Abrahamsson, Boee Lead Buffs Into Third At MSU Invitational

Saturday, January 15

Sun Valley, Idaho

All Day

Colorado

5/10K Freestyle (I)

Abrahamsson, Boee Lead Buffs Into Third At MSU Invitational

January 15, 2022 | Skiing

By: Curtis Snyder, Assistant AD/Sports Information

KETCHUM, Idaho–Led by fourth place finished by both freshman Hanna Abrahamsson and junior Magnus Boee, the Colorado Buffaloes Ski Team sits in third place, just one point out of second here Saturday in Sun Valley after the first day of the Montana State Invitational.

The Buffs finished fourth as a team in the women's race and third in the men's race and sit in third place with 139 points, just one point behind Alaska Fairbanks (140). Utah leads the way with 204 points. Alaska Anchorage is fourth with 129 points followed by Denver (121), Montana State (109) and Wyoming (56).

"Today was kind of a medium day," CU Nordic Coach Jana Weinberger said. "I'm not happy about being behind UAF. We've been racing a lot, I think people are tired, but we will look to finish this trip strong tomorrow, get into second place and try to get closer to Utah. Tomorrow is another day, we'll do better tomorrow."

The Utes swept the women's race, followed by Abrahamsson in fourth place, her third straight top five finish to begin her career. She was the only CU skier in the top 10, however, as junior Anna-Maria Dietze was next in 14th place in her first collegiate race of the season, with Karolina Kaleta also scoring for the Buffs in 17th place.

"It was OK today," Abrahamsson said. "The first part of the race was good, it was flatter, then it got steep near the end and I felt like I just kind of died. I like classic skiing a lot more than skating, and I like the longer distances, so I'm looking forward to tomorrow."

On the men's side, Boee's fourth place finish is the 23rd top five finish in his 27 career races, and his 16th straight top five finish. Will Koch finished seventh on the men's side followed by Fredrik Nilsen in 15th as the Buffs third team scorer. For Koch, he has now finished seventh in both freestyle races this season and has four straight top 10 finishes to start his sophomore campaign. He had four top 10 finishes all of his All-American freshman season.

"I'm a little annoyed at myself that I couldn't take a few seconds off my time and get into second place," Boee said. "I had a pretty good race going with one of the other races, and in the last 2.5K, if I had really dug deep I could've hung onto him and that probably cost me second place. I know I can do better, but today was acceptable. My engine is working. This gives me some good things to work on after tomorrow's race before we go to Alaska. But tomorrow is my best event, the 15K classic. It will be a strong field, with pros alongside college skiers. It won't be an easy ride, but I knew coming into this weekend Sunday could be my day."

Denver's Bernhard Flaschberger had a really solid race and his time was just over a minute ahead of Boee (26:42.5 to 27:44.0), while the two racers between them were much closer to Boee, Utah's Walker Hall (27:32.1) and Sam Hendry (27:35.5) were both less than 12 seconds ahead of Boee.

"Overall, I thought Magnus, Will and Hanna had really good races," Weinberger said. "The others could've done a little better. We'll be looking to finish this road trip strong, get back home, regroup and prepare for the next races. But for tomorrow, I'm excited to see what Zander (Maurer) can do. Magnus and Hanna are both better in classic, Karolina is as well."

WHAT IT MEANS: The Buffs had a few bright spots on an otherwise average day, and will be actively looking for ways to fix those issues in the coming weeks. But first, if the Buffs can have a solid classic day Sunday, the first two weeks of racing and first two meets are in the books and the Buffs now have a barometer of where they are and where they can be by the end of the season. A solid final day will mean a successful start to the season and put the Buffs in a good position to improve before heading to Alaska in two weeks.

UP NEXT: The Buffs will close out the Montana State Invitational, and close two-and-a-half weeks on the road, Sunday here with the 10K women's and 15K men's classic races. After Sunday, the Nordic teams will have two weeks before heading to Alaska while the alpine teams begin their respective seasons with two meets and six days of racing over the next eight days starting Tuesday.

