Buffs Climb Up Utah Invitational Leaderboard

HUNTSVILLE, Utah — Colorado's men's alpine team made up a little ground at the Utah Invitational on Friday by placing three finishers in the top 11 of the giant slalom race held at Snowbasin Resort.

Led by Ola Johansen finishing sixth, Joey Young 10th and Max Luukko 11th, CU earned 68 points to move up from its first-day seventh-place standing and into a tie for fourth after two of eight events in the meet. Denver, with 176 points, holds a 30½ point lead over second place Montana State, host Utah is in third while New Mexico is tied with the Buffs in fourth.

For Friday's men's giant slalom, the Buffs placed fourth in the race with 68 points, trailing Montana State (89), Utah (74) and Denver (69).

THE MEN'S RACE: Young, with his No. 37 start position, finished his first run in a time of 1:05.67 that was 16 spots better than his seeding and thus worked his way into the flip (top 30, which places you in an early start position for the start of the second run). That gave three Buffs standing in the top 17 after the first run (counting RMISA skiers only), with Luukko in eighth and Johansen 10th.

Bobby Moyer, who started 43rd on the first run, finished in a time of 1:06.65 that was 11 spots better than his seed, but he narrowly missed out on getting into the flip.

Young took advantage of making the flip and used his No. 8 starting position on the second run to clock a time of 1:08.22, the ninth fastest in the field for the second time down the run. He ended up placing 10th, his best GS finish of the young season, with a two-run time of 2:13.89.

Johansen had the sixth fastest second-run, timed at 1:08.10, allowing him to place sixth overall. Luukko was the 11th fastest on run two at 1:08.71 while Moyer's second run was clocked at 1:10.29. Moyer finished 26th overall.

NOTEWORTHY: In just the fourth race of the season, this was the first time CU's men's team saw its top three finishers place 11th or higher. In its first three races of the season, the Buffs did not see three finish in the top 20, so Friday's showing was an overall improvement and all four skiers finished both runs. This is the second-straight race that everybody finished, following up on the slalom to end the Montana State Invitational last Monday.

WHAT IT MEANS: In last week's Montana State Invitational, the Buffs were able to move from a fourth-place day one standing into the lead after the men's and women's slalom races. Trailing Utah meet leader DU by 60 points, it might not be realistic to duplicate that feat on Saturday, but the slalom event is the great equalizer and one the Buffs are strong at on both the men's and women's side.

NEXT UP: The men's and women's alpine teams will have its final race of the Utah Invitational on Saturday with the running of the slalom events. The Nordic teams will also be in action in West Yellowstone, Mont. at the Rendezvous Ski Trails for the 5/10K freestyle skate as a part of the Montana State Invitational.

RESULTS
Utah Invitational | Day Two | Men's Giant Slalom
Huntsville, Utah (Snowbasin Resort)

Utah Invitational Team Standings (after 2 of 8 events):
1. Denver 176; 2. Montana State 145.5; 3. Utah 138.5; T-4. Colorado 116; T-4. New Mexico 116; 6. Westminster College 113; 7. Alaska-Anchorage 92; 8. Colorado Mountain College 35.

Men's Giant Slalom (35 finishers):
1. Jett Seymour, DU, 2:12.52; 2. Addison Dvoracek, MSU, 2:12.88; 3. Morten Bakke, MSU, 2:13.18; 4. Vegard Busengdal, UNM, 2:13.35; 5. Linus Walch, Utah, 2:13.36; 6. Ola Johansen, CU, 2:13.42; 7. Adam Chrapek, WMC, 2:13.52; 8. Samuel Dupratt, Utah, 2:13.67; 9. Martin Grasic, Utah, 2:13. 71; 10. Joey Young, CU, 2:13.89. Other CU Finishers: 11. Max Luukko 2:13.94; 26. Bobby Moyer, 2:16.94

Men's Giant Slalom Team Scores
1. Montana State 89; 2. Utah 74; 3. Denver 69; 4. Colorado 68; 5. New Mexico 61; 6. Westminster College 54; 7. Alaska-Anchorage 38; 8. Colorado Mountain College 25

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Players Mentioned

Ola Johansen

Max Luukko

Bobby Moyer

Joey Young