Completed Event: Skiing versus 20K Freestyle (M) on March 8, 2025 , , 1st
Final Score
Skiing
1st
vs 20K Freestyle (M)
Thursday, January 4
Midway, UT
All Day
University of Utah
vs
Freestyle Sprints
Photo by: Hunter Dyke/Utah Athletics
Dengerud Wins Women’s Freestyle Sprints at Soldier Hollow
1/4/2024 5:27 PM | Skiing
First collegiate victory put Dengerud atop both the college and U.S. Nationals podiums
MIDWAY, Utah – Utah's Karianne Dengerud won a thrilling freestyle sprints final with a time of 3:52.00 to clinch her first collegiate win as well as the overall U.S. Nationals race victory, as the Utah Ski Team continued competition at Soldier Hollow Nordic Center on Thursday.
As with Tuesday's 10K classic races, today's men's and women's freestyle sprints were part of the Westminster Invitational, with collegiate results pulled from the larger U.S. Cross Country National Championships field. Utah remains in the lead for the Westminster Invitational, now with 353 team points after two days of racing—44 points ahead of second-place Denver.
"Sprint days are typically pretty tough," said head Nordic coach Miles Havlick. "There's a lot of strategy, tactics and a lot of luck that comes with them. Overall, it was a successful day; it's pretty rare that you get a top spot on the podium at the U.S. Championships. Karianne Dengerud's win was definitely a highlight. But I'm really looking forward to the mass start day tomorrow. I think we'll have a strong showing there as well."
Sydney Palmer-Leger and Nina Schamberger also scored for Utah in the women's collegiate race, placing fifth and seventh, respectively. For her performance, Schamberger also stood second on the U.S. Nationals junior podium.
"This was a great day for a lot of us," said Dengerud. "I noticed pretty early on that I felt good and had good tactics going on. I tried to keep that through all the heats and not change it too much. That seemed to work really well. We had the alpine team on the course cheering for us as well. They created a great atmosphere for us. It was a good day overall and a really fun day as well."
All of Utah's scoring in the men's race came in the top-nine. Making his season debut, Tom Mancini led the way with a fourth-place effort, Walker Hall took eighth and Joe Davies placed ninth.
The format of a sprint race begins with qualifying, with the top 30 men and top 30 women advancing into respective quarterfinal heats. From there, the top two finishers in each heat move onto the next round, along with two "lucky losers" (the two next best times from any heat). Dengerud was second in the qualifier, before winning her heats in the quarterfinals (3:47.64), semifinals (3:49.71) and finals as light snow flurries began to fall mid-afternoon.
Palmer-Leger placed 17th in the qualifier, fifth in the collegiate field and Schamberger was top-20 in qualifying to advance into the quarterfinal round.
In men's action, Mancini placed 15th overall in the morning qualifying, then won his quarterfinal heat (3:13.50) in what was an extremely tight finish. The top-three times in his heat were separated by just 24-hundredths of a second. He placed fourth in a competitive semifinal (3:15.59) but was outside the window to advance as a lucky loser.
Havlick added, "These days are much longer than distance race days. Managing energy is always a challenge. But a lot of the athletes are well-experienced with these competitions over the years. They teach each other things and learn from each other."
Next Up
While not part of the RMISA schedule, several Utes will be racing at Soldier Hollow on Friday, January 5 in freestyle mass starts beginning at 9 a.m. These races are part of the U.S. Cross Country National Championships.
The RMISA schedule resumes this Sunday, January 7 with classic sprints. Action begins at 9 a.m. with qualification at Soldier Hollow Nordic Center. Sunday's event is not part of an RMISA meet so no team scores will be kept, but individual results will count toward qualification for the 2024 NCAA Championships which are scheduled for March 6-9 in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.
Follow the Utah Ski Team
Follow the Utes on social media (@utahskiteam).
As with Tuesday's 10K classic races, today's men's and women's freestyle sprints were part of the Westminster Invitational, with collegiate results pulled from the larger U.S. Cross Country National Championships field. Utah remains in the lead for the Westminster Invitational, now with 353 team points after two days of racing—44 points ahead of second-place Denver.
"Sprint days are typically pretty tough," said head Nordic coach Miles Havlick. "There's a lot of strategy, tactics and a lot of luck that comes with them. Overall, it was a successful day; it's pretty rare that you get a top spot on the podium at the U.S. Championships. Karianne Dengerud's win was definitely a highlight. But I'm really looking forward to the mass start day tomorrow. I think we'll have a strong showing there as well."
Sydney Palmer-Leger and Nina Schamberger also scored for Utah in the women's collegiate race, placing fifth and seventh, respectively. For her performance, Schamberger also stood second on the U.S. Nationals junior podium.
"This was a great day for a lot of us," said Dengerud. "I noticed pretty early on that I felt good and had good tactics going on. I tried to keep that through all the heats and not change it too much. That seemed to work really well. We had the alpine team on the course cheering for us as well. They created a great atmosphere for us. It was a good day overall and a really fun day as well."
All of Utah's scoring in the men's race came in the top-nine. Making his season debut, Tom Mancini led the way with a fourth-place effort, Walker Hall took eighth and Joe Davies placed ninth.
The format of a sprint race begins with qualifying, with the top 30 men and top 30 women advancing into respective quarterfinal heats. From there, the top two finishers in each heat move onto the next round, along with two "lucky losers" (the two next best times from any heat). Dengerud was second in the qualifier, before winning her heats in the quarterfinals (3:47.64), semifinals (3:49.71) and finals as light snow flurries began to fall mid-afternoon.
Palmer-Leger placed 17th in the qualifier, fifth in the collegiate field and Schamberger was top-20 in qualifying to advance into the quarterfinal round.
In men's action, Mancini placed 15th overall in the morning qualifying, then won his quarterfinal heat (3:13.50) in what was an extremely tight finish. The top-three times in his heat were separated by just 24-hundredths of a second. He placed fourth in a competitive semifinal (3:15.59) but was outside the window to advance as a lucky loser.
Havlick added, "These days are much longer than distance race days. Managing energy is always a challenge. But a lot of the athletes are well-experienced with these competitions over the years. They teach each other things and learn from each other."
Next Up
While not part of the RMISA schedule, several Utes will be racing at Soldier Hollow on Friday, January 5 in freestyle mass starts beginning at 9 a.m. These races are part of the U.S. Cross Country National Championships.
The RMISA schedule resumes this Sunday, January 7 with classic sprints. Action begins at 9 a.m. with qualification at Soldier Hollow Nordic Center. Sunday's event is not part of an RMISA meet so no team scores will be kept, but individual results will count toward qualification for the 2024 NCAA Championships which are scheduled for March 6-9 in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.
Follow the Utah Ski Team
Follow the Utes on social media (@utahskiteam).
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