Dietze Earns Silver As Buffs Move Into Fourth At Utah

MIDWAY, Utah--Freshman Anna-Maria Dietze continued her steady improvement, finishing second and helping the Colorado Ski Team move up to fourth after the conclusion of the Nordic events at the Utah Invitational here Saturday at Soldier Hollow.

Dietze's improvement wasn't the only good sign for the Buffs in the 10K classic races. The women's team scored 79 points to finish second in the race, bettering its score of 70 from Friday, and the men's team improved from 50.5 to 66 points. After it all settled out, the Buffs passed Montana State for fourth and closed the gap on Denver for third place. Host Utah (387) still leads while Alaska Anchorage (317) sits second. Denver's just 17 points ahead of the Buffs for third place, 282.5-265.5 while Montana State (237) rounds out the top five.

Dietze hit the podium for the first time in her career and she's the second women's Nordic skier to hit the podium this season behind senior Anne Siri Lervik's three podium finishes, and she's the sixth skier on the team to earn a podium so far in 2020.

Behind Dietze was junior Hedda Baangman, who finished 10th and has finished in the top 10 in all eight races this season. Lervik was the Buffs third scorer in 14th place as she continues to get back to form after falling ill. She opened the season on a tear with four top-four finishes to open the season.

In the men's race, Magnus Boee, who had finished in the top two in five straight races before finishing 30th on Friday, rebounded to earn his seventh top 10 of the season while both Sondre Bollum (11th) and Ryan Jackson (12th) barely missed the top 10 to round out the team scorers for the Buffs.

The RMISA alpine teams will now take center stage next weekend to close out the Utah Invitational. After opening the season with six race in a span of nine days, the alpine teams haven't skied in a college race in almost six weeks. By the end of next weekend, the regular season will be completed and teams will shift focus to Bozeman, Mont., where Montana State will host both RMISA Championships (Feb. 27-29) and NCAA Championships (March 11-14).

WHAT IT MEANS: It's certainly a sigh of relief that both teams improved Saturday and while still not the results the Buffs have come to expect, it's not time to hit the panic button. Nordic teams will have two weeks before the start of the RMISA Championships and then two weeks between that competition and the NCAA Championships, which is when it's always the goal to be in top form. Both teams have proven throughout the regular season that they have the firepower to keep up with Utah, now they'll focus on continuing to get healthy and train properly for the postseason.

TEAM NOTES:

The Buffs finished second in the women's race with 79 points, but still 22 points behind Utah's total of 101.
On the men's side, the Buffs improved by 15.5 points to score 66, but it's still not where they want to be either, as both Alaska Anchorage (102) and Utah (96) were 30-plus points ahead.

MEN'S NORDIC NOTES:

Boee's eighth-place finish gives him seven top 10 finishes in his first eight collegiate races. His 30th place finish was a little misleading on Friday, as when he was having issues with his legs, he decided to conserve energy for Saturday and it looks like that strategy paid off as he improved by 22 places.
Sondre Bollum just missed the top 10 with an 11th place finish, a position he's now seen himself in three times in eight races this season. He finished 11th in both RMISA Nordic Qualifier races in Aspen, and he has two 12th place finishes, as well, in the classic race at Steamboat Springs and the freestyle race at Maloit Park.
Ryan Jackson has now finished in the top 15 in five of his first six finishes. After missing the races in Aspen last week racing in Canada, he returned to the top 15 with a 12th place finish Saturday.
Andrew Potyk continues to be a consistent skier. Finishing 17th Saturday and 19th on Friday, he has now finished every race this season in the top 20, and in fact, all eight finishes are between 14th and 19th place.

WOMEN'S NORDIC NOTES:

Dietze hit the podium for the first time this season, taking second place. She has shown steady signs of improvement throughout her first season and now has three top 10 and seven top 20 finishes in her first eight races. She is the second women's Nordic skier to hit the podium and her second-place matches the best for CU this season in women's Nordic action, joining a pair of runner-up performances by Anne Siri Lervik.
Baangman has been the model of consistency for the Buffs and she has finished in the top 10 in all eight races to date. She has, in fact, finished between fifth and 10th in all eight races this season.

UP NEXT: The RMISA alpine teams will now take center stage next weekend to close out the Utah Invitational. After opening the season with six race in a span of nine days, the alpine teams haven't skied in a college race in almost six weeks. By the end of next weekend, the regular season will be completed and teams will shift focus to Bozeman, Mont., where Montana State will host both RMISA Championships (Feb. 27-29) and NCAA Championships (March 11-14).

TEAM STANDINGS (Through 4 of 8 Races): 1. Utah 387; 2. Alaska Anchorage 317; 3. Denver 282.5; 4. Colorado 265.5; 5. Montana State 237; 6. Alaska Fairbanks 192; 7. Wyoming 132.

WOMEN'S 10K CLASSIC (34 collegiate finishers)—1. Guro Jordheim, UU, 27:15.9; 2. Anna-Maria Dietze, CU, 27:24.3; 3. Julia Richter, UU, 27:28.5; 4. Eveliina Piippo, DU, 27:28.5; 5. Vera Norli, DU, 27:34.0; 6. Mariah Bredal, UU, 27:36.0; 7. Natalie Hynes, UAA, 27:37.0; 8. Karianne Moe, 27:40.1; 9. Leah Lang, UU, 27:40.5; 10. Hedda Baangman, CU, 27:41.0. Other CU Finishers: 14. Anne Siri Lervik, 28:25.6; 23. Ezra Smith, 29:37.0; 24. Quinn Lehmkuhl, 30:05.4. Did Not Start: Bridget Donovan.

MEN'S 10K FREESTYLE (37 collegiate finishers)—1. Maximillan Bie, UU, 23:27.7; 2. Sigurd Roenning, UAA, 23:28.5; 3. Espen Persen, UAA, 23:31.4; 4. J.C. Schoonmaker, UAA, 23:34.3; 5. Luke Jager, UU, 23:35.7; 6. Samuel Hendry, UU, 23:38.7; 7. Ola Jordheim, UU, 23:40.1; 8. Magnus Boee, CU, 23:49.0; 9. Ole Marius Kirkeng, DU, 23:51.1; 10. Bernhard Flaschberger, DU, 23:53.1. Other CU Finishers: 11. Sondre Bollum, 23:59.6; 12. Ryan Jackson, 24:09.1; 17. Andrew Potyk, 24:33.4; 29. Wyatt Gebhardt, 25:53.7; 31. Tyler Terranova, 26:29.6.

Dietze Earns Silver As Buffs Move Into Fourth At Utah

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Players Mentioned

Hedda Baangman

Magnus Boee

Sondre Bollum

Anna-Maria Dietze

Bridget Donovan

Wyatt Gebhardt

Ryan Jackson

Quinn Lehmkuhl

Anne Siri Lervik

Andrew Potyk

Ezra Smith

Tyler Terranova

Dietze Earns Silver As Buffs Move Into Fourth At Utah

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Next Event

Players Mentioned

Hedda Baangman

Magnus Boee

Sondre Bollum

Anna-Maria Dietze

Bridget Donovan

Wyatt Gebhardt

Ryan Jackson

Quinn Lehmkuhl

Anne Siri Lervik

Andrew Potyk

Ezra Smith

Tyler Terranova

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