Completed Event: Skiing versus 20K Freestyle (M) on March 8, 2025 , , 1st
Final Score
Skiing
1st
vs 20K Freestyle (M)
Saturday, January 13
Midway, UT
All Day
University of Utah
vs
10K Classic
Joe Davies took a bow as he came into the finish line with the win in Saturday's 10k classic pursuit.
Photo by: Jackson Bilawa/Utah Athletics
Davies Wins, Bushey and Palmer-Leger Ski to Classic Pursuit Podium
1/13/2024 3:18 PM | Skiing
Utah Invitational concludes Nordic races with Utes in front by 93 points
MIDWAY, Utah – For the second straight day, the Utah Ski Team had an individual winner as Joe Davies took gold in the men's 10K classic, while Brian Bushey and Sydney Palmer-Leger each skied to the podium with silver to conclude the Nordic half of the Utah Invitational on Saturday at Soldier Hollow Nordic Center.
The Utes brought their team total to 382 points for the meet, leading the Utah Invitational entering the alpine races. Colorado is in second place with 289 points.
"It was another great day for us on our home course over at Soldier Hollow," said head Nordic coach Miles Havlick. "It was really fun to watch all the athletes duke it out in the pursuit today; both the men's and women's races were super fun to watch the action unfold. It was great to have so many Utah supporters out there cheering us on. We will take a few days to regroup before another training block and the next series of racing."
Saturday's events followed a pursuit start format, and while pursuits are a little less common at the college level the fans in attendance were treated to two outstanding races. It essentially means the start order was based on Friday's finishes, with the athletes' Saturday starts staggered however far behind the leader they finished on Friday.
For instance, Davies started Saturday's race 12 seconds after Bushey, the winner on Friday. Davies pushed forward to close the gap, as the pair held down the top two spots for much of the race. He then turned on the jets for the last lap, coming across the finish line with a winning combined time of 44:15.8. Bushey claimed second place (44:33.5), and for the second straight day Tom Mancini and Walker Hall went 6-7, separated at the finish line by less than three seconds. Mancini clocked a 45:09.9 and Hall finished the pursuit at 45:12.5.
"I made sure to go extra hard when I started, to try and catch up," Davies said post-race. "Everything was in my favor and the skis were working well. I love (the pursuit format). But it's very dependent on your starting position. For me tactically, I knew I was close enough to the front group that I would want to put in that initial hard effort."
Zachary Jayne was able to climb two spots from Friday's result, taking 11th on Saturday (46:05.9).
While Palmer-Leger was unable to catch Kendall Kramer of Alaska Fairbanks for the women's gold medal, she did hold down her second-place spot from Friday and posted a total time of 52 minutes on the dot. It placed her about 19 seconds ahead of Tilde Baangman for third place.
Karianne Dengerud moved up four spots to finish fourth in the pursuit (53:03.2) and Nina Schamberger rounded out the scoring for the Utes in eighth place (53:26.0). Witta Walcher also raced for Utah, contributing a top-20 finish (55:28.9) and up three places from Friday.
"I was pretty close to catching Kendall on the hills, and she kind of dropped me on the downhills," said Palmer-Leger. "That was a little frustrating, but I think it went well in terms of technique and staying relaxed. It's a fun race and it's fun racing here in Utah. This has been my home course since I was five years old. I'm proud of everyone who did really well too."
Next Up
The Nordic half of the Utah Invitational is now in the books, and alpine will now take center stage. The first week of the RMISA's alpine schedule includes competition at the Utah Olympic Park from January 17-20 in Park City, Utah. The schedule covers races as part of both the Westminster Invitational and Utah Invitational.
Westminster Invitational (Utah leads with 353 points after Nordic races)
Utah Invitational (Utah leads with 382 points after Nordic races)
Nordic competition resumes on Friday, February 2 with freestyle racing at the Colorado Invitational.
