Young Wins Slalom, Buffs Second At MSU Invitational

BOZEMAN, Mont.—Sophomore Joey Young won his first collegiate race, taking the men's slalom title at the Montana State Invitational and enabling the University of Colorado ski team to remain in the hunt in second place in the team standings through six of eight races here at Bridger Bowl and Crosscut Mountain on Friday.

For the first time this season, both alpine and Nordic teams were in action on the same day and the Buffs racked up seven top 10 performances and two podium appearances. Along with Young, senior Nora Christensen was third place in the women's slalom race at Bridger Bowl to pick up a podium appearance despite only one of the two runs being contested. The lift broke down prior to the start of the women's second run and the race was already behind schedule due to snow. The race will count as a finished race both for team points and NCAA Qualification.

Senior Christina Rolandsen and junior Anne Siri Lervik on the women's Nordic side and sophomore Sondre Bollum and freshman Wyatt Gebhardt on the men's Nordic side all had top 10's in extremely difficult conditions at Crosscut Mountain. It snowed overnight in the area making the course softer than ideal conditions call for, and continued snow and wind on Friday made for the tough conditions.

The Buffs are just nine points behind New Mexico, 434-425, with the Nordic classic races to conclude the meet on Saturday. There will be a men's slalom make up race on Saturday, as well, to close out the CU Invitational.

TEAM: The Buffs and New Mexico went back and forth throughout the day and after all the snow settled, New Mexico turned a 7.5 point deficit into a 9 point lead through six of eight races in the MSU Invitational, 434-425, to put the Buffs in second place. Utah moved from sixth to third and are 25 points behind the Buffs with an even 400 entering the final day Saturday. Denver moved from fifth to fourth and has 388.5 points with host Montana State rounding out the top five with 369 points. Alaska Anchorage (330), Westminster (220.5), Alaska Fairbanks (107) and Colorado Mountain (31) round out the team scoring.

ALPINE MEN: Young picked up his first collegiate win and it was also his first podium in a two-run time of 1:42.78. He had the second-fastest first run in the field in 49.58 and was .16 behind Denver's Jett Seymour. Young had the seventh-fastest second run to Seymour's 10th fastest, besting him by .29 seconds on that run to pick up the win by just 13-hundredths of a second.

Unfortunately, the rest of the men's team had troubles. Senior Max Luukko was 11th after the first run but had to hike on his second run and ended up finishing 29th in 1:53.62. Freshman Max Bervy had the opposite happen, having to hike on his first run but putting down a solid second run to finish 32nd in 2:05.27. Bervy cut 9.11 seconds off his first run time in his second run despite running late in the field. Junior Bobby Moyer also hiked on his first run and after the Buffs had posted three results, did not start his second run. Freshman Teddy Takki did not finish his first run and freshman Filip Forejtek was signed up for the race but did not start his first run as he continues to battle with an injured wrist.

ALPINE WOMEN: Christensen's first run was in 53.58 and she would've been in contention to go for a race victory if the second run had been completed. Regardless, she picked up her first podium of her senior season and seventh of her career, all of which have come in slalom action. Freshman Mikaela Tommy also could have improved on her first run placement of 10th in 54.62. She started in 16th place, meaning she has the best slalom FIS points of those skiers who haven't yet made use of the collegiate seeding system. She didn't finish the first slalom race of the year at Eldora, so this is her first finish and thus first career top 10 in slalom. With her two GS wins the last two days, she now has three top 10s on the weekend in Bozeman.

Junior Andrea Arnold continued her solid season taking 16th in a time of 55.91. She is the only women's alpine skier to finish all six races this season and she has finished between 10th and 18th in all six races. Her 16th place finish matches the second best of her career in slalom action. Freshman Stef Fleckenstein, in much the same boat as Tommy in regards to starting position, finished 18th after starting 18th in a time of 56.45. She also didn't finish her first career collegiate attempt at slalom last week in Eldora. Freshman Olivia Gerrard finished 19th in 57.07 and freshman Kaitlyn Harsch took 21st in 57.77.

