Three Buffs Podium In Alaska

Saturday, February 5

Fairbanks, Alaska

All Day

Colorado

5/10K Classical (I)

Photo by: Tobias Albrigtsen

February 05, 2022 | Skiing

By: Curtis Snyder, Assistant AD/Sports Information

FAIRBANKS, Alaska--Hanna Abrahamsson, Magnus Boee, and Will Koch all hit the podium as the Colorado Buffaloes Ski Team had another outstanding day of skiing in Alaska with the continuation of the RMISA Invitational here at Birch Hill Saturday.

Abrahamsson and Boee were both runners up in the women's 5K and men's 10K freestyle races and just behind Boee in third place was Koch. All six scoring Buffs were in the top seven, in fact, as Anna-Maria Dietze finished sixth and Karolina Kaleta on the women's side and Fredrik Nilsen on the men's side both finished seventh.

The Buffs entered the RMISA Invitational, which included extra alpine races from Utah and Montana State for team-scoring purposes, in fifth place and moved up two spots into third. The women scored the second-most points in the field with 89 behind Utah's 100, and the men won their race with 96 points ahead of Utah (87) and Denver (81).

Utah had scored 520 points through six of eight races and Denver is second with 439 points. The Buffs moved past Westminster and Montana State and now have 399 points with the Bobcats in fourth with 390 and Westminster rounds out the top five with 299.

Abrahamsson got her second runner-up finish in her freshman season and third podium appearance. Boee picked up his 20th career podium performance in second place and Koch picked up his second straight podium, the first two of his career.

WHAT IT MEANS: The Buffs continued putting up solid performances Saturday in Alaska, proving the Buffs win in the UAF Nanook Invitational earlier in the week was no fluke. Boee returned to the podium and Koch is continuing to prove he's a threat in every race. Meanwhile, