The DU men’s and women’s ski teams collectively finished second overall at the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association (RMISA) Championships on Feb. 24-26. As the hosts of the event, Denver participated in the nordic competitions at Maloit Park in Minturn, Colorado, as well as the alpine competitions at Beaver Creek Resort in Beaver Creek, Colorado.
In the first day of events, the DU Alpine team finished in second place with a score of 152.5. Both the men’s and women’s teams competed in the Giant Slalom, a run in which competitors weave around sets of poles on the mountain.
Three Denver women placed inside the top-10 of their 30-person field, including freshman Storm Klomhaus’s (Boulder, Colorado) third-place time of 1:48.74. Sophomore Tuva Norbye (Oslo, Norway) finished sixth with a time of 1:49.01, followed closely by fellow classmate Kristine Fausa Aasberg’s (Baerum, Norway) seventh-place time of 1:49.05.
The men’s Alpine team placed fifth out of six teams in the event, as junior Erik Read (Calgary, Alberta) was the only member to place inside the top-10, posting a time of 1:45.45.
The Alpine team concluded competition on the second day of events, competing in the Slalom. Denver amassed 149 points in the event between the men’s and women’s sides.
Another spectacular performance from Norbye saw her take fourth place with a time of 2:03.45 in the Slalom. Freshman Andrea Komsic (Zagreb, Croatia) finished right behind her teammate, placing fifth after posting 2:03.46. Their performances helped DU take first place in the event for the women’s side.
Read and senior Alex Leever (Vail, Colorado) finished sixth and seventh, respectively, to finish out the competition for the men’s Alpine team.
The Nordic team saw its first action on day two, participating in the Classic 5k and 10k. The women finished third in the 5k, while the men placed first in the 10k.
Junior Linn Eriksen (Oslo, Norway) placed fourth in the 5k with a time of 17:02.3, earning 31 points for DU. Barely missing the top-10 was 11th place sophomore Taeler McCrerey (Frisco, Colorado) and her 17:37.8 time.
Senior Moritz Madlener’s (Bavaria, Germany) superb performance landed him in first place in the men’s competition. His time of 28:23.5 earned 40 points for the hosting Pioneers.
On the final day of events, Denver was unable to overtake the University of Colorado for first place but still received fantastic efforts from its athletes.
The women’s Nordic team won the 15k freestyle with 102 points, placing four skiers in the top-10. McCrerey led the way with a first-place time of 46:17.5, trailed immediately by a second-place finish from Eriksen.
For the men’s side, Madlener again topped the competition in his final career RMISA Championships performance with a time of 52:35.3 in the 20k freestyle. His outing helped secure a first-place event finish for the men’s team with 98 points overall.
The team qualified 12 skiers for the NCAA Championships in New Hampshire, which begins on March 8 for the Pioneers.
