Seven Buffs Pick Up Top 10s At RMISA Championships

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo.—Hanna Abrahamsson, Magnus Boee and Louis Fausa picked up top five finishes as the Colorado Buffaloes Ski Team moved into third place at the 2022 RMISA Championships, a meet that triples as the NCAA West Regional and the CU Spencer James Nelson Memorial Invitational.

The Nordic races, the men's 10K and women's 5K classical, were part of the team scoring for the championship meet while the alpine races were an extra qualifier race for the NCAA Championships.

Boee took second place in the men's 10K race to open the day with all five Buffs placing in the top 20. Oyvind Haugan (11th), Fredrik Nilsen (13th) and Ryan Jackson (15th) all hit the top 15 while Wyatt Gebhardt (20th) rounded out the men's skiers.

In the women's 5K race, Abrahamsson finished fourth behind a trio of Utah Utes, with Anna Maria-Dietze finishing 14th and Kili Lehmkuhl placing 18th for the Buffaloes.

The Nordic teams were a little short handed as four Buffs are in Norway competing in the U23 and Junior World Cross Country Championships. Karolina and Weronika Kaleta on the women's side and Alexander Maurer and Will Koch, who already has a bronze medal in the games, on the men's side.

In the team standings, the Buffs fell further behind Utah but moved up from third to second behind the Utes (510 points) and Denver (443). Colorado's total of 381.5 is ahead of Montana State (350) with Westminster rounding out the top five with 328 points.

Alpine action was an extra qualifier, the final chance to improve seeding for the NCAA Championships, but without the pressure of scoring for the team. Fausa hit the podium in third place, moving all the way up from ninth after the first run to finish in the top three on the strength of the third fastest second run.

Fausa was joined by four other Buffs in the top 10 with Jacob Dilling taking sixth in the men's race and Joey Young finishing tied for 10th. On the women's side, Emma Hammergaard and Magdalena Luczak tied for seventh while Kaitlyn Harsch finished 12th.

The alpine teams were celebrating the seniors around the RMISA, as for many it is their final college action, or at least the last time they'll compete on the western circuit ahead of NCAA Championships. Harsch, Young and Max Bervy, who finished 23rd, wore the senior bibs and gave a speech after the awards ceremony on the alpine side and were joined by Ryan Jackson and Wyatt Gebhardt on the Nordic side for the speech-giving.

WHAT IT MEANS: Overall it was a solid day for the Buffs. Nordic coach Jana Weinberger I'm sure would've liked more top 10 performers, but every single skier finishing in the top 20 is solid day. On the alpine side, Luczak's seventh place finish was key for NCAA Qualification. She moved all the way up from 32nd to seventh after having to hike in Thursday's slalom race. All the alpine seniors went out on a strong note, especially Harsch (12th) and Young (10th) on the alpine side.

UP NEXT: Saturday will close out four days of competition at Steamboat Springs. The Nordic teams will close out the championships wit the women's 15K and men's 20K freestyle races and the alpine teams will hold a parallel slalom exhibition. The parallel race won't hold any point or team scoring implications, and is simply being held as a practice for potentially becoming an official part of the NCAA Championships in the future.

TEAM NOTES:

The Buffs scored 75 points in the men's race, second behind Denver, and 65 points in the women's race, third behind Utah and Alaska Fairbanks. The Buffs 130 combined points were the third most on the day behind Utah and Denver.
The Buffs moved into third place past Westminster, but moved a little further back to both Utah and Denver. The Buffs total of 381.5 points is 128.5 behind Utah and 67 behind Denver.
The men scored 75 points led by Boee with 37 while Haugan scored 20 and Nilsen 18.
The women scored 65 points with Abrahamsson scoring 31, Dietze 19 and Lehmkuhl 15.

WOMEN'S NORDIC NOTES:

Hanna Abrahamsson finished fourth, her eighth straight top five finish to open her career. She just missed out on her fourth podium of the season by one spot and in classic races has finished second once and either fourth or fifth in the other four races.
Anna-Maria Dietze finished 14th, her sixth straight top 20 finish of the season. She has finished in the top 14 in all six races and has three top 10 performances this season.
Kili Lehmkuhl finished 18th, her season/career best classic performance and matching her overall best performance. It's her third top 20 finish of the season and second straight.

MEN'S NORDIC NOTES:

Magnus Boee finished second, his fifth podium of the season and third in classic races. He now has a first and second place finish in classic races, aiding in his NCAA Qualification. He now has 21 career podium finishes, 26 top 5 and 31 top 10 in 32 races finished.
Oyvind Haugan finished 11th, his best finish of the season and he continues to get stronger as the season progresses. He has finished 29th, 22nd, 19th, 14th and 11th in succession this season.
Fredrik Nilsen finished 13th matching his second-best classic finish of the season. He's finished in the top 20 in all nine races to start his career.
Ryan Jackson finished 15th, his best finish of the season and first top 20. It marks his 18th career top 20 finish in 25 career races.
Wyatt Gebhardt finished 20th, his best finish of the season and first top 20. It marks his 20th career top 20 performance in 39 career races.