TEAM NOTES:

The Buffs scored 139 points on the day and sit in third place, just one point behind Alaska Fairbanks (140) and 65 points behind Utah's total of 204.
The Buffs finished third in the men's race with 74 points behind Utah (93) and Denver (76). Scoring for the men were Boee (34 points), Koch (25) and Nilsen (18)
The Buffs finished fourth in the women's race with 65 points behind Utah (111), Alaska Fairbanks (77) and Alaska Anchorage (68). Scoring for the women were Abrahamsson (34), Dietze (18) and Karolina Kaleta (16).
The Buffs scored nine points less than they scored in the freestyle races at the Utah Invitational, but with those being sprint races as part of the U.S. National Championships and race being a more traditional 5K freestyle race, the comparison is harder to judge. Last week, the Buffs performed better in the classic races, scoring eight more points than in freestyle.

MEN'S INDIVIDUAL NOTES:

Magnus Boee finished fourth, his fourth top five finish in four races this season. He has now finished in the top five in 16 straight and in 23 of 27 career races. He has now finished 11 of his 14 career freestyle races in the top five.
Will Koch finished seventh today, his fourth straight top 10 finish to open the season. He also finished seventh in the freestyle race at the Utah Invitational, both matching his second best career freestyle finish.
Fredrik Nilsen finished 15th, bettering his freestyle performance at the Utah Invitational by four places. He now has four top 20 finishes to open his career and has finished 13th or 15th in three of those four races.
Alexander Maurer finished 21st, his fourth straight top 25 finish to open the seasons, and he improved four spots from his first freestyle college race (25th) last week at the Utah Invitational.
Wyatt Gebhardt finished 27th, four spots better than the freestyle race at the Utah Invitational. He performed better in both classic races at Soldier Hollow last week.
Ryan Jackson finished 28th and Oyvind Haugan 29th in their first races of the season.

WOMEN'S INDIVIDUAL NOTES:

Hanna Abrahamsson finished fourth to give her four straight top five finishes to open her career. She's the first Buff to open a season with four straight top fives since both Hedda Baangman and Petra Hyncicova did so to open the 2018 season. She's the first freshman to accomplish the feat since Baangman that same season in 2018.
Anna-Maria Dietze finished 14th, her 21st career top 15 finish in her first finish of the 2022 season.
Karolina Kaleta finished 17th, her fourth straight top 20 finish to open her career. She has two top 10 and one top five early in her career.
Weronika Kaleta finished 19th place for her 15th career top 20 finish in 16 career races.
Kili Lehmkuhl finished 21st and has now finished between 19th and 22nd in her first four collegiate races. She was also 21st in the other freestyle race as part of the Utah Invitational.

MONTANA STATE INVITATIONAL TEAM STANDINGS (Thru 2 of 8 Events): 1. Utah 204; 2. Alaska Fairbanks 140; 3. Colorado 139; 4. Alaska Anchorage 129; 5. Denver 121; 6. Montana State 109; 7. Wyoming 56.

WOMEN'S 5K FREESTYLE (34 collegiate finishers)—1. Sophia Laluki, UU, 15:17.2; 2. Movie McCabe, UU, 15:19.1; 3. Sydney Palmer-Leger, UU, 16:02.1; 4. Hanna Abrahamsson, CU, 16:10.7; 5. Mariel Pulles, UAF, 16:12.6; Pascale Paradis, UAA, 16:14.2; 7. Kendall Kramer, UAF, 16:16.3; 8. Rosie Fordham, UAF, 16:38.1; 9. Julia Richter, UU, 16:44.5; 10. Isobel Hendry, MSU, 16:52.1. Other CU Finishers: 14. Anna-Maria Dietze, 17:07.3; 17. Karolina Kaleta, 17:13.3; 19. Weronika Kaleta, 17:18.6; 21. Kili Lehmkuhl, 17:50.4.

MEN'S 10K FREESTYLE (45 collegiate finishers)—1. Bernhard Flaschberger, DU, 26:42.5; 2. Walker Hall, UU, 27:32.1; 3. Sam Hendry, UU, 27:35.5; 4. Magnus Boee, CU, 27:44.0; 5. Joe Davies, UAF, 27:48.8; 6. Reed Godfrey, MSU, 27:52.0; 7. Will Koch, CU, 27:56.2; 8. J.C. Schoonmaker, UAA, 28:04.3; 9. Brian Bushey, UU, 28:13.3; 10. Espen Persen, UAA, 28:15.0. Other CU Finishers: 15. Fredrik Nilsen, 28:33.1; 21. Alexander Maurer, 29:05.5; 27. Wyatt Gebhardt, 30:01.7; 28. Ryan Jackson, 30:05.9; 29. Oyvnd Haugan, 30:06.6.