The Utah Utes woke up today. The Utah men dominated with 2nd, 3rd and 12th place finishes in the men’s 7.5 km Interval Start Freestyle at Howelsen Hill in Steamboat. Utah women finished first in the women’s 7.5 km Interval Start Freestyle plus a 15th and 19th finish. Denver met or beat expectations on the women’s side with Selma Anderson in 10th, Henrietta Saeterdahl Semb in 11th and Hanna Ray in 14th. On the men’s side, DU’s Florian Knopf finished 5th, Andreas Kirkeng 10th and Krystof Zatioukal in 21st. I was hopeful that Andreas would make the podium. DU fell 4.5 points behind CU and the Utes pulled ahead of DU by 61.5 points.
Not a disaster but I thought the Denver men’s side might land a skier on the podium but the 7.5 km freestyle is a sprint and many factors go into a short race like wax, start position, course conditions and a host of other things. I like our chances better at a longer Nordic distance.
Sometimes you have to take your hat off for the defending champions, Utah. They have used the Nordic events in the past to create separation and they did just that today.
Denver is still in this, especially with the strength of our Alpine teams. But, it won’t be easy and we must do damage in slalom tomorrow night at Howelsen Hill. I will be there reporting live.
You can watch the slalom live HERE 6:40 p.m. MT/9 p.m. MT on Friday night. Once again, Go Pioneers!
Photo: Courtesy of Du Athletic Director Josh Berlo
I too will be there. Long time follower of the blog Go Pios! Go Boone!
guess I will hafta wear my CU hat at Eldora tomorrow. Darn. Got my DU hat for the afternoon just in case.
Look for the DU tent on the south side of the lodge!
Dunker still hoping some way we can this thing. We need great alpine results so we can put some pressure on the Utes