February 27, 2012 (Bozeman, Mont.) —In continuing with the season’s trend, the top-ranked Utah ski team won the 2012 Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association Championship, compiling an impressive 932 points in claiming the victory by 59.5 points over the Colorado Buffaloes.

Utah earned race victories in both alpine events for the second straight day and for the first time since the scoring system changed in 2010, the Utes compiled at least 100 points in all eight races.  Their 932 points is the second highest point total under the current system and the most at the RMISA Championships.

As the alpine teams worked their way through two runs throughout the day, the men’s Nordic teams got the day started with the 20K classical race.  With no snow at the start of the race, by the end of the first 5K loop, snow started to fall and by the end of the race a good two to three inches of new snow was on the ground.  Colorado’s Rune Oedegaard and Utah’s Maria Graefnings both earned RMISA sweeps of the freestyle and classic races.

Oedegaard won with a time of one hour, 2 minutes and 3.0 seconds to win his fifth race of the season and third straight race.  He beat out Montana State’s David Norris by just 2.3 seconds (1:02:05.3) while Utah then went 3-4 with Didrik Smith (1:02:06.2) knocking RMISA Men’s Nordic MVP Miles Havlick (1:02:06.5) off the podium for the first time this season by just three tenths of a second.  Denver’s Trygve Markset rounded out the top five in a time of 1:02:21.2.

Colorado won the extremely close race with 116 points to Utah’s 112 and Montana State’s 109.  Denver was fourth with 93 points in the race.

With as much as a half foot of new snow on the ground since the start of the day, Graefnings earned her second straight half-minute victory.  After Graefnings and Colorado’s Eliska Hajkova let other skiers take turns at the lead throughout the first 10K of the 15K race, at the start of the third lap Denver’s Kate Dolan was leading with Graefnings and Hajkova on her tail.  Graefnings then made a move and Hajkova went with her.

By the end of the final lap, Graefnings had built a 34.9 second lead over Hajkova, who in turn built a 1:16.8 lead on the rest of the field.  Graefnings time of 1:01:17.5 topped Hajkova’s of 1:01:52.4 while Dolan held on for third in 1:03:05.2  New Mexico’s Linn Klaesson took fourth in 1:03:15.8 while the story of the day may have been Colorado’s Mary Rose, who took fifth in 1:03:20.2.

Rose was six points out of the final RMISA Qualification spot for NCAA Championships and needed at least a top eight victory for a chance at keeping her season alive and for the defending NCAA Champions to qualify a full team.  Rose finished fifth and captured the final spot by 2 points.  Meaning if she had finished seventh, she would not have qualified.  Rose beat out a pair of Montana State skiers to take fifth by a combined 16.3 seconds, thus she was less than 17 seconds over a 15K race with a length over an hour away from not qualifying.

Colorado won the race with 116 points while Utah (106) and the host Montana State Bobcats (101) both hitting triple digits.  Denver just missed with 98 points while New Mexico compiled 92.

The alpine side saw the Utes dominate for the second straight day, winning the women’s race and coming in second behind an impressive New Mexico performance in the men’s race.

New Mexico’s Christopher Acosta earned his first collegiate race victory with a time of 1:55.41, beating out Denver’s Charlie Reynolds (1:55.59).  Utah’s Torjus Krodgahl took third in 1:55.91 with Colorado’s Adam Zika (1:55.97) and New Mexico’s Michael Bransmer (1:56.18) rounding out the top five.

The Lobos won the race with 124 points while Utah was second with 111.  Colorado was third with 95 points, 17 ahead of the rest of the field.

The Utes Anna Kocken won the race as UU put two skiers on the podium.  Kocken won in a time of 1:37.50 while New Mexico’s Stefanie Demetz (1:37.65) beat out the Utes Julie Bordeau by just four hundredths of a second (1:37.69).  Colorado rounded out the top five with Carolina Nordh (1:38.15) taking fourth and Erika Ghent (1:38.70) fifth.

Utah won the race with 119 points, just six ahead of Colorado’s total of 113 while New Mexico and Montana State both secured 96 points.

Utah secured the alpine portion of the meet, racking up 496 points while New Mexico (412.5) and Colorado (400.5) managed the 400-point plateau.  On the Nordic side, Colorado won racking up 462 points and topped the Utes by 26 points (436) and the host Bobcats by 34 (428).

Both the Utes and Buffaloes along with Alaska Anchorage qualified a full 12-skier team, joining both Vermont and Dartmouth from the east accomplishing the feat.  Montana State and New Mexico will be one skier short with 11 and Denver will have 10 skiers competing at the NCAA Championships.

NCAA Championships begin Wednesday, March 7 with the freestyle races on the Nordic side. Thursday will be the giant slalom races with Friday’s classical races closing out the Nordic action and Saturday’s slalom action completing the NCAA Championships and 2012 season.

Full results HERE.