NORDIC WOMEN: Rolandsen was the Buffs top finisher in the women's 5K freestyle race, earning seventh place in a time of 16:54.1, about 30 seconds behind race winner Guro Jordheim of Utah (16:20.5). Lervik was just 1.4 seconds behind Rolandsen in eighth place in 16:55.5. Freshman Ezra Smith finished 15th in a time of 17:24.5 and Sophomore Quinn Lehmkuhl, who injured her back at Steamboat Springs last week and is battling that, finished 25th in 18:21.7. Sophomore Hedda Baangman did not finish the race after she had trouble breathing midway through this race. She is expected to race tomorrow for the Buffs.

NORDIC MEN: On paper, the men's results were similar to the women's with a pair in the top 10 and three in the top 15 of the men's 10K freestyle race. Bollum had a solid race, finishing sixth in 29:48.9, about 18 seasons ahead of Gebhardt, who was ninth in a time of 30:06.8. Frensham Erik Dengerud finished tied for 13th in a time of 30:34.8 while senior Alvar Alev was 19th in 30:55.2 and freshman Tyler Terranova took home 27th in 32:03.0.

WHAT IT MEANS: While we'd all like to see the Buffs handily win a meet when some other teams are struggling, it's a good sign that the Buffs are in contention to win a meet when there has been a mixture of results here in Bozeman. Young's win in the men's slalom race is huge for the Buffs, who won three of the six alpine races contested here this weekend. After struggling in Eldora at their own meet last week, the Buffs scored more points in alpine than any team in Bozeman this week and put the Nordic team in a good spot to bring home a meet victory Saturday.

ALPINE NOTEWORTHY: Young's win was his first collegiate win and first collegiate podium in 17 career races. He now has two top five finishes in his career, both in slalom, and nine top 10s, five in GS and four in slalom. He has four top 10s this season in five races. Christensen picked up her seventh career podium performance, all in slalom action, and it was her 14th career top 5 and 18th career top 10 finish. She has two top five finishes this year in the two slalom races. Tommy now has three top 10 finishes in four career races, this being her first finished slalom race after winning the two GS races here the last two days.

NORDIC NOTEWORTHY: Lervik and Rolandsen have been nothing if not consistent this season. Through three races, Rolandsen has finished seventh, eighth and ninth while Lervik has two eighths and a 10th place finish. Rolandsen has 26 career top 10s in 34 career races, including 15 in 20 career freestyle races, while Lervik has 19 career top 10s in 27 career races and eight in 16 career freestyle races. Bollum and Gebhardt are now two-for-two on top 10 finishes in freestyle races this season. Bollum matched his career best finish in freestyle and has now finished between sixth and 10th in all seven of his career freestyle races.

ALPINE QUOTEWORTHY:
Richard Rokos: "We didn't have enough bodies to finish on the men's side of things today, but Joey's win is fabulous. He deserves it, he's been working so hard and putting a lot of good training together, it was nice to see that come through for him today. Max (Luukko) had some bad luck today on his second run and had to hike and other Max (Bervy) was way back after the first run, there wasn't much he could do to move up but he had a solid second run."

"We'll do the best we can tonight to gap those nine points to New Mexico. The Nordic team is always strong and has been consistent with the exception of missing the wax last week at Steamboat. I feel good about our chances tomorrow."

Joey Young: "First run, I was kind of a lucky duck in an early bib. The snow was pretty good. Second run, there were a lot of gaps in the times, but I tried to charge as hard as I could and stay in the groove. The second run was bumpy, the light was flat, it was a tough day but I tried to do as best as I could and stay in the groove. I've been running decent in slalom, it's nice to get my first college win."

NORDIC QUOTEWORTHY:
Jana Weinberger: "We had tough conditions today. It snowed overnight and it was still snowing today and the wind picked up, so there was snow blowing all over the place. Christina and Anne Siri both said they felt good today, better than they did at Steamboat, so that's a good sign. Hedda had to stop during her race, but will race tomorrow. Ezra had a good result and Quinn is still coming back from her back injury. Overall I'm happy with the women's results."

"Sondre was in the top three through about the 8K mark, so he fell back a little bit at the end, but still had a really solid result. Wyatt was skiing with the guy who finished on the podium for most of the rece. Eric is still adjusting to the altitude a little bit and the soft conditions I think affected Alvar today."

UP NEXT: Saturday will be another busy day in Bozeman with three races and the conclusion of the first two meets of the season. The MSU Invitational will wrap up with the 15K women's and 20K men's classical races at Crosscut while the Spencer James Nelson Memorial Invitational will also conclude with the running of a men's slalom make-up race at Bridger Bowl.

