DU’s nordic ski team faced eight rival teams and snowy conditions at the Utah Invitational on Friday, Jan. 19. Despite the snow and competition, the Pioneers took the overall team crown with 650 points.
The Pioneers earned 173 total points in the freestyle, with 84 points coming from the men’s 20k and 89 coming from the women’s 15k. In doing so, Crimson and Gold skiing edged out in-state rival CU by 14 points and third place Utah by 50.5 points.
Denver’s senior Dag Frode Trolleboe (Oslo, Norway) took second on the men’s side with a run of 54:02.7, while senior Linn Eriksen (Oslo, Norway) also carded a second place finish for the women, with a time of 45:43.9. Both skiers earned 37 points for the Pioneer squad.
“[It was] fun to be a Pioneer in the snowstorm today,” said Eriksen. “I got my first podium of the year, which I am very happy about. Good skis and a good feeling gave me the confidence to position in front and pace the race.”
Trolleboe was happy with his performance too, adding: “Today was an interesting race,” said Trolleboe. “I was dropped halfway through the race and had no energy left. With less than 2k to go, I could see the lead group far ahead and started gaining on them. Suddenly I was in the mix for a podium place, and was able to take the second place. I’m very happy with that.”
“I was really proud of the way the team stepped up to the challenging conditions today,” said Nordic Coach Dave Stewart. “Our women were aggressive from the start, going to the front with Linn pushing the pace and leading for most of the race. Taeler, Aja and Jasmi were all charging and placing four in the top nine in this stacked women’s field is a good day.”
“Trolleboe and Kvaale continued their strong and consistent racing this season, with Daggi in second to go with his win yesterday and Eivind in fifth,” Stewart added. “Trolleboe has been first or second in all RMISA races this season and Kvaale has not been lower than sixth, so these guys are setting the pace for our program right now.”
Sophomore Eivind Kvaale (Hoydalsmo, Norway) raced for another fifth place finish with a time of 54:19.8 earning 29 points for the Pioneers.
Three other Pioneers finished in the top 10 in the women’s 10k: junior Taeler McCrerey (Frisco, Colo.) led the way in sixth place. The junior tallied 27 points with a run of 47:57.4.
Right behind McCrerey in seventh and eighth came Aja Starkey and Jasmi Joensuu respectively. The duo each scored 25 points, with times of 48:00.3 and 48:40.9. Borgar Norrud skied for a 20th place finish. The freshman chalked up 18 points with a completed run of 59:04.9.
A few spots behind was Nick Sweeney, who completed the race in 59:54.5 for 23rd. Sweeney, an Aspen, Colo. native finished just a little over a second faster than teammate Simon Zink who took 25th.
“I was impressed again with Sweeney’s result this weekend, stepping up his distance skiing to go along with his great sprint results,” said Stewart. “Overall, I am pleased with the trajectory our team is on and we are looking forward to the second half of the season.”
