Lavén Leaves No Doubt in Classic Mass Start Victory

Sunday, January 25

Midway, Utah / Soldier Hollow Nordic Center

9 a.m.

University of Utah

15K Classic (M)

Photo by: Jackson Bilawa/Utah Athletics

Lavén Leaves No Doubt in Classic Mass Start Victory

1/25/2026 4:46 PM | Skiing

Results

Melbye takes top spot in men’s 15K classic, three women in top-five

MIDWAY, Utah – Erica Lavén and Mons Melbye both were individual winners for the second straight day as the Utah Ski Team wrapped up the Nordic portion of its home meet with 15K classic mass start races on Sunday at Soldier Hollow Nordic Center.

Utah also had top-five performances in the women's race from Ally Wheeler (fourth) and Sofia Pedersen (fifth) as the Utes totaled 100 points to win the women's classic race. For the overall meet, Utah heads into alpine events in second place (343) and trails only Colorado (369) for the lead.

"Overall, it was a very good weekend for us," said director of skiing Fredrik Landstedt. "I think everybody came out and raced with great performances and fought all out every day. As a team, we did great. We were missing a few people, so we were a little short. But I think it was a very good weekend and we've had a good start to the season so far."

Men's Race
Mons Melbye led the way for the second straight day and third time this season, clocking a 36:27.6 final time in the mass start. Max Kluck placed 15^th (38:01.0) and Lucas Wilmot took 25^th (39:41.1) to wrap up the lineup as Utah was a bit shorthanded on the men's side.

The Utah trio remained in a tight front pack after the first lap—all within four seconds of the race leader. Melbye pulled up to second place at the halfway point and was neck and neck with the leader, trailing by a tenth of a second.

He fell to third place going into the bell lap, but was still within 0.9 seconds at that point. Melbye would go on to race a final lap that took 8:48, vaulting him in front for the win with a pad of nearly eight seconds.

Women's Race
Erica Lavén hit the gas pedal on the second lap and never looked back, skiing to the top step of the podium with a time of 42 minutes on the nose.

Utah received an additional boost with three other women in the top-seven, including Ally Wheeler in fourth (43:39.6), Sofia Pedersen in fifth (43:58.8) and Witta Walcher taking seventh (44:16.4).

Lavén had trailers in close company after the first lap but had built up a lead of 33.2 seconds by the end of the second lap. Her second lap time of 10:37 set the stage for a third trip around the course that netted Lavén another 16 seconds of separation. By the time she turned toward the finish corral, the victory was assured as the native of Sweden secured a 54-second victory.

Next Up
Alpine teams now return to center stage across the RMISA as athletes head to Reno, Nevada, for a race series at Mount Rose Ski Tahoe. Two slalom competitions will take place on Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 31 and Feb. 1, before leading into GS races on Monday and Tuesday, Feb. 2-3. One race in each discipline will count toward the alpine-only Nevada Invitational and the others will serve as individual RMISA Qualifier events.

Nordic teams in the league will return to action on Saturday, Feb. 7, beginning that portion of the Denver Invitational.

The alpine portion of the Utah Invitational will take place from Feb. 22-24, with all races taking place at the Spencer F. Eccles Olympic Mountain Center at the Utah Olympic Park.

Follow the Utah Ski Team on social media @utahskiteam. Download the Utah 360 app here.