Tuesday, February 1
Fairbanks, Alaska
All Day
Colorado
vs
5K Freestyle (T)
Magnus Boee (left) edges out Will Koch as the two finish third and fourth in the men's race.
Photo by: Tobias Albrigtsen
Five Top Six Finishes Propel Buffs To Second In Alaska
February 01, 2022 | Skiing
FAIRBANKS, Alaska – Five University of Colorado Skiers finished in the top six in the men's and women's classic races, led by another podium performance from junior Magnus Boee, and the Buffs sit in second place at the midpoint of the UAF Nanook Invitational here at Birch Hill.
In the first RMISA races in Fairbanks since 1989, the Buffs went 3-4 in the men's race and 4-5-6 in the women's race, results which will usually put a team in the lead of a meet. But the Utah women swept the podium and with the weighted results were able to take that momentum into the overall lead. The Denver men went 1-2 on that side, and as it stands it's a three-team race between those three schools. Utah leads with 185 points followed by Colorado at 170.5 while Denver is third with 150 points, ahead of host Alaska Fairbanks in fourth with 125.
In a unique team start, each member of a team starts the race at the same time, and teams are staggered in two-minute increments. The Buffs were the third team off the line in the men's race and the second team in the women's race. Thus with Boee and sophomore Will Koch finishing two-tenths of a second apart, they were in a sprint for a podium finish. Freshman Hanna Abrahamsson led the CU women in fourth place followed quickly by Karolina Kaleta in fifth and Anna-Maria Dietze in sixth with all three within 11 seconds of each other.
Abrahamsson continued her streak of top-five finishes to start a career, having now done so in five straight races. Kaleta matched her career-best of fifth place, the first of which she attained in a freestyle sprint race at the start of the season. Dietze had her best finish since taking fifth place almost exactly a year ago in a freestyle sprint race at the CU Invitational on Feb. 5 of last year.
Boee picked up his third podium of the season and matched his best freestyle finish taking third. He now has 19 career podium finishes. Sophomore Will Koch finally broke through to pick up his first career top-five finish, having finished the first four races of the season, and eight in his career, in places six through 10. He now has a fifth and sixth place freestyle finish on the season. Koch missed his first career podium by finishing just two-tenths of a second behind Boee.
WHAT IT MEANS: While several teams are a little short-handed with the Olympics on the horizon, it's a great sign that the CU women placed three in the top six. Abrahamsson continues to impress in her rookie season and Kaleta looks to be continuing to get stronger while Dietze returned to her regular place in the top 10. Koch has also been impressive on the men's side, sticking with Boee down to the wire in the men's race. Several of CU's other men's skiers are all capable of finishing in the top 10 if not higher, so the outlook is good for the Nordic team.
UP NEXT: Wednesday will mark the second of four days of racing in Fairbanks and will close out the UAF Nanook Invitational with another rare race occurrence with a 10K freestyle pursuit race. Racers will start tomorrow's races with the advantage they earned in today's classic races. The official race results and team scoring will be based on that pursuit finish.
TEAM NOTES:
UAF Nanook Invitational Team Results (Through 2 of 4 Races): 1. Utah 185; 2. Colorado 170.5; 3. Denver 150; 4. Alaska Fairbanks 125; 5. Montana State 106; 6. Alaska Anchorage 105.5.
Women's 5K Classic (30 collegiate finishers): 1. Sydney Palmer-Leger, UU, 15:48.2; 2. Julia Richter, UU, 15:50.8; 3. Karianne Dengerud, UU, 15:56.9; 4. Hanna Abrahamsson, CU, 16:22.4; 5. Karolina Kaleta, CU, 16:30.3; 6. Anna-Maria Dietze, CU, 16:33.3; 7. Sophia Mazzoni, MSU and Pascale Paradis, UAA, 16:33.6; 9. Kendall Kramer, UAF, 16:41.8; 10. Anna Pryce, MSU, 16:42.3. Other CU Finishers: 23. Kili Lehmkuhl, 18:04.6.
