January 24, 2010 (Soldier Hollow, Utah) — Defending RMISA champion New Mexico was able to hold off surges from Nordic powers Denver and Colorado to officially win the first regular season meet of the 2010 season, the Utah Invitational. In the women’s 15k freestyle race, Denver’s Antje Maempel won her third race of the season out of four races in a time of 53:19.4, beating out Colorado’s Eliska Hajkova by just under 39 seconds (53.58.3). Hajkova won the classical race and has now finished second to Maempel three times this season. Colorado’s Alexa Turzian raced the course in 54:24.6 to earn a podium appearance while Denver’s Kate Dolan (56:24.9) and Nevada’s Maria Graefnings (57:06.7) round out the top five.

Denver edged out Colorado for the race win with 115 points to 111 for the Buffaloes. The top four finishers, with Denver earning a first and fourth place and the Buffs earning second and third, meant both teams top two skiers earned 91 points. Denver’s Mari Elden finished 16th and earned 24 points for Denver while CU’s Katie Stege finished 24th and earned 20 points for CU for the difference. CU’s Joanna Reid, who had two top 10 finishes in the Montana State Invitational, did not ski while competing at the FIS Nordic Junior World Championships in Germany starting Sunday.

In the men’s race, New Mexico finished with three of the top nine skiers to win the race and the Invitational. Although Martin Kaas finished third in 1:01:40.3, the first time he hasn’t won a race all season, teammates Pierre Niess (1:03:44.5) and Simon Reissmann (1:03:45.2) finished eighth and ninth, respectively.

Alaska Anchorage’s Michael Schllinger earned the win the race, crossing the finish line in 1:00:36.7, just 3.2 seconds ahead of Colorado’s Matt Gelso (1:00:39.2). After Kaas, Colorado’s Vegard Kjoelhamar (1:02:12.1) and Jesper Ostensen (1:03:38.3) round out the top five. Colorado won the race, racking up 127 points, while New Mexico was second with 112 points and Alaska Anchorage third in triple digits with 101 points.

Next up for RMISA squads will be the New Mexico Invitational, set for February 5-6 with alpine events taking place in Taos, N.M., and Nordic events slated for Red River, N.M. The final regular season meet will be February 19-20 with the Nevada Invitational. Colorado’s Eliska Hajkova and Vegard Kjoelhamar won the RMISA Skier of the Week award for their respective performances at Utah. Hajkova won the classical race and finished second in the freestyle, while Kjoelhamar finished fourth in both the classical and freestyle races. Skiers can only win once in a season. Hajkova and Maempel would have tied and it would have come down to adding the two’s times together to find a winner. Maempel would have edged out Hajkova, but she already won for her double win performance at Montana State.

Women’s 5km Classic Results here .
Men’s 10km Classic Results here.


Dartmouth Wins St. Michaels College Carnival
(Huntington, Vermont) – Yet again Dartmouth takes a carnival with the University of Vermont and the University of New Hampshire taking second and third respectively.

This was one of the days that makes ski racing a joy to watch. The sun was out, temperatures were warm, and smiles and laughter were plentiful. At the Nordic race conditions were fast and stable allowing Sleepy Hollow to give the racers some of the best race conditions they’ve seen this season.

At Sleepy Hollow Nordic Center the event de jour was the team 3×3 relay which featured each member of the three person teams completing three one kilometer loops, except that after each loop they tagged their team mate. The result was a delight to watch as each team strove to outdo the other. For the men, the race for first soon became a battle royale between Middlebury and Dartmouth. Yet in the end Middlebury’s team of Graham Egan, Chase Marston, and Douglas Debold gained a win with an overall time of 30 minutes and 51 seconds. Following in second was the Dartmouth trio of Patrick O’Brien, Gordon Vermeer, and Nils Koons who chalked up a time of 31 minutes and three seconds. Coming in third place was St. Lawrence’s group of Zachary Wetherell, Benjamin Knowles, and Eric Wolcott with a total time of 31 minutes and 19 seconds.

The Women proved no less exciting with Dartmouth’s Stephanie Crocker blasting to the lead right out of the start. Her teammates, Erika Flowers and Katie Bono, never looked back and continued to lengthen the gap until they posted a time of 37 minutes and 22 seconds. Middlebury accelerated their pace dramatically in the second half garnering second place. The team was composed of Lauren Fritz, Corinne Prevot, and Keely Levins and posted a time of 37 minutes and 51 seconds. Rounding out the top three was the University of Vermont’s trio of Caitlin Curran, Jane McClelland, and Jennie Bender who totaled 38 minutes and two seconds.

Total team results were as they were at the last carnival with Dartmouth trumping 855 points, the University of Vermont 784 points, and the University of New Hampshire 765 points. However, with Middlebury posting a 742 point total, second and third place shows increased potential to change up in the future. The University of Vermont Carnival will be in two weeks, held at the Trapp Family Lodge and Stowe Mountain in Vermont, to see if there is indeed any change up.

Men’s full results here.
Women’s full results here.