Sunday, January 19
Midway, Utah
9 AM Men / 10:30 AM Women
Colorado
vs
15K Freestyle (M)
Buffs Slip To Third At Utah Invitational
January 19, 2025 | Skiing
MIDWAY, Utah – Will Koch had his fourth straight top five finish to open the 2025 season and the Colorado Buffaloes ski team slipped one place to third after the conclusion of the Nordic events at the Utah Invitational here Sunday at Soldier Hollow.
Colorado finished third in both races and slipped behind Denver. Host Utah leads with 389 points with the Pioneers in second with 331.5 and Colorado finishing the four Nordic events with 299 points. The Buffs do have a healthy 72 point advantage over fourth place Alaska Anchorage (227) with Alaska Fairbanks (217.5) and Montana State (207) rounding out the team scoring.
The men's race was one of the closer in RMISA history the top nine RMISA finishers were within 3.4 seconds and after the 10th skier who was just 5.6 seconds behind the leader, there was about a minute gap to 11th place. Then from 12th to 19th, there was just another 8.5 seconds between those eight skiers, which included three Buffs.
Koch was in the middle of the first pack and was the only skier in the field to have the fastest lap twice, doing so on the second and fourth laps. His fastest last lap was clutch as he sat in 10th place after the third lap and moved up to fifth place.
Johannes Flaaten led the second wave of skiers, finishing 11th and was 11th from the end of the second lap through the end of the race. In that second wave of skiers were three more Buffs, Eemil Juntunen (14th), Alexander Maurer (16th) and Luka Riely (19th).
In the women's race, Astri Lunde and Karolina Kaleta finished sixth and seventh and Hanna Abrahamsson was the Buffs third team scorer in 17th position. Tilde Baangman, who was fourth in the classic race Saturday, did not finish after getting tangled up with another skier and falling.
UP NEXT: The Nordic teams will head straight to Bozeman, Mont., for the Montana State Invitational, which will take place Friday and Sunday on the Nordic side to close out January. Alpine teams will then resume their portion of the season in early February to close out the Montana State meet.
WHAT IT MEANS: While the Buffs are never satisfied in third place, signs are good for the Nordic teams. With Hugo Hinckfuss out, the Buffs have yet to be at full strength and with Baangman not finishing, both the men's and women's team were one down on Sunday. Still, the potential is there for the Buffs to be right in the mix on the Nordic side by the end of the season when it matters the most.
TEAM NOTES:
• The Buffs scored 137 points on the day, third most, picking up 70 points in the men's race and 67 in the women's, finishing third in both races.
• In the men's race, CU picked up 29 points from Koch, 21 from Flaaten and 20 from Juntunen.
• In the women's race, Lunde scored 27 points, Kaleta 25 and Abrahamsson 15.
MEN'S NORDIC NOTES:
• Koch finished fifth for his fourth straight top 5 to open the season and sixth straight race overall, the longest stretch of his career with consecutive top five finishes. He now has 15 top five finishes in his career, eight in freestyle races.
• Flaaten finished 11th in his second race of the season, taking eighth Saturday. He now has finished in the top 11 in 14 of 15 career raced and picked up his fifth career 11th place finish.
• Juntunen finished 14th and has finished between 12th and 14th in each of his four college races.
• Maurer finished 16th and has finished 15th or 16th in each of the last three races this season. He has 24 career top 20 finishes.
• Riley finished 19th for his fourth straight top 20 finish to open the season, and he now has as many top 20s this season as he had in his career entering the season.
• Trey Jones finished 31st.
WOMEN'S NORDIC NOTES:
• Lunde finished sixth in her second collegiate race after finishing second Saturday to open her collegiate career.
• Kaleta finished seventh for her best finish of the season and second top 10. She now has 11 top 20 and 25 top 20 finishes in her career.
• Abrahamsson finished 17th, her 37th career top 20 finish in 39 career races.
• Elena Grissom finished 21st, Kili Lehmkuhl 27th and Sophie Spalding 29th for the Buffaloes.
TEAM STANDINGS (Thru 4 of 8 Races): 1. Utah 389; 2. Denver 331.5; 3. Colorado 299; 4. Alaska Anchorage 227; 5. Alaska Fairbanks 217.5; 6. Montana State 207.
MEN'S 15K FREESTYLE (31 collegiate finishers): 1. Andreas Kirkeng, DU, 34:49.5; 2. Joe Davies, UU, 34:49.5; 3. Brian Bushey, UU, 34:49.9; 4. Walker Hall, UU, 34:50.2; 5. Will Koch, CU, 34:50.8; 6. Elijah Weeing, DU, 34:51.8; 7. Krystof Zatloukal, DU, 34:52.1; 8. Matt Seline, UAA, 34:52.6; 9. Derek Deuling, UAA, 34:52.9; 10. Florian Knopf, 34:53.6. Other CU Finishers: 11. Johannes Flaaten, 35:55.1; 14. Eemil Juntunen, 36:03.3; 16. Alexander Maurer, 36:06.4; 19. Luka Riley, 36:11.4; 31. Trey Jones, 40:31.5.
WOMEN'S 15K FREESTYLE (32 collegiate finishers): 1. Erica Laven, UU, 39:30.0; 2. Kendall Kramer, UAF, 39:49.2; 3. E.O. Duchaufour, DU, 40:16.9; 4. Maja Moland, DU, 40:18.7; 5. Selma Nevin, UU, 40:19.9; 6. Astri Lunde, CU, 40:36.4; 7. Karolina Kaleta, CU, 40:41.0; 8. Nina Schamberger, UU, 40:42.0; 9. Neve Gerard, UU, 40:49.0; 10. Anna Pryce, MSU, 40:57.1. Other CU Finishers: 17. Hanna Abrahamsson, 42:38.4; 21. Elena Grissom, 42:50.0; 27. Kili Lehmkuhl, 44:21.1; 29. Sophie Spalding, 44:50.5. Did Not Finish: Tilde Baangman.
