Photo by: Rich Clarkson and Associates
After a week of competition in Alaska, the ski team placed 3rd in the University of Alaska-Anchorage Invitational and 2nd in the Seawolf Invitational.
The alpine races were held at Alyeska Resort, Alaska, with the Nordic team at nearby Kincaid Park. According to Nordic head coach Dave Stewart, this meet was a challenge for a team that is accustomed to living, training and competing at high altitude; the skiers must adjust to the higher speed and shorter recovery time at sea level.
The University of Alaska-Anchorage Invitational began with the men’s and women’s Nordic races. The 5K classical was held on Saturday, Feb. 4, followed by the 10K freestyle race on Feb. 6. The Nordic team continued competition last Thursday and Friday in the Seawolf Invitational.
Junior Andrew Dougherty had a great performance in his home state with four top-10 finishes, including 5th place the first day, followed by consecutive finishes in 4th and 6th place the final day.
“Andrew has been very impressive this week,” said Stewart. “He has improved in nearly every race this season and has certainly shown that he’s among the top five in our region.”
Sophomore Trygve Markset placed 13th, 11th and 21st in the three races; freshman Jørgen Brevik was not far behind with back-to-back 14th-place finishes followed by an 18th and a season-high 10th place. Junior Kristian Soerlund came in 19th, 20th, 17th and 20th, and sophomore Conor Wallace also placed the first two days in 26th and 24th, and 26th again the in the final race.
On the women’s side, senior Kate Dolan, who was named the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Skiing Association’s Women’s Nordic Skier of the Week on Jan. 24, placed 10th, 17th, 19th and 7th.
Freshman Silije Wilsgård was just ahead of her the first day in 15th, placed 25th on Feb. 6, 11th on Thursday and recorded her best finish of the season on Friday, coming in 6th place.
“Silije had a breakthrough day,” said Stewart. “She skied with the lead group from start to finish. She also made a big jump in the NCAA qualifying rankings and is now in position to qualify for the West in the championship, which is huge for us.”
Junior Makayla Cappel came in 16th, 11th and 21st. Sophomore Katie Gill had a solid performance with places of 17th, 15th, 23rd and 22nd, as did fellow sophomores Jessica Jortberg and Elena Breed. Jortberg placed 23rd the first two days and 26th the third day, and Breed finished 26th the first two days, followed by places of 24th and 23rd.
The alpine team also had some great individual races. On Friday, freshman Espen Lysdahl scored the first collegiate 1st-place finish of the season for the Pioneers in the slalom, after placing 2nd in giant slalom race on Wednesday. He finished the meet on Saturday with a strong 2nd-place finish in the slalom.
Defending slalom national champion Sterling Grant also attained 1st place on the final day. She led the Pioneer women on Friday with a 3rd-place finish and came in 14th and 17th the other two days.
Freshman Luke Laidlaw finished 7th in in both the giant slalom and the slalom; Max Marno came in 9th, 7th and 18th. Devin Delaney also had three top-10 finishes in 7th, 6th and 5th place over the course of the invitational.
Sophomore Kitt Flowers squeezed into the top twenty in 16th and 15th. Fellow sophomore Charlie Reynolds placed 21st on Wednesday and followed just before Flowers on Friday. Senior A.J. Arvin finished 19th and 21st in his first collegiate races this year since recovering from a concussion. Freshman Mariaelena Rizzieri rounded out the Pioneer’s performance in 22nd and 24th place as well as season-high 9th-place finish in the slalom.
Due to the rainy and snowy conditions that caused the cancellation of one of the men’s races, the men’s slalom scores for Saturday were doubled to make up for the missed race.
“To have had so much success in four days of rain, snow and terrible conditions is really exciting,” said Alpine coach Andy LeRoy. “My biggest concern was to make it back with a completely healthy team, which we thankfully did.”
After the Nordic and alpine scores were combined, the Pioneers finished 3rd in the University of Alaska-Anchorage Invitational and 3rd in the Seawolf Invitational. Their next test will be regionals in Montana, beginning on Feb. 23 as they look forward to qualifying a team for the NCAA Championships in March.