Follow the Utah Ski Team
Follow the Utes on social media (@utahskiteam).
The Utes brought their team total to 382 points for the meet, leading the Utah Invitational entering the alpine races. Colorado is in second place with 289 points.
"It was another great day for us on our home course over at Soldier Hollow," said head Nordic coach Miles Havlick. "It was really fun to watch all the athletes duke it out in the pursuit today; both the men's and women's races were super fun to watch the action unfold. It was great to have so many Utah supporters out there cheering us on. We will take a few days to regroup before another training block and the next series of racing."
Saturday's events followed a pursuit start format, and while pursuits are a little less common at the college level the fans in attendance were treated to two outstanding races. It essentially means the start order was based on Friday's finishes, with the athletes' Saturday starts staggered however far behind the leader they finished on Friday.
For instance, Davies started Saturday's race 12 seconds after Bushey, the winner on Friday. Davies pushed forward to close the gap, as the pair held down the top two spots for much of the race. He then turned on the jets for the last lap, coming across the finish line with a winning combined time of 44:15.8. Bushey claimed second place (44:33.5), and for the second straight day Tom Mancini and Walker Hall went 6-7, separated at the finish line by less than three seconds. Mancini clocked a 45:09.9 and Hall finished the pursuit at 45:12.5.
"I made sure to go extra hard when I started, to try and catch up," Davies said post-race. "Everything was in my favor and the skis were working well. I love (the pursuit format). But it's very dependent on your starting position. For me tactically, I knew I was close enough to the front group that I would want to put in that initial hard effort."
Zachary Jayne was able to climb two spots from Friday's result, taking 11th on Saturday (46:05.9).
While Palmer-Leger was unable to catch Kendall Kramer of Alaska Fairbanks for the women's gold medal, she did hold down her second-place spot from Friday and posted a total time of 52 minutes on the dot. It placed her about 19 seconds ahead of Tilde Baangman for third place.
Karianne Dengerud moved up four spots to finish fourth in the pursuit (53:03.2) and Nina Schamberger rounded out the scoring for the Utes in eighth place (53:26.0). Witta Walcher also raced for Utah, contributing a top-20 finish (55:28.9) and up three places from Friday.
"I was pretty close to catching Kendall on the hills, and she kind of dropped me on the downhills," said Palmer-Leger. "That was a little frustrating, but I think it went well in terms of technique and staying relaxed. It's a fun race and it's fun racing here in Utah. This has been my home course since I was five years old. I'm proud of everyone who did really well too."
Next Up
The Nordic half of the Utah Invitational is now in the books, and alpine will now take center stage. The first week of the RMISA's alpine schedule includes competition at the Utah Olympic Park from January 17-20 in Park City, Utah. The schedule covers races as part of both the Westminster Invitational and Utah Invitational.
Westminster Invitational (Utah leads with 353 points after Nordic races)
- Wednesday, January 17 – Giant Slalom
- Friday, January 19 - Slalom
Utah Invitational (Utah leads with 382 points after Nordic races)
- Thursday, January 18 – Giant Slalom
- Saturday, January 20 – Slalom
Nordic competition resumes on Friday, February 2 with freestyle racing at the Colorado Invitational.
Follow the Utah Ski Team
Follow the Utes on social media (@utahskiteam).
Players Mentioned
Nordic
/ Skiing
Nordic
/ Skiing
Nordic
/ Skiing
Nordic
/ Skiing
Nordic
/ Skiing
Nordic
/ Skiing
Nordic
/ Skiing
Nordic
/ Skiing
Nordic
/ SkiingSeven New Inductees to Join Utah Athletics Hall of Fame in October 2025
Monday, July 28
University of Utah Athletics - A Storied History
Friday, August 02
Last weekend, Sydney Palmer-Leger won the 7.5K freestyle earning her THIRD national title! 🏆 🏆 🏆
Wednesday, March 13
Utah Skiing National Championship 2023!!
Friday, May 26