February 20, 2010 (Truckee, CA) – University of Denver women’s Nordic skier, Antje Maempel (Stützerbach, Germany) won her fourth race of the season on Friday, capturing the 5km classic and helped to put the Pioneers in third place after the first day of the Nevada Invitational. Maempel beat New Mexico’s Polina Ermoshina by just 3.1 seconds. Colorado earned key points with Eliska Hajkova’s 3rd place. On home snow, Nevada’s Maria Graefnings and Kristin Ronnestrand rounded out the top 5.

The winner of the men’s 10km classic was Matthew Gelso of CU.  He and teammates Jesper Oestensen (2nd) and Begard Kjoelhamar (5th) were the other key players in Colorado’s Nordic dominance. Michael Schallinger, of UAA was the 3rd man on the podium, 35.1 seconds behind Gelso, and Pierre Niess of  New Mexico was 4th. The teams conclude the Nevada Invitational with the freestyle events.

With files from University of Denver  and University of Nevada.

Complete Day 1 results here.

Results (brief)

Women’s 5km Classic

1.         Antje Maempel (DU) 13:27.9

2.         Polina Ermoshina (UNM) 13:31.0

3.         Eliska Hajkova (CU) 13:52.7

4.         Maria Graefnings (NEV) 13:53.6

5.         Kristin Ronnestrand (NEV) 14:12.0

Men’s 10km Classic

1.         Matthew Gelso (CU) 23:24.9

2.         Jesper Oestensen (CU) 23:37.0

3.         Michael Schallinger (UAA) 24:00.7

4.         Pierre Niess (UNM) 24:01.9

5.         Vegard Kjoelhamar (CU) 24:05.2

Team Scores (Nordic, Day 1)

1.         Colorado, 226

2.         Denver, 204

3.         New Mexico, 194

4.         UAlaska-Anchorage, 171

5.         Utah, 171

6.         Montana State, 167

7.         Nevada, 150