versus 20K Freestyle (M) on March 8, 2025 , , 1st
Final Score
Skiing
1st
vs 20K Freestyle (M)
Tuesday, January 25
Park City, Utah
All Day
University of Utah
vs
Slalom
Photo by: Nick Grace
Utes Clinch Utah Invitational in Park City
1/25/2022 5:03 PM | Skiing
Normannseth and Vesterstein log top-five slalom finishes on last day of meet
PARK CITY, Utah – Depth has been a common topic around the Utah ski team this season and its importance was evident on Tuesday, as the Utes clinched the Utah Invitational at Park City Mountain Resort following slalom racing.
With 648 points across the Utah Invitational's alpine and Nordic races, the Utes finished 86 points up on Colorado (562). Coming off of a 2021 season in which the Utes were undefeated in RMISA meets en route to the NCAA Championship, the squad has now won both completed meets of 2022 in Utah's home event as well as the Montana State Invitational.
Katie Vesterstein tallied a top-five slalom effort on the women's side, followed up by Kaja Norbye who missed the top-10 by just six-hundredths of a second, and Sona Moravcikova (14th). Norbye's second run time of 50.05 seconds was the fastest of the field.
Utah's Wilhelm Normannseth also tabbed fifth in the men's competition. Joachim Lien was ninth, and Gustav Vøllo rounded out the scoring for the men in 11th place.
"Slalom is a beast in its own," said assistant alpine coach Mary Joyce. "Today the surface was unbelievable, and that's all you can ask for in slalom. The men crushed it in their first run and it was great to watch. The girls had a couple fumbles here and there—having a couple people out was difficult, but that didn't stop them from crushing their second run. The guys had a couple mistakes on the second run after Bjorn and Oliver were first and fourth [in the first run]. Never easy, but that's why it's awesome to have such a deep team. Even when you have the top two after first run go out, you still know it'll be a solid day."
For Vesterstein, it was her seventh career top-five in slalom. Normannseth has placed in the top-five in all three of his slalom races this year, while it was Lien's best slalom finish of the year amidst continuing to battle back from injury.
While Tuesday wasn't a perfect day on paper for the Utes, looking back at the entirety of the meet the squad had solid performances across both the alpine and Nordic races. The latter were held in early January at Soldier Hollow during U.S. Nationals.
"It was a great meet," said director of skiing Fredrik Landstedt. "Everyone came together, and of course we had the lead after the Nordic races, and the alpine team held their own to keep increasing the lead. It was good to see. The depth is super important and that's what we want to build—a team where you have six or seven athletes who can score team points and help us win the meet, no matter who scores, no matter who finishes. For us to have athletes also going to the Olympics and World Championships, you need a full team of incredible athletes that can pick it up and get it done."
The Utes have now reached the halfway point of the regular season schedule. The Nordic squad returns to action on Tuesday and Wednesday, Feb. 1-2 at the Alaska Fairbanks Invitational, with alpine action resuming in mid-February at the Denver Invitational.
Follow Utah skiing on social media (@utahskiteam).
With 648 points across the Utah Invitational's alpine and Nordic races, the Utes finished 86 points up on Colorado (562). Coming off of a 2021 season in which the Utes were undefeated in RMISA meets en route to the NCAA Championship, the squad has now won both completed meets of 2022 in Utah's home event as well as the Montana State Invitational.
Katie Vesterstein tallied a top-five slalom effort on the women's side, followed up by Kaja Norbye who missed the top-10 by just six-hundredths of a second, and Sona Moravcikova (14th). Norbye's second run time of 50.05 seconds was the fastest of the field.
Utah's Wilhelm Normannseth also tabbed fifth in the men's competition. Joachim Lien was ninth, and Gustav Vøllo rounded out the scoring for the men in 11th place.
"Slalom is a beast in its own," said assistant alpine coach Mary Joyce. "Today the surface was unbelievable, and that's all you can ask for in slalom. The men crushed it in their first run and it was great to watch. The girls had a couple fumbles here and there—having a couple people out was difficult, but that didn't stop them from crushing their second run. The guys had a couple mistakes on the second run after Bjorn and Oliver were first and fourth [in the first run]. Never easy, but that's why it's awesome to have such a deep team. Even when you have the top two after first run go out, you still know it'll be a solid day."
For Vesterstein, it was her seventh career top-five in slalom. Normannseth has placed in the top-five in all three of his slalom races this year, while it was Lien's best slalom finish of the year amidst continuing to battle back from injury.
While Tuesday wasn't a perfect day on paper for the Utes, looking back at the entirety of the meet the squad had solid performances across both the alpine and Nordic races. The latter were held in early January at Soldier Hollow during U.S. Nationals.
"It was a great meet," said director of skiing Fredrik Landstedt. "Everyone came together, and of course we had the lead after the Nordic races, and the alpine team held their own to keep increasing the lead. It was good to see. The depth is super important and that's what we want to build—a team where you have six or seven athletes who can score team points and help us win the meet, no matter who scores, no matter who finishes. For us to have athletes also going to the Olympics and World Championships, you need a full team of incredible athletes that can pick it up and get it done."
The Utes have now reached the halfway point of the regular season schedule. The Nordic squad returns to action on Tuesday and Wednesday, Feb. 1-2 at the Alaska Fairbanks Invitational, with alpine action resuming in mid-February at the Denver Invitational.
Follow Utah skiing on social media (@utahskiteam).
Players Mentioned
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Alpine
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