Colorado finished third in both races and slipped behind Denver. Host Utah leads with 389 points with the Pioneers in second with 331.5 and Colorado finishing the four Nordic events with 299 points. The Buffs do have a healthy 72 point advantage over fourth place Alaska Anchorage (227) with Alaska Fairbanks (217.5) and Montana State (207) rounding out the team scoring.
The men's race was one of the closer in RMISA history the top nine RMISA finishers were within 3.4 seconds and after the 10th skier who was just 5.6 seconds behind the leader, there was about a minute gap to 11th place. Then from 12th to 19th, there was just another 8.5 seconds between those eight skiers, which included three Buffs.
Koch was in the middle of the first pack and was the only skier in the field to have the fastest lap twice, doing so on the second and fourth laps. His fastest last lap was clutch as he sat in 10th place after the third lap and moved up to fifth place.
Johannes Flaaten led the second wave of skiers, finishing 11th and was 11th from the end of the second lap through the end of the race. In that second wave of skiers were three more Buffs, Eemil Juntunen (14th), Alexander Maurer (16th) and Luka Riely (19th).
In the women's race, Astri Lunde and Karolina Kaleta finished sixth and seventh and Hanna Abrahamsson was the Buffs third team scorer in 17th position. Tilde Baangman, who was fourth in the classic race Saturday, did not finish after getting tangled up with another skier and falling.
UP NEXT: The Nordic teams will head straight to Bozeman, Mont., for the Montana State Invitational, which will take place Friday and Sunday on the Nordic side to close out January. Alpine teams will then resume their portion of the season in early February to close out the Montana State meet.
WHAT IT MEANS: While the Buffs are never satisfied in third place, signs are good for the Nordic teams. With Hugo Hinckfuss out, the Buffs have yet to be at full strength and with Baangman not finishing, both the men's and women's team were one down on Sunday. Still, the potential is there for the Buffs to be right in the mix on the Nordic side by the end of the season when it matters the most.
TEAM NOTES:
• The Buffs scored 137 points on the day, third most, picking up 70 points in the men's race and 67 in the women's, finishing third in both races.
• In the men's race, CU picked up 29 points from Koch, 21 from Flaaten and 20 from Juntunen.
• In the women's race, Lunde scored 27 points, Kaleta 25 and Abrahamsson 15.
MEN'S NORDIC NOTES:
• Koch finished fifth for his fourth straight top 5 to open the season and sixth straight race overall, the longest stretch of his career with consecutive top five finishes. He now has 15 top five finishes in his career, eight in freestyle races.
• Flaaten finished 11th in his second race of the season, taking eighth Saturday. He now has finished in the top 11 in 14 of 15 career raced and picked up his fifth career 11th place finish.
• Juntunen finished 14th and has finished between 12th and 14th in each of his four college races.
• Maurer finished 16th and has finished 15th or 16th in each of the last three races this season. He has 24 career top 20 finishes.
• Riley finished 19th for his fourth straight top 20 finish to open the season, and he now has as many top 20s this season as he had in his career entering the season.
• Trey Jones finished 31st.
WOMEN'S NORDIC NOTES:
• Lunde finished sixth in her second collegiate race after finishing second Saturday to open her collegiate career.
• Kaleta finished seventh for her best finish of the season and second top 10. She now has 11 top 20 and 25 top 20 finishes in her career.
• Abrahamsson finished 17th, her 37th career top 20 finish in 39 career races.
• Elena Grissom finished 21st, Kili Lehmkuhl 27th and Sophie Spalding 29th for the Buffaloes.
TEAM STANDINGS (Thru 4 of 8 Races): 1. Utah 389; 2. Denver 331.5; 3. Colorado 299; 4. Alaska Anchorage 227; 5. Alaska Fairbanks 217.5; 6. Montana State 207.
MEN'S 15K FREESTYLE (31 collegiate finishers): 1. Andreas Kirkeng, DU, 34:49.5; 2. Joe Davies, UU, 34:49.5; 3. Brian Bushey, UU, 34:49.9; 4. Walker Hall, UU, 34:50.2; 5. Will Koch, CU, 34:50.8; 6. Elijah Weeing, DU, 34:51.8; 7. Krystof Zatloukal, DU, 34:52.1; 8. Matt Seline, UAA, 34:52.6; 9. Derek Deuling, UAA, 34:52.9; 10. Florian Knopf, 34:53.6. Other CU Finishers: 11. Johannes Flaaten, 35:55.1; 14. Eemil Juntunen, 36:03.3; 16. Alexander Maurer, 36:06.4; 19. Luka Riley, 36:11.4; 31. Trey Jones, 40:31.5.
WOMEN'S 15K FREESTYLE (32 collegiate finishers): 1. Erica Laven, UU, 39:30.0; 2. Kendall Kramer, UAF, 39:49.2; 3. E.O. Duchaufour, DU, 40:16.9; 4. Maja Moland, DU, 40:18.7; 5. Selma Nevin, UU, 40:19.9; 6. Astri Lunde, CU, 40:36.4; 7. Karolina Kaleta, CU, 40:41.0; 8. Nina Schamberger, UU, 40:42.0; 9. Neve Gerard, UU, 40:49.0; 10. Anna Pryce, MSU, 40:57.1. Other CU Finishers: 17. Hanna Abrahamsson, 42:38.4; 21. Elena Grissom, 42:50.0; 27. Kili Lehmkuhl, 44:21.1; 29. Sophie Spalding, 44:50.5. Did Not Finish: Tilde Baangman.
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