Nordic Fairs Well in AK, Alpine Readies for Opener
Weekly Notes | Complete Women’s 10K Freestyle Results – U.S. Championships | Complete Men’s 15K Freestyle Results – U.S. Championships | RMISA Only Nordic Freestyle Results – U.S. Championships
squad competed in 10K/15K Freestyle at the U.S. Cross Country Championships, held at Kincaid Park in Anchorage, Alaska in the first official races for the Lobos in 2018.
Two women competed in Brenna Egan and Carolyn Lucca, with Niklas Rombock going for the men. Lucca finished 24th among RMISA skiers and 74th overall in the championship out of a busy race with 149 competitors, and Egan was 26th in the RMISA and 80th overall. The Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association breaks out the RMISA skiers for NCAA qualification points.
On the men’s side, Niklas Rombock was 116th overall out of 181 competitors, and 30th overall. No team scores were kept for the race, and the skiers will be back at it on Friday in the Classic Sprints, a race not normally run during the collegiate season.
“It was an unusual race day with 150 women and nearly 200 men on a 2.5K loop,” said head coach Fredrik Landstedt. “It was very crowded on the trail and there were a few hard downhills where it was easy to fall. It snowed hard all day and the conditions were very soft.”
Of Lucca, in her first UNM meet after entering as a graduate transfer from Michigan Tech, Landstedt said, “Carolyn had a pretty good day going until she fell and lost around 30 seconds, which cost her a higher finish.”
While the Nordic team got their legs going in Alaska, the Alpine squad, which features 11 races (seven on the men’s side and four on the women’s) will open their 2018 season in Montana at Big Sky Resort at the Montana State Invitational. The team will compete in an RMISA giant slalom qualifier on Saturday, and then race in the giant slalom as a part of the Invitational on Sunday. On Monday, the team will take part in the slalom.
The Nordic events of the Montana State Invitational will take place the following Saturday and Sunday at Rendezvous Trail.
UNM’s alpine teams are led on the men’s side by Vegard Busengdal, who had seven podiums a year ago, and NCAA qualifiers Rob Greig and Isak Klein. Also returning to the squad is 2016 NCAA qualifier Tyler Theis as well as Alex Barounos, Nick Veth and Youri Mougel, who will compete for the first time in over two years after suffering back-to-back knee injuries.
On the women’s side, NCAA All-American Katharine Irwin returns along with Alexandra Sjöström, and they are joined by newcomers Hailey Cutler and Rebecca Fiegl.