March 09, 2017 (Jackson, NH) – The Nordic 5/10km Classic races got underway on Thursday at Jackson Ski Touring Center headlined by the University of Colorado’s Petra Hyncicova’s dominant first-place effort, as she topped the women’s 5k classic field. The Utes, led by individual winner Martin Bergström, had the top team score in the men’s 10k classic to take the overall series lead with 301.5 points with Denver second and Colorado third.

Women’s 5K Classic
Hyncicova was one of three Buffaloes to garner a spot on a women’s 5k classic All-America team. She completed the 5k classic course at Jackson Ski Touring Center in 14 minutes, 55.5 seconds, a mark that was nearly 20 seconds better than runner-up Merete Myrseth of Utah, who crossed the finish line in 15:14.2. The University of Vermont’s Alayna Sonnesyn also earned a spot on the podium with a third-place effort of 15:15.3.

That trio was joined on the All-America First Team by Colorado’s Christina Rolandsen and Utah’s Guro Jordheim. The Second Team is comprised of Vivian Hett (Northern Michi- gan), Krista Niiranen (New Mexico), Jesse Knori (Colorado), Lizzie Gill (New Hamp- shire) and Lauren Jortberg (Dartmouth).

The victory marked Hyncicova’s third career All-America effort, whereas Myrseth, a fresh- man, earned All-America status in her first career race at an NCAA Championships event. Sonnesyn improved 30 places from last year’s 33rd-place finish in the 2016 classic race.

There was a tight grouping from No. 7-11 in the individual results, as a mere 3.3 seconds separated those five skiers. Lauren Jortberg (Dartmouth College) covered the course in 15:44.2 for 10th place and a spot on the All-America Second Team. Anika Miller (Montana State) was timed in 15:44.5 to miss that accolade by three-tenths-of-a-second.

Results here

Men’s 10K Classic
Bergström, making his NCAA Championships debut as a freshman, turned in an even more dominating effort in the men’s 10k classic, where his winning time of 25:33.1 bested run- ner-up Dag Frode Trolleboe (Denver) by 26.8 seconds; Trolleboe crossed the finish line in 25:59.9. Martin Mikkelsen, another Utah Ute freshman, placed on the podium with a third- place mark of 26:25.7.

Petter Reistad (Colorado) and Moritz Madlener (Denver) also earned a spot on the All-America First Team with times of 26:29.3 and 26:36.7, respectively. The Second Team consists of Fredrik Schwencke (Northern Michigan), Adam Martin (Northern Michigan), Mads Stroem (Colorado), Ian Moore (Vermont), and Lars Hannah (Denver).

This marked the second consecutive year Trolleboe earned All-America recognition; he was on the classic Second Team in ‘16. Reistad skied to a spot on the All-America Second Team in both classic and freestyle last year as a freshman. Madlener has recorded six All-American performances in his career and this was his fifth First Team effort.

Schwencke made the All-America First Team as a freshman in ‘14 and sophomore in ‘15, when he was the classic individual champion. Martin, a fellow Wildcat, was a two-time All-American at last year’s NCAAs.

Stroem is now a seven-time All-American. He is a three-time individual champion, including both the classic and free races last year, as part of six First Team performances.

Hannah is an All-America Second Team honoree for the second time in as many years, though last year he earned the accolade in the freestyle competition.

Women’s Results here.
Men’s Results here.
Overall Results here.