Crested Butte, Colo. - The University of New Mexico Ski Team is in second place overall after the first day of competition at the Western State - Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association meet. The Lobos had another strong showing by the womens Nordic team and the womens Alpine team to earn a total of 287 points, just 22 points behind first place Utah (309). Denver finished third with 272 points while Colorado place fourth with 269 total points.

Overall Team Standings |Place|Team|WGS|MGS|WSL|MSL|WCL|MCL|WFR|MFR|Total Points| |1|Utah|79|73|--|--|79|78|--|--|309| |2|New Mexico|76|55|--|--|84|72|--|--|287| |3|Denver|68|73|--|--|63|69|--|--|272| |4|Colorado|73|70|--|--|63|63|--|--|269| |5|Alaska-Ancorage|32|64|--|--|50|56|--|--|202| |6|Western State|37|30|--|--|38|46|--|--|151| |7|Whitman|26|27|--|--|33|30|--|--|116| |8|Nevada|43|46|--|--|0|14|--|--|103| |9|Montana State|31|--|--|--|35|--|--|--|66|

The Lobo womens Nordic squad almost swept todays 5K Classic race, finishing second, third and fourth. Sophomore Martina Stursova paced the Lobos with a second place finish in a time of 18:01.1, only 33 seconds off the winning time. Senior Kristina Strandberg was third while junior Jenny Wissting came in fourth overall. The womens team earned a season-high 84 points on the way to their second win in Classic competition so far this season.

Overall Womens 5K Classic Team Standings |Place|Team|Finishes|Poitns|Total Points| |1|New Mexico|2-3-4|29-28-27|84| |2|Utah|1-6-8|30-25-23|78| |3|Colorado|5-7-21|26-24-13|63| |4|Denver|9-10-11|22-21-20|63| |5|Alaska-Anchorage|15-16-18|18-17-15|50| |6|Western State|12-23-29|19-11-8|38| |7|Montana State|17-22-30|16-12-7|35| |8|Whitman|20-24-26|14-10-9|33| |9|Nevada|x-x-x|x-x-x|0|

Top-5 5K Womens Classic Individual Finishes |Place|Skier|Team|Time|Points| |1|Katrin Smigun|Utah|17:28.3|30| |2|Martina Stursova|New Mexico|18:01.1|29| |3|Kristina Strandberg|New Mexico|18:21.1|28| |4|Jenny Wissting|New Mexico|18:27.2|27| |5|Jana Rehemaa|Colorado|18:30.1|26| |25|Janelle Kinner|New Mexico|21:27.6|--| |28|Brooke Gosling|New Mexico|22:17.6|--|

The mens Nordic team skied to a second place finish in the 10K Classic race today, despite the fact that junior Johan Rydquist, the second-ranked Classic racer in the RMISA, did not start for the Lobos. Freshman Jimmy Vika helped to fill the void by winning his first Classic and second overall race of the season with a time of 29:43.2. Fellow freshman Lars Krogsveen placed eighth on the day, while junior Jacob Zehnder set a new career-high in the Classic with a 15th place finish. The mens Nordic squad garnered a total of 72 points on the day, seven points off the pace set by Utah. The second place finish is the highest for the Lobo men in the Classic event in the 2003 season. Overall Mens 10K Classic Team Standings |Place|Team|Finishes|Poitns|Total Points| |1|Utah|3-4-7|28-27-24|79| |2|New Mexico|1-8-15|30-23-19|72| |3|Denver|5-10-11|26-22-21|69| |4|Colorado|6-13-16|25-20-18|63| |5|Alaska-Anchorage|2-21-25|29-15-12|56| |6|Western State|18-19-24|17-16-13|46| |7|Whitman|29-30-31|11-10-9|30| |8|Nevada|22-x-x|14-x-x|14|