Men's 5K Classic (33 collegiate finishers): 1. Andreas Kirkeng, DU, 13:22.5; 2. Ole Marius Kirkeng, DU, 13:22.7; 3. Magnus Boee, CU, 13:36.2; 4. Will Koch, CU, 13:36.4; 5. Joe Davies, UAF, 13:46.2; 6. Walker Hall, UU, 13:46.3; 7. Brain Bushey, UU, 13:47.6; 8. Christopher Kalev, UAF, 13:48.8; 9. Bjorn Riksassen, UU, 13:47.6; 10. Mike Ophoff, UAF, 13:52.0. Other CU Finishers: t-13. Fredrik Nilsen, 13:58.7; 15. Alexander Maurer, 13:59.0; 22. Oyvind Haugan, 14:23.1; 25. Ryan Jackson, 14:46.4; 32. Wyatt Gebhardt, 16;07.8.
In the first RMISA races in Fairbanks since 1989, the Buffs went 3-4 in the men's race and 4-5-6 in the women's race, results which will usually put a team in the lead of a meet. But the Utah women swept the podium and with the weighted results were able to take that momentum into the overall lead. The Denver men went 1-2 on that side, and as it stands it's a three-team race between those three schools. Utah leads with 185 points followed by Colorado at 170.5 while Denver is third with 150 points, ahead of host Alaska Fairbanks in fourth with 125.
In a unique team start, each member of a team starts the race at the same time, and teams are staggered in two-minute increments. The Buffs were the third team off the line in the men's race and the second team in the women's race. Thus with Boee and sophomore Will Koch finishing two-tenths of a second apart, they were in a sprint for a podium finish. Freshman Hanna Abrahamsson led the CU women in fourth place followed quickly by Karolina Kaleta in fifth and Anna-Maria Dietze in sixth with all three within 11 seconds of each other.
Abrahamsson continued her streak of top-five finishes to start a career, having now done so in five straight races. Kaleta matched her career-best of fifth place, the first of which she attained in a freestyle sprint race at the start of the season. Dietze had her best finish since taking fifth place almost exactly a year ago in a freestyle sprint race at the CU Invitational on Feb. 5 of last year.
Boee picked up his third podium of the season and matched his best freestyle finish taking third. He now has 19 career podium finishes. Sophomore Will Koch finally broke through to pick up his first career top-five finish, having finished the first four races of the season, and eight in his career, in places six through 10. He now has a fifth and sixth place freestyle finish on the season. Koch missed his first career podium by finishing just two-tenths of a second behind Boee.
WHAT IT MEANS: While several teams are a little short-handed with the Olympics on the horizon, it's a great sign that the CU women placed three in the top six. Abrahamsson continues to impress in her rookie season and Kaleta looks to be continuing to get stronger while Dietze returned to her regular place in the top 10. Koch has also been impressive on the men's side, sticking with Boee down to the wire in the men's race. Several of CU's other men's skiers are all capable of finishing in the top 10 if not higher, so the outlook is good for the Nordic team.
UP NEXT: Wednesday will mark the second of four days of racing in Fairbanks and will close out the UAF Nanook Invitational with another rare race occurrence with a 10K freestyle pursuit race. Racers will start tomorrow's races with the advantage they earned in today's classic races. The official race results and team scoring will be based on that pursuit finish.
TEAM NOTES:
- The Buffs finished second in both the women's and men's 5K classic races and sit in second overall with 160.5 points, 24.5 points behind Utah, and 10.5 points ahead of third-place Denver.
- The women scored 87 points by finishing 4-5-6 behind Utah's podium sweep (and resulting 111 points). Abrahamsson picked up 31 points, Kaleta 29 and Dietze 27.
- The men scored 83.5 points, 13.5 behind Denver's total of 97 and 9.5 ahead of Utah's 74. Boee picked up 34 points with Koch earning 31 and Fredrik Nilsen picked up 18.5 points as he tied for 13th place with UAA's Magnus Noroey.
- The 170.5 points marked the best single day for the Nordic teams this season. The previous best was 156 (80 for men, 76 for women) in the classic races at the Utah Invitational.
