Baangman Wins, Moch Second and Six Top 10 Finishes Highlight RMISA Qualifier

Thursday, January 8

Lake Placid, N.Y.

8 AM Women / 9:45 AM Men

Colorado

20K Freestyle (M) at Mt. Van Hovenberg

Photo by: Matan Coll, CU Athletics

Baangman Wins, Moch Second and Six Top 10 Finishes Highlight RMISA Qualifier

January 08, 2026 | Skiing

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By: Curtis Snyder, Associate AD/Athletic Communications

LAKE PLACID, N.Y. – Led by Tilde Baanmgan's win and Jakob Moch's second place, the Colorado Buffaloes ski team placed six skiers in the top 10 of the men's and women's 20K freestyle races at the 2026 U.S. Cross Country Ski Championships. The race is an RMISA qualifier, not for team scoring, but counts for NCAA qualification.

Baangman led the way for the Buffs, winning the women's race to earn her first victory since transferring to Colorado and the fifth overall win of her collegiate career. Baangman now has a win and runner-up finish in two races this season.

Colorado placed all four of its women inside the top nine, with Selma Nevin finishing fourth, Nina Schamberger seventh and Elena Grissom ninth. The race does not count toward RMISA Invitational team scoring, but serves as an official RMISA qualifier for the NCAA Championships.

On the men's side, Jakob Moch impressed in his collegiate debut, finishing second after leading the race through each until the finish line. Luka Riley added a top-10 result in 10th place, while Storm Pedersen finished 14th to round out the Buffs performance.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Baangman controlled the women's race from the front, pulling away over the final kilometers to secure the victory, finishing over a minue-and-a-half over the next RMISA skier. Nevin rebounded from her 17th-place finish in the opening 10K classic to return to the top five, marking her sixth career top-five finish in just 16 collegiate races. She led a pack of four RMISA skiers over a span of 12 seconds.

Schamberger continued a strong opening to the season, following up her sixth-place finish in the 10K classic with another top-10 effort. Grissom's ninth-place finish marked the best result of her collegiate career and her first top-10 showing since her freshman season in 2023.

Moch made an immediate impact for the Buffaloes, holding the lead at each intermediate split before finishing second despite arriving in Lake Placid after international competition in Europe. Riley followed up his 12th-place finish in the 10K classic with his fifth career top-10 performance, while Pedersen delivered a solid race to close out the men's results.

Freshman William Bentley competed in the junior 10K freestyle, finishing 26th overall and third among RMISA skiers.

UP NEXT
Colorado concludes its opening week at the U.S. Cross Country Ski Championships on Friday with the classic sprint races, which will close out the RMISA Invitational.

FREESTYLE SPRINT NOTES
Schamberger also stood out in Tuesday's freestyle sprint, advancing to the final after winning both her quarterfinal and semifinal heats. She finished fourth overall after qualifying ninth, and would have earned the race win as the top finisher from an RMISA school had the event counted toward conference or NCAA scoring.

WOMEN'S NOTES

Baangman picks up her first win as a Buff in the last two years, and fifth overall of her collegiate career. At CU, she now has eight podiums, 10 top 5 and 12 top 10 finishes in as many races finished. In her career, she picks up her fifth career win, second in freestyle, 18th career podium, 22nd career top 5 and 33rd career top 10 in 35 career races. It's the 713th race win in CU history and 244^th women's race win while being notched as the 52^nd women's freestyle win in CU history. It's the Buffs first win in women's freestyle since Anna Maria Dietze won two years ago in the 2024 season.
Nevin finished fourth for her sixth career top 5 finish and first as a Buff. She has now finished 12 of her 16 career races in the top 10.
Schamberger picked up her second straight top seven finish to open her CU career and it's her ninth career top 10 overall.
Grissom picked up her career best ninth place finish, and it's her second career top 10 but first since her freshman season in 2023. She was 10th in the 10K classic race at the DU invitational that season.

MEN'S NOTES

Moch picked up a second place in his first career collegiate race, leading for a good majority of the race from the RMISA standpoint.
Riley placed 10th, his fifth career top 10, all of which have come in the last two seasons, and three of which have come in his last five starts dating back to the end of last season.
Pedersen placed 14th, picking up a second straight top 20 finish to begin his collegiate career.
Bentley didn't take place in the 20K race, instead competing in the 10K junior race where he placed 26th overall and was the second finisher from RMISA schools.

WOMEN'S 20K FREESTYLE (RMISA Qualifier): 1. Tilde Baangman, Colorado, 54:34.1; 2. Rosie Fordham, Alaska Fairbanks, 56:10.2; 3. Neve Gerard, Utah, 56:54.6; 4. Selma Nevin, Colorado, 58:20.9; 5. Katey Houser, Montana State, 58:27.6; 6. Ruby Serrouya, Denver, 58:29.0; 7. Nina Schamberger, Colorado, 58:32.7; 8. Marlie Molinaro, Alaska Anchorage, 1:00:35.0; 9. Elena Grissom, Colorado, 1:00:46.5; 10. Marit Flora, Alaska Anchorage, 1:01:00.7.

MEN'S 20K FREESTYLE (RMISA Qualifier): 1. Mons Melbye, Utah, 47:37.7; 2. Jakob Moch, Colorado, 47:39.7; 3. Zach Jayne, Utah, 47:49.1; 4. Ben Dohlby, Alaska Fairbanks, 49:36.3; 5. Simon Chappaz, Montana State, 49:57.9; 6. Corbin Carpenter, Alaska Anchorage, 50:05.6; 7. Phillip Moosmayer, Alaska Fairbanks, 50:11.5; 8. Erling Bjoernstad, Alaska Anchorage, 50:21.0; 9. Gavin Galyardt, Montana State, 50:23.8; 10. Luka Riley, Colorado, 51:25.8.