Ski Team Heads To Red River For UNM Invitational

RED RIVER, N.M.—The University of Colorado ski team will get back to action after a week off at the 2019 New Mexico/Drew Judycki Memorial/Jade Enterprises Invitational here Friday and Saturday at Red River Ski Area and Enchanted Forest Cross Country Ski Area. The meet will feature two slalom races on the alpine side and a pair of shorter freestyle and classic races on the Nordic side.

MEET SCHEDULE: On Friday, the men's alpine will kick off the meet at 8:45 a.m. with the first run of a slalom race, followed by the women at 10:10 a.m. Second runs are scheduled for 11:45 a.m. for the men and 12:30 p.m. for the women. Saturday's race plan is the same as Friday's. On the Nordic side, the women's 7.5K classic race will start at 9:30 a.m. with the men's 7.5K classic race slated for a 10:30 a.m. start. On Saturday, the women's 5K freestyle race will start at 9 a.m. followed by the men's 5K freestyle race at 10 a.m.

Live timing will be available for both disciplines, with Nordic races available at www.summittiming.com and alpine races at www.ussalivetiming.com.

MEET HISTORY: The Buffs have won the last two New Mexico Invitationals in 2016 and 2018 and with a win in 2013, the Buffs have won three of the last five meets. This decade nobody besides the Buffs and host Lobos have won the UNM Invitational, with the host winning in 2010, '11, '14 and '15 and the Buffs in 2013, '16 and '18. The Buffs have the slight edge over the Lobos, 10-8, for most meet titles since skiing went coed in 1983.

LAST TIME AT NEW MEXICO: The Buffs won three of the four alpine races and racked up 19 top 10 finishes at the 2018 UNM Invitational at Red River, boosting the Buffs to the meet victory by just 6.5 points over Denver, 652-645.5. The Buffs racked up the most points in both women's disciplines. In alpin action, Nora Christensen and Tonje Trulsrud each won a race and the women's alpine team racking up three total podiums and four top 10 finishes. The women's Nordic team didn't get a race win, but racked up seven top 10 performances in the two races with two podium appearances as Hedda Baangman took second in the classic race followed by Anne Siri Lervik in third place. Ola Johansen paced the men's alpine team with a race win in the first slalom race and Max Luukko finished in the top 10 twice with one fifth place finish. In men's Nordic action, Alvar Alev took third in the classic race and fifth in the freestyle for a pair of top 5's and Petter Reistad took fourth in the classic race. Sondre Bollum was sixth in both races.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR: The Buffs will still be a little short-handed on the alpine side due to injuries but there are plenty of members of the team who have had success at Red River. Alvar Alev, Hedda Baangman, Sondre Bollum, Nora Christensen, Anne Siri Lervik and Max Luukko have all recorded podium finishes there and Quinn Lehmkuhl has her best career race in both disciplines there while Tyler Terranova had his career best classic finish. The UNM Invitational is unique in both disciplines, with the altitude on the Nordic side being the highest of any races all season and the fact no giant slalom is contended on the alpine side. While every regular season meet is important, the overarching theme of this week is to get better and maintain the path toward the remaining meets down the road.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Alvar Alev

Hedda Baangman

Sondre Bollum

Nora Christensen

Ola Johansen

Quinn Lehmkuhl

Anne Siri Lervik

Max Luukko

Petter Reistad

Tyler Terranova

Tonje Trulsrud