MONTANA STATE INVITATIONAL TEAM RESULTS (through 6 of 8 events)—1. New Mexico, 434; 2. Colorado, 425; 3. Utah 400; 4. Denver 389.5; 5. Montana State 369; 6. Alaska Anchorage 331; 7. Westminster 205.5; 8. Alaska Fairbanks 106; 9. Colorado Mountain 31.

WOMEN'S 5K FREESTYLE (34 collegiate finishers)—1. Guro Jordheim, UU, 16:20.5; 2. Mariah Bredal, UU, 16:27.9; 3. Taeler McCrerey, DU, 16:35.9; 4. Kati Roivas, UAF, 16:42.7; 5. Anna Darnell, UAA, 16:43.9; 6. Leah Lange, UU, 16:44.4; 7. Christina Rolandsen, 16:54.1; 8. Anne Siri Lervik, CU, 16:55.5; 9. Michaela Keller-Miller, UAA, 16:57.3; 10. Jenna DiFolco, UAA, 16:58.7. Other CU Finishers: 15. Ezra Smith, 17:24.5; 24. Quinn Lehmkuhl, 18:21.7. Did Not Finish: Hedda Baangman.

MEN'S 10K FREESTYLE (36 collegiate finishers)—1. Kornelius Groev, UNM, 28:10.0; 2. Ricardo Izquierdo-Bernier, UNM, 29:07.1; 3. Ola Jordheim, UU, 29:28.2; 4. Johan Eirik Meland, UNM, 29:37.0; 5. Ben Berend, UNM, 29:37.2; 6. Sondre Bollum, CU, 29:48.9; 7. Toomas Kollo, UAA, 29:54.2; 8. Maximilian Bie, UU, 29:58.3; 9. Wyatt Gebhardt, CU, 30:06.8; 10. Arnaud Guyon, UAF, 30:21.9. Other CU Finishers: t-13. Erik Dengerud, 30:34.8; 19. Alvar Alev, 30:55.2; 27. Tyler Terranova, 32:03.0.

WOMEN'S SLALOM (28 collegiate finishers)—1. Jocelyn McCarthy, MSU, 52.78; 2. Tuva Norbye, DU, 53.12; 3. Nora Christensen, CU, 53.58; 4. Andrea Komsic, DU, 53.71; 5. Amelia Smart, DU, 53.93; 6. Roni Remme, UU, 54.00; 7. Eirin Engeset, UU, 54.05; 8. Katie Hensien, DU & Stephanie Gartner, MSU, 54.06; 10. Mikaela Tommy, CU, 54.62. Other CU Finishers: 16. Andrea Arnold, 55.91; 18. Stef Fleckenstein, 56.45; 19. Olivia Gerrard, 57.07; 21. Kaitlyn Harsch, 57.77.

MEN'S SLALOM (32 collegiate finishers)—1. Joey Young, CU, 1:42.78; 2. Jett Seymour, DU, 1:42.91; 3. Vegard Busengdal, UNM, 1:43.03; 4. Louiss Muhlen-Schulte, MSU, 1:43.17; 5. Rafael Breu, WMC, 1:43.37; 6. Mikkel Wahl, WMC, 1:44.63; 7. Huston Philp, UU, 1:44.67; 8. Joachim Lien, UU, 1:45.00; 9. Zak Vinter, MSU, 1:45.24; 10. Alex Barounos, UNM, 1:45.49. Other CU Finishers: 29. Max Luukko, 1:55.62; 32. Max Bervy, 2:05.27. Did Not Start (First Run): Filip Forejtek. Did Not Start (Second Run): Bobby Moyer. Did Not Finish (First Run): Teddy Takki.

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Players Mentioned

Alvar Alev

Andrea Arnold

Hedda Baangman

Max Bervy

Sondre Bollum

Nora Christensen

Erik Dengerud

Stef Fleckenstein

Filip Forejtek

Wyatt Gebhardt

Olivia Gerrard

Kaitlyn Harsch

Quinn Lehmkuhl

Anne Siri Lervik

Max Luukko

Bobby Moyer

Christina Rolandsen

Ezra Smith

Teddy Takki

Tyler Terranova

Mikaela Tommy

Joey Young