Buffs Finish Fourth At UAF Invitational

FAIRBANKS, Alaska – Colorado moved past one Alaska school but was passed by the other and when the snow settled at the conclusion of the Alaska Fairbanks Invitational, the short-handed Buffaloes finished fourth place here at the Competition Trails on the UAF campus after the 10K freestyle races took place.

Luka Riley led the way for the Buffaloes with a fourth-place finish in the men's race, his career best and the first top five finish in his career. He was joined by two other men in the top 10 with Johannes Flaaten taking eighth and Eemil Juntunen taking 10th.

On the women's side, the Buffs were paced by Hanna Abrahamsson and her eighth-place finish and Karolina Kaleta in 14th and Elena Grissom in 16th also scored for the team.

The Nordic squad is a little short-handed without two skiers on each side. Three of those four will be joining the Buffs in Anchorage for the RMSIA Championships.

In the end, CU finished with 258 points. Denver won the meet with 345 with Utah 307 and host UAF (291.5) ahead while Alaska Anchorage (250.5) finished in fifth place and Montana State (232) rounded out the team scoring.

UP NEXT: CU remains in Alaska and will head south to Anchorage to compete in the RMISA Championships with races slated for Friday and Saturday at Kincaid Park. The alpine teams are also in Anchorage and will simultaneously close out the UAA Invitational and the RMISA Championships with four straight days of racing Wednesday through Saturday.

WHAT IT MEANS: The Buffs gave it a valiant effort with Will Koch, Hugo Hinckfuss, Astri Lunde and Tilde Baangman all not competing in the UAF Invitational, and the depth of the team certainly had bright spots throughout the two days of racing in Fairbanks. But the goal of winning the final meet of the season is still firmly in sights and won't be affected too much if at all by the last two days. Securing qualification spots and improving seeding will be the name of the game for the remainder of the week, and the Nordic team has one more shot in each discipline and the alpine teams have two shots in each discipline over the next week.

TEAM NOTES:
•   The men's team scored 75 points, third most, with Riley (31), Flaaten (23) and Juntunen (21) scoring for the team.
•   The women's team scored 58 points with Abrahamsson (23), Kaleta (18) and Grissom (17) scoring for the team.
•   CU did surpass Alaska Anchorage but Alaska Fairbanks passed both the Buffs and Seawolves to take third place at their own invitational.

MEN'S NORDIC NOTES
•   Riley finished fourth, the best finish of his career in college racing and his first career top 5 finish. He now has three career top 10s, all this season and all in Alaska with the other two coming at the UAA Invitational that took part at the US National Championships. He now has 12 top 20 finishes in his career with two-thirds, or eight, of those coming this season.
•   Flaaten finished eighth, his fourth top 10 of the season and third in the last four races. He bounced back after finishing 25th in the sprint races after last week at the DU Invitational taking first and second place in the two races.
•   Juntunen finished 10th, his third straight top 10 and third top 10 of his career. He now has two top 10s in freestyle races and a sixth place classic finish, which came in Sunday's sprint race.
•   Trey Jones finished 16th,
•   Alexander Maurer finished 25th and Hugo Hinckfuss was credited with a did not start despite not being present in Fairbanks.

WOMEN'S NORDIC NOTES
•   Abrahamsson finished eighth for her fourth top 10 of the season with two in each discipline. She now has a seventh and eighth place finish in freestyle races on the season.
•   Kaleta finished 14th and got her 30th career top 20 finish in her 33rd race finished.
•   Grissom finished 16th and finished in the top 20 in her sixth straight race and seventh on the season, both career bests. She now has 18 career top 20 finishes with exactly nine in each discipline.
•   Sophie Spalding finished 23rd and Kili Lehmkuhl finished 26th for the Buffaloes.

UAF INVITATIONAL TEAM SCORES (FINAL): 1. Denver 345; 2. Utah 307; 3. Alaska Fairbanks 291.5; 4. Colorado 258; 5. Alaska Anchorage 250.5; 6. Montana State 232.

MEN'S 10K FREESTYLE (34 collegiate finishers): 1. Benjamin Dohlby, UAF, 23:05.8; 2. Andreas Kirkeng, DU, 23:22.5; 3. Brian Bushey, UU, 23:27.2; 4. Luka Riley, CU, 23:32.7; 5. Florian Knopf, DU, 23:38.9; 6. Elijah Weenig, DU, 23:43.6; 7. Philipp Moosmayer, UAF, 23:48.7; 8. Johannes Flaaten, CU, 24:06.4; 9. Carl Rune, UU, 24:06.9; 10. Eemil Juntunen, CU, 24:07.9. Other CU Finishers: 16. Trey Jones, 24:32.8; 25. Alexander Maurer, 25:27.3. Did Not Start: Hugo Hinckfuss.

WOMEN'S 10K FREESTYLE (33 collegiate finishers): 1. Kendall Kramer, UAF, 25:57.4; 2. Erica Laven, UU, 26:13.0; 3. Tabitha Williams, UAF, 27:07.9; 4. Katey Houser, MSU, 27:17.9; 5. Anna Pryce, MSU, 27:18.5; 6. Lea Wenaas, DU, 27:20.9; 7. Selma Nevin, UU, 27:22.4; 8. Hanna Abrahamsson, CU, 27:40.1; 9. Maja Moland, DU, 27:49.7; 10. Eve-Ondine Duchsufour, DU, 27:51.4. Other CU Finishers: 14. Karolina Kaleta, 28:29.8; 16. Elena Grissom, 28:37.7; 23. Sophie Spalding, 29:29.3; 26. Kili Lehmkuhl, 30:10.7.

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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