WOMEN'S ALPINE NOTES:

Emma Hammergaard finished seventh, continuing her breakthrough into the top eight. She had eight finishes of eighth as her career best before this week and has now put three better performances together. She took sixth in the slalom race at the DU Invitational and second in the GS race Wednesday before today's seventh place finish.
Magdalena Luczak finished seventh, an all-important result for her NCAA Qualification status. She had hiked in Thursday's slalom races.
Kaitlyn Harsch finished 12th, one spot better than her 13th place finish on Thursday. She now has 41 race starts in her career and has finished 34 of them with 23 in the top 20.
Elena Exenberger did not finish her first run.

MEN'S ALPINE NOTES

Louis Fausa finished third, his career best finish and first career podium in college racing. He's had a solid nine days of skiing, finishing five of six races, all in the top seven with two top five finishes and a podium appearance. He has five top five and 14 top 10 performances.
Jacob Dilling finished sixth, his 10th top 10 finish in 12 races this season. He hasn't finished lower than 15th and has finished in the top six five times this season.
Joey Young finished 10th, his first top 10 of the season and seventh top 20 finish in 12 races. He now has a CU record 60 races started in his career and he picked up his 20th top 10 finish. He has finished 49 of those 60 races with 40 top 20 and top 10 performances including seven top fives, three podiums and two race wins.
Bobby Ryan finished 18th for the second straight race, matching his second-best slalom finishes of the season. He has four top 20 finishes this season and 15 in his career now.
Max Bervy finished 23rd, Alex Birkner didn't finish his first run and Chase Seymour didn't finish his second run.

RMISA CHAMPIONSHIPS TEAM SCORING (Thru 6 of 8 Races): 1. Utah 510; 2. Denver 443; 3. Colorado 381.5; 4. Montana State 350; 5. Westminster 328; 6. Alaska Anchorage 323; 7. Colorado Mountain 186.5; 8. Alaska Fairbanks 122; 9. Wyoming 49.

MEN'S 10K FREESTYLE (34 collegiate finishers): 1. Andreas Kirkeng, DU, 27:29.5; 2. Magnus Boee, CU, 27:46.3; 3. Luke Jager, UU, 27:50.8; 4. Bjorn Riksassen, UU, 28:16.0; 5. J.C. Schoonmaker, UAA, 28:21.1; 6. Bernhard Flaschberger, DU, 28:29.8; 7. Ole Marius Kirkeng, DU, 28:52.5; 8. Kai Meyers, MSU, 29:03.6; 9. Christopher Kalev, UAF, 29:11.6; 10. Reed Godfrey, MSU, 29:12.2. Other CU Finishers: 11. Oyvind Haugan, 29:16.5; 13. Fredrik Nilsen, 29:26.2; 15. Ryan Jackson, 29:51.8; 20. Wyatt Gebhardt, 30:47.8.

WOMEN'S 5K CLASSIC (28 collegiate finishers): 1. Novie McCabe, UU, 14:56.3; 2. Sophie Laulki, UU, 15:05.4; 3. Julie Richter, UU, 15:32.2; 4. Hanna Abrahamsson, CU, 15:49.5; 5. Mariel Pulles, UAF, 15:50.9; 6. Astrid Stav, UAA, 15:57.8; 7. Kendall Kramer, UAF, 16:01.7; 8. Hanna Ray, DU, 16:09.4; 9. Karianne Dengerud, UU, 16:23.0; 10. Vera Norli, DU, 16:26.8. Other CU Finishers: 14. Anna-Maria Dietze, 16:54.7; 18. Kili Lehmkuhl, 17:11.6.

WOMEN'S SLALOM (27 collegiate finishers): 1. Kristiane Bekkestad, MSU, 1:22.85; 2. Eveline Fredricsson, WMC, 1:23.10; 3. Denise Dingsleder, WMC, 1:23.22; 4. Kaja Norbye, UU, 1:23.30; 5. Eleri Smart, DU, 1:23.85; 6. Katie Parker, UU, 1:24.11; 7. Emma Hammergaard, CU & Magdalena Luczak, CU, 1:24.18; 9. Michelle Kerven, UU, 1:24.44; 10. Ainsley Profitt, CMC, 1:24.50. Other CU Finishers: 12. Kaitlyn Harsch, 1:24.73. Did Not Finish: Elena Exenberger.

MEN'S SLALOM (30 collegiate finishers): 1. Wilhelm Normannseth, UU, 1:25.69; 2. Leon Nikic, UAA, 1:26.30; 3. Louis Fausa, CU, 1:26.86; 4. Tobias Kogler, DU, 1:26.96; 5. Tobias Kogler, DU, 1:26.96; 6. Jacob Dilling, CU, 1:27.12; 7. Henry Heaydon, MSU, 1:27.22; 8. Jeremy Mathers, UU, 1:27.47; 9. Simon Fournier, DU, 1:27.67; 10. Joey Young, CU & Tristan Lane, DU, 1:27.86. Other CU Finishers: 18. Bobby Ryan, 1:28.43; 23. Max Bervy, 1:28.82. Did Not Finish First Run: Alex Birkner. Did Not Finish Second Run: Chase Seymour.

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Players Mentioned

Hanna Abrahamsson

Max Bervy

Alex Birkner

Magnus Boee

Anna-Maria Dietze

Jacob Dilling

Elena Exenberger

Louis Fausa

Wyatt Gebhardt

Emma Hammergaard

Kaitlyn Harsch

Oyvind Haugan

Ryan Jackson

Weronika Kaleta

Will Koch

Kili Lehmkuhl

Magdalena Luczak

Alexander Maurer

Fredrik Nilsen

Bobby Ryan

Chase Seymour

Joey Young