Saturday, February 3
Steamboat Springs, CO
All Day
University of Utah
vs
20K Classic
Photo by: Hunter Dyke/Utah Athletics
Parazette Wins Slalom to Close Colorado Invitational; Norbye Takes Bronze
2/3/2024 9:13 PM | Skiing
Utes finish third in team standings after slalom and classic races wrap up the meet
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. – Oliver Parazette of the Utah Ski Team notched his first collegiate win with a top performance in men's slalom, highlighting a packed day of both slalom and 20K classic races for the Utes to wrap up the Colorado Invitational on a snowy Saturday at Howelsen Hill.
Utah, which was shorthanded this weekend on the Nordic side, finished the meet third in the team standings with 586.5 points; the host Buffaloes won the meet with 671.5 points and Denver was the runner-up (635). The Utes are currently without five Nordic athletes who are competing at the FIS Nordic Junior World and U-23 Championships.
Kaja Norbye skied to Saturday's women's slalom podium with a third-place individual result, while the Utes were led in the 20K classic races by a pair of fourth-place individual results. Sydney Palmer-Leger clocked a mass start time of 1:08:05, while Tom Mancini was the top men's finisher for the team (1:00:40.6).
Alpine – Parazette Inks First Collegiate Win in Slalom
Parazette won the opening run and hung on in the second run, the latter taking place under the lights. He tallied a total time of 1:20.22 for his first collegiate victory. Utah had two more top-nine scorers in the men's slalom, including Mikkel Solbakken (4th; 1:21.55) and Raphael Lessard (9th; 1:22.21).
In addition to Norbye's bronze (1:28.01), the Utes scored a fifth-place result from Michelle Kervén (1:28.79) and a top-10 by Melanie Dahlberg (1:29.65). It is Kervén's highest finish of the season.
Lessard had a nice climb in the men's night run after sitting 16th at the break; his second run time of 38.38 seconds ranked fourth for that part of the event. Sindre Myklebust and Gustav Vøllo also shot up the results board late; Myklebust won the nightcap and Vøllo had a top-three run to cap off the race. It vaulted Vøllo from 25th to 15th and Myklebust moved 11 spots from 27th all the way to 16th.
Nordic – Mancini, Palmer-Leger and Dengerud All Top-Five in 20K Classic
Combined with temperatures in the mid-30s, the snowy conditions made for tricky waxing but the Utes nevertheless battled through to total three top-five finishes.
Mancini was ever-so-close to his second podium of the season, placing fourth (1:00:40.6) and a little more than a second behind Colorado's Will Koch for bronze. The women's mass start saw Palmer-Leger (1:08:05.0) and Karianne Dengerud (1:08:36.9) take the Nos. 4-5 spots. It puts Palmer-Leger at 7-for-7 this season with top-five finishes, while it was Dengerud's fifth top-five result of 2024.
Witta Walcher continues to make strides heading into the second half of her freshman year, placing 12th (1:10:31.1). Max Kluck rounded out the scoring for the Utes, placing 26th in the men's race (1:06:08.5).
Next Up
Sunday is an off day on the RMISA schedule and alpine teams will remain in-state to begin the Denver Invitational. The alpine portion of the meet will consist of a pair of slaloms on Monday and Tuesday, Feb. 5-6 at Loveland Ski Area in Dillon, Colorado.
Nordic races in the meet begins next Friday, Feb. 9, with a 10K classic at Maloit Park in Minturn, Colorado.
Follow the Utah Ski Team
Follow the Utes on social media (@utahskiteam).
Utah, which was shorthanded this weekend on the Nordic side, finished the meet third in the team standings with 586.5 points; the host Buffaloes won the meet with 671.5 points and Denver was the runner-up (635). The Utes are currently without five Nordic athletes who are competing at the FIS Nordic Junior World and U-23 Championships.
Kaja Norbye skied to Saturday's women's slalom podium with a third-place individual result, while the Utes were led in the 20K classic races by a pair of fourth-place individual results. Sydney Palmer-Leger clocked a mass start time of 1:08:05, while Tom Mancini was the top men's finisher for the team (1:00:40.6).
Alpine – Parazette Inks First Collegiate Win in Slalom
Parazette won the opening run and hung on in the second run, the latter taking place under the lights. He tallied a total time of 1:20.22 for his first collegiate victory. Utah had two more top-nine scorers in the men's slalom, including Mikkel Solbakken (4th; 1:21.55) and Raphael Lessard (9th; 1:22.21).
In addition to Norbye's bronze (1:28.01), the Utes scored a fifth-place result from Michelle Kervén (1:28.79) and a top-10 by Melanie Dahlberg (1:29.65). It is Kervén's highest finish of the season.
Lessard had a nice climb in the men's night run after sitting 16th at the break; his second run time of 38.38 seconds ranked fourth for that part of the event. Sindre Myklebust and Gustav Vøllo also shot up the results board late; Myklebust won the nightcap and Vøllo had a top-three run to cap off the race. It vaulted Vøllo from 25th to 15th and Myklebust moved 11 spots from 27th all the way to 16th.
Nordic – Mancini, Palmer-Leger and Dengerud All Top-Five in 20K Classic
Combined with temperatures in the mid-30s, the snowy conditions made for tricky waxing but the Utes nevertheless battled through to total three top-five finishes.
Mancini was ever-so-close to his second podium of the season, placing fourth (1:00:40.6) and a little more than a second behind Colorado's Will Koch for bronze. The women's mass start saw Palmer-Leger (1:08:05.0) and Karianne Dengerud (1:08:36.9) take the Nos. 4-5 spots. It puts Palmer-Leger at 7-for-7 this season with top-five finishes, while it was Dengerud's fifth top-five result of 2024.
Witta Walcher continues to make strides heading into the second half of her freshman year, placing 12th (1:10:31.1). Max Kluck rounded out the scoring for the Utes, placing 26th in the men's race (1:06:08.5).
Next Up
Sunday is an off day on the RMISA schedule and alpine teams will remain in-state to begin the Denver Invitational. The alpine portion of the meet will consist of a pair of slaloms on Monday and Tuesday, Feb. 5-6 at Loveland Ski Area in Dillon, Colorado.
Nordic races in the meet begins next Friday, Feb. 9, with a 10K classic at Maloit Park in Minturn, Colorado.
Follow the Utah Ski Team
Follow the Utes on social media (@utahskiteam).
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