Buffs Fourth At UAF Invitational After First Day

FAIRBANKS, Alaska – Four Colorado skiers made the semifinals and Eemil Juntunen advanced to the finals of the classic sprint races Sunday as the Alaska Fairbanks Invitational got underway at the Competition trails on the UAF campus. The Buffaloes sit in fourth place as a team at the midpoint of the invitational.

All 10 Buffaloes that are with the team did qualify for the quarterfinals and got at least two sprint heats on the day. Along with Juntunen, Karolina Kaleta had a solid say in seventh place while Trey Jones (10th) and Elena Grissom (11th) both had one of their best career finishes, as well.

Juntunen started the day strong and sat in fourth place after the qualifier, then won his quarterfinal heat to advance to the semifinals. There he finished third but was one of two lucky losers that advanced into the finals, where he finished sixth. Trey Jones was the only other men's skier to advance to the semifinals, which he did on time as he finished third in his quarterfinal heat. He ended up in 10th for the Buffs.

On the women's side, Kaleta's seventh place meant she just missing the finals heat, while Grissom had a great qualifying time in seventh place and advanced to the semifinals before being slotted into 11th position.

Hanna Abrahamsson finished 14th as the third scorer for the women and Luka Riley was 21st as the third scorer for the men. CU scored 125 points in the two races just 20 points out of second but just nine points ahead of sixth.

CU is shorthanded at the meet, as Will Koch is returning from Europe and Hugo Hinckfuss, who just returned from Europe late last week, along with Tilde Baangman and Astri Lunde all remained in Boulder for this UAF Invitational. Hinckfuss, Baangman and Lunde will head to Alaska to meet up with the Buffs ahead of the RMISA Championships before the end of the week. Koch, who has been in Europe for an extended period of time, will also miss the RMISA Championships but is already safely qualified for the NCAA Championships with his six top five finishes in the January college races.

UP NEXT: The Buffs remain in Fairbanks in the final trip before the NCAA Championships. Monday will feature 10K freestyle races back at the UAF competition trails before teams head to Anchorage to compete in the RMISA Championships Friday and Saturday. The alpine teams arrive in Alaska to compete in four races over four days which will close out the UAA Invitational and RMSIA Championships from Thursday to Saturday.

WHAT IT MEANS: It's easy to look at Sunday's results and be disappointed, but there isn't much to worry about for the Buffaloes. Classic sprints are not the Buffs strength as a team and this is the only such race this season as it is not part of the RMISA or NCAA Championship, and all four Buffs that are not with the team had the potential to finish high and score for the Buffs on Sunday. The Buffs will be near full strength for the RMISA Championships at the end of the week and should qualify a full team for the NCAA Championships.

TEAM NOTES:
•   The women scored 63 points with Kaleta (25), Grissom (20) and Abrahamsson (18) scoring for the team.
•   Colorado scored 62 points in the men's race with Juntunen (27), Jones (21) and Riley (14) doing the scoring for the Buffaloes.

MEN'S NORDIC NOTES
•   Juntunen finished sixth for his second straight top 10, the first two of his career, and fourth straight top 20, of which he now has eight in nine career races. He has steadily improved each of the last four five races, moving from 23rd to 15th, 12th, ninth and then sixth on Sunday. It's his first classic top 10.
•   Jones finished 10th returning to the Buffs for the first time in three races after competing at the U23 World Championships. He had his best finish of the season and second career top 10, first in a classic race. It's his seventh carer top 10 in 12 finishes races, and fourth in six classic races.
•   Riley finished 21st while Johannes Flaaten finished 25th and Alexander Maurer finished 27th, and Hugo Hinckfuss did not start the race.

WOMEN'S NORDIC NOTES
•   Kaleta finished seventh, for her second straight top 10 and fourth of the season. It's her fifth top 10 in classic races and her fifth career top 10 in a sprint race. Overall she now has 13 top 10 performances in her career and 29 top 20s in 32 finished races.
•   Grissom finished 11th, matching the second-best finish of her career and also her best finish of the season. She has steadily improved each of the last four races, moving up from 17th, 15th and 13th to finish 11th on Sunday.
•   Abrahamsson finished 14th for her 32nd career top 10 finish and 42nd top 20 in 44 career finished races.
•   Sophie Spalding finished 26th and Kili Lehmkuhl 29th for the Buffaloes.

UAF INVITATIONAL TEAM RESULTS (Thru 2 of 4 Races): 1. Denver 182; 2. Utah 154; 3. Alaska Anchorage 143; 4. Colorado 125; 5. Alaska Fairbanks 122; 6. Montana State 116.

WOMEN'S CLASSIC SPRINTS (33 collegiate finishers): 1. Erica Laven, UU, 3:11.82 Final; 2. Anna Pryce, MSU, 3:16.86 Final; 3. Celine Mayer, UU, 3:16.28 Final; 4. Eve-Ondine Duchaufour, DU, 3:16.42 Final; 5. Lea Wenaas, DU, 3:21.70 Final; 6. Anna Stewart, DU, 3:25.26 Final; 7. Karolina Kaleta, CU, (4th Place, 2nd Semifinal); 8. Kendall Kramer, UAF (4th Place, 1st Semifinal); 9. Constance LaPointe, UAA, 5th Place, 1st Semifinal); 10. Astrid Stav, UAA (5th Place, 2nd Semifinal). Other CU Finishers: 11. Elena Grissom (6th place, 1st Semifinal); 14. Hanna Abrahamsson (3rd place, 3rd quarterfinal); 26. Sophie Spalding (6th place, 2nd Quarterfinal); 29. Kili Lehmkuhl (6th place, 1st Quarterfinal).

MEN'S CLASSIC SPRINTS (35 collegiate finishers): 1. Andreas Kirkeng, DU, 2:42.28 Final; 2. Florian Knopf, DU, 2:42.88 Final; 3. Erling Bjoernstad, UAA, 2:44.86 Final; 4. Cole Flowers, UAF, 2:46.78 Final; 5. Zachary Jayne, UU, 2:46.81 Final; 6. Eemil Juntunen, CU (2:53.26 Final); 7. Peter Hinds, UAA, (3rd place, 2nd Semifinal); 8. Brian Buskey, UU (5th place, 1st Semifinal); 9. Garrett Siever, UAA (5th Place, 2nd Semifinal); 10. Trey Jones, CU (6th Place, 1st Semifinal). Other CU Finishers: 21. Luka Riley (5th place, 4th quarterfinal); 25. Johannes Flaaten (6th place, 5th Quarterfinal); 27. Alexander Maurer (6th Place, 4th Quarterfinal). Did Not Start: Hugo Hinckfuss.

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Players Mentioned

Hanna Abrahamsson

Tilde Baangman

Johannes Flaaten

Elena Grissom

Hugo Hinckfuss

Trey Jones

Eemil Juntunen

Karolina Kaleta

Will Koch

Kili Lehmkuhl

Astri Lunde

Alexander Maurer

Luka Riley

Sophie Spalding