Top-5 5K Mens 10K Classic Individual Finishes |Place|Skier|Team|Time|Points| |1|Jimmy Vika|New Mexico|29:43.2|30| |2|Zack Violett|Alaska-Anchorage|30:24.9|29| |3|Ryan Quinn|Utah|31:35.2|28| |4|Zack Simons|Utah|31:50.1|27| |5|Martin Bartnes|Denver|31:50.7|26| |8|Lars Krogsveen|New Mexico|32:07.1|23| |15|Jacob Zehnder|New Mexico|33:23.4|19| |--|Graham Bremner|New Mexico|DNS|--| |--|Johan Rydquist|New Mexico|DNS|--|

The Lobo womens Alpine team earned its second win in the Giant Slalom today, totaling 76 points in the race. Freshman Jennifer Shively had a surprising third place finish to pace New Mexico. It was her best finish in any race as a Lobo. Fellow freshman Kathrin Spendier also had a strong race, finishing fifth. Junior Jennifer Delich, a 2002 All-American and ranked fourth in the RMISA Giant Slalom, grabbed her fifth top-10 finish on the season by placing seventh overall.

Overall Womens Giant Slalom Team Standings |Place|Team|Finishes|Poitns|Total Points| |1|New Mexico|3-5-7|27-25-24|76| |2|Utah|1-6-11|30-26-17|73| |3|Colorado|2-9-11|29-23-21|73| |4|Denver|4-10-14|28-22-18|68| |5|Nevada|12-25-30|20-13-10|43| |6|Western State|19-28-31|16-12-9|37| |7|Alaska-Anchorage|21-29-36|15-11-6|32| |8|Montana State|13-32-41|19-8-4|31| |9|Whitman|33-37-38|14-7-5|26|

Top-5 5K Womens Giant Slalom Individual Finishes |Place|Skier|Team|Time|Points| |1|Liina Johansson|Utah|2:06.11|30| |2|Mia Cullman|Colorado|2:07.45|29| |3|Jennifer Shively|New Mexico|2:07.46|28| |4|Barbara Knor|Denver|2:07.84|27| |5|Kathrin Spendier|New Mexico|2:08.13|26| |7|Jennifer Delich|New Mexico|2:08.48|25| |8|Helena Woodrow|New Mexico|2:08.60|--| |15|Caroline Schicht|New Mexico|2:09.82|--| |23|Gladys Weidt|New Mexico|2:11.61|--| |34|Monica Bruggeman|New Mexico|2:14.63|--|

The mens Alpine posted 55 points on a fifth place finish in todays Giant Slalom race. Senior Lars Bjorge led the Lobos with a 12th place finish, his best result of the 2003 season. Freshman Christian Jensen came in 14th overall, while fellow freshman Alexander Freberg rounded out the Lobo scoring by finishing 21st.

Overall Mens Giant Slalom Team Standings |Place|Team|Finishes|Poitns|Total Points| |1|Utah|1-5-9|30-26-23|79| |2|Denver|2-8-12|29-24-20|73| |3|Colorado|4-6-15|27-25-18|70| |4|Alaska-Anchorage|3-10-24|28-22-14|64| |5|New Mexico|12-14-21|21-19-15|55| |6|Nevada|16-20-26|17-16-13|46| |7|Western State|28-30-43|12-11-7|30| |8|Whitman|31-32-34|10-9-8|27|

Top-5 Mens Giant Slalom Individual Finishes |Place|Skier|Team|Time|Points| |1|Pierre Olsson|Utah|2:01.00|30| |2|Christopher Berg|Denver|2:01.40|29| |3|David Duncan|Alaska-Anchorage|2:01.58|28| |4|Brad Hogan|Colorado|2:01.76|27| |5|Benjamin Thornhill|Utah|2:02.23|26| |12|Lars Bjorge|New Mexico|2:02.92|21| |14|Christian Jensen|New Mexico|2:03.34|19| |21|Alexander Freberg|New Mexico|2:04.43|11| |22|Gottfried Schwarzmueller|New Mexico|2:05.00|--| |29|Dustin Simons|New Mexico|2:06.89|--|

The Lobos conclude action at Western State tomorrow with the Slalom and Freestyle races.

Lobos Skiing

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