January 18, 2010 (Bohart Ranch, Montana) – The Montana State Invitational continued on Sunday as New Mexico’s Martin Kaas won the men’s 15km Classic event in 42:34.01 followed closely by three Buffs with Matthew Gelso in second (42:57.01), Vegard Kjoelhamar third (43:04.84) and Jesper Ostensen in fourth (43:23.43). Alaska Anchorage’s Michael Schallinger rounded out the top 5, finishing in 44:04.57.

In women’s action, Denver’s Antje Maempel won the 10km race in 31:51.53, winning by over 30 seconds over Colorado’s Eliska Hajkova (32:24.06). Alaska Anchorage’s Laura Rombach finished third in 32:32.94, New Mexico’s Polina Ermoshina was fourth in 32:53.64, and Colorado’s Joanne Reid placed fifth in 33:47.18.

The women’s 5km Freestyle race on the following day was won by again by Denver’s Antje Maempel, finishing the 5km course in a time of 13:36.92. She was followed by Colorado’s Eliska Hajkova, who finished second to Maempel in both races this season as she crossed the line in 13:53.46. New Mexico’s Polina Ermoshina finished third (14:07.34), Nevada’s Maria Graefnings fourth (14:10.15) and Alaska Anchorage’s Laura Rombach was fifth (14:11.85).

Colorado won the race, racking up 113 points. Joanne Reid finished sixth and Alexa Turzian 11th for the Buffaloes, joining Hajkova in the point-scoring column. Denver was a close second with 110 points, including 50 points for Maempel for the victory. The Pioneers also has finishes of seven, Kate Dolan, and 15th, Mari Elden.

In the men’s 10km Freestyle, New Mexico’s Martin Kaas earned his second win of the season, as well, winning the 10k freestyle race in a time of 24:52.74, less than a second ahead of second place Vegard Kjoelhamar from Colorado (24.52.92). Alaska Anchorage’s Michael Schallinger finished third (25:12.49) with the Buffs’ Jesper Ostensen fourth (25:24.39) and Utah’s Miles Havlick rounding out the top five in 24:29.50.

Colorado won the race, scoring 123 points while New Mexico (101) and Utah (100) also hit triple digits. Colorado’s Matt Gelso finished seventh to give CU a 2-4-7 finish, while teammate Patrick Neel also finished ninth, but didn’t score team points. Utah had three top 11 finishers as Rolf Figi (10th) and Martin Liljemark (11th) helped the Utes reach triple digits for the race.

Men’s 15km / Women’s 10km Classic Results
here.
Men’s 10km / Women’s 5km Freestyle Results
here.
Overall Team Scores here.

Dartmouth takes the St. Lawrence Carnival
Lake Placid, NY: The Dartmouth women showed they are still in control of the Eastern Carnival circuit with a sweep of the top five in the women’s 5km Classic event held at Mt. Van Hoevenberg. The somen’s 5km Classic win went to Ida Sargent (in 15:10), followed up by teammates Rosie Brennan (15:26), and Katie Bono (14:49). Dartmouth also took the men’s 10km Classic first honors with Nils Koons (27:32) while University of Vermont’s Franz Bernstein (28:06) followed in second and University of New Hampshire’s Dylan McGuffin (28:07) took third place.

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

The following day were the mass start freestyle races. The men’s 20km skate Nordic race, held on the Olympic Biathlon course, was won by the University of New Hampshire’s Dylan McGuffin (54:58). McGuffin was followed by the Dartmouth duo of Patrick O’Brien (55:06) and Nils Koons (55:09). On the women’s side it was a repeat win for Dartmouth’s Ida Sargent (47:45), followed by the University of Vermont’s Caitlin Patterson (47:52), and Dartmouth’s Rosie Brennan (48:21) rounding out the top three.

Women’s 15km Freestyle, mass start results here.
Men’s 20km Freestyle, mass start results here.

Looking at the team results Dartmouth’s crushing Nordic performances more than outdid any lead won by the University of Vermont on the alpine side. The final tally was Dartmouth with 957 points, the University of Vermont with 849 points, and the University of New Hampshire with 828 points.

Overall Team Scores here.

Next weekend the Eastern Carnival circuit heads to St. Michaels College, with the Nordic events held at Sleepy Hollow Nordic Center.

With files from RMISASkiing and EISASkiing.