Norbye Tabs Third in DU Invitational’s Giant Slalom

Friday, February 18

Copper Mountain, Colo.

All Day

University of Utah

Giant Slalom

January 24, 2022, Salt Lake City, UT:The University of Utah Utes Ski team competes at the Utah Invitational at the Park City Mountain Resort in Park City, Utah on Monday, January 24, 2022. (Photo by Nick Grace/University of Utah)

Photo by: Nick Grace

Norbye Tabs Third in DU Invitational’s Giant Slalom

2/18/2022 5:31 PM | Skiing

Results

Utah leads team standings to open alpine-only meet

COPPER MOUNTAIN, Colo. – For the second straight day Utah's Kaja Norbye hit the giant slalom podium with a third-place finish, highlighting the Utes' first day at the Denver Invitational held Friday at Copper Mountain.

After GS racing, Utah leads the team standings with 159 points and is up nine points on Colorado and Westminster, each tied for second with 150 points. The Denver Invitational, an alpine-only meet, will conclude on Monday, Feb. 21 with the slalom at Keystone Resort.

"It's been nice to have the team coming back," said head alpine coach JJ Johnson. "Katie Parker and Katie Vesterstein are back from the Olympics. The skiing has been good and training has been good. Katie Parker is getting more and more energy back after her travel from the Olympics. It's kind of the same old adage with our depth. You're never quite sure who the top-three are going to be every day. It was another solid team effort all around to start off the DU Invite."

In Friday's women's GS Sona Moravcikova had a fifth-place effort and Katie Vesterstein landed in the No. 9 spot. Katie Parker was 11^th on the day and Michelle Kervén tabbed 20^th. Norbye's first run of the day (50.32 seconds) was second-fastest in the field, and Parker clocked a 51.10-second run to open the day, fifth-fastest.

Moravcikova won the second run to finish in the top-five for the third time this season, a nice climb back after she finished 15th in the opening run. Norbye now owns three podiums this season, all in giant slalom. Vesterstein climbed into the top-10 in a giant slalom race for the first time in her collegiate career.

For the men, Gustav Vøllo was the leading Ute in sixth place, right ahead of Joachim Lien in seventh. Wilhelm Normannseth, who tied with Vøllo in seventh during Thursday's GS, took ninth on Friday. Bjorn Brudevoll took 14^th.

Vøllo has been in the top-10 in all but one of his 14 career giant slalom finishes.

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