- Hanna Abrahamsson finished fourth, her fifth straight top-five finish to open her career. She now has one second, two fourth-place finishes, and two fifth-place finishes in her first five races.
- Karolina Kaleta finished fifth, her second top-five finish, and first since her career debut, when she took fifth in the freestyle sprint races at the Utah Invitational, also the U.S. National Championships. It's her second top-five and third top 10 finish through six races of her career.
- Anna-Maria Dietze finished sixth, her best finish on the young season (just her third race) and her best finish in almost exactly a year, since taking fifth in the freestyle sprint races at the 2021 CU Invitational on Feb. 5, 2021. It's her 13th career top 10 finish, eight of which have come in the top six.
- Kili Lehmkuhl finished 23rd, and she has now finished between 19th and 23rd in the first six races of her career. It's her second straight 23rd place finish, also coming in 23rd in the 10K classic race at Montana State.
- Magnus Boee finished third, his third podium this season, and 19th in his career. It's his second podium in freestyle and he's now finished third, third, and fourth in the three freestyle races this season. It marks his 24th career top-five and 28th career top 10 finish in 29 career races.
- Will Koch finished fourth, a new career-best finish, and his first career top-five finish in a college race. It also marks his ninth career top 10 and 15th top 20 finish in 15 career races.
- Fredrik Nilsen finished tied for 13th, extending his streak of top 20 finishes to open his career to six. He's now finished between 12th and 20th in all six college races. His 13th is the best freestyle finish for him, ahead of a 15th place finish in the Montana State Invitational.
- Alexander Maurer finished 15th, the second-best finish of his rookie season and career. He finished seventh in the 15K classic race at the Utah Invitational and U.S. National Championships. He now has three top 20 finishes in his career.
- Oyvind Haugan finished 22nd, the best finish for him this season although still a little off his results from a season ago. He didn't race the first three of the season and then finished just one of two races at Montana State. As a freshman, nine of his 10 races resulted in top 10 finishes with six top-five performances.
- Ryan Jackson finished 25th, his third finish this season between 22nd and 28th place.
- Wyatt Gebhardt finished 32nd in his 36th career race.
UAF Nanook Invitational Team Results (Through 2 of 4 Races): 1. Utah 185; 2. Colorado 170.5; 3. Denver 150; 4. Alaska Fairbanks 125; 5. Montana State 106; 6. Alaska Anchorage 105.5.
Women's 5K Classic (30 collegiate finishers): 1. Sydney Palmer-Leger, UU, 15:48.2; 2. Julia Richter, UU, 15:50.8; 3. Karianne Dengerud, UU, 15:56.9; 4. Hanna Abrahamsson, CU, 16:22.4; 5. Karolina Kaleta, CU, 16:30.3; 6. Anna-Maria Dietze, CU, 16:33.3; 7. Sophia Mazzoni, MSU and Pascale Paradis, UAA, 16:33.6; 9. Kendall Kramer, UAF, 16:41.8; 10. Anna Pryce, MSU, 16:42.3. Other CU Finishers: 23. Kili Lehmkuhl, 18:04.6.
Men's 5K Classic (33 collegiate finishers): 1. Andreas Kirkeng, DU, 13:22.5; 2. Ole Marius Kirkeng, DU, 13:22.7; 3. Magnus Boee, CU, 13:36.2; 4. Will Koch, CU, 13:36.4; 5. Joe Davies, UAF, 13:46.2; 6. Walker Hall, UU, 13:46.3; 7. Brain Bushey, UU, 13:47.6; 8. Christopher Kalev, UAF, 13:48.8; 9. Bjorn Riksassen, UU, 13:47.6; 10. Mike Ophoff, UAF, 13:52.0. Other CU Finishers: t-13. Fredrik Nilsen, 13:58.7; 15. Alexander Maurer, 13:59.0; 22. Oyvind Haugan, 14:23.1; 25. Ryan Jackson, 14:46.4; 32. Wyatt Gebhardt, 16;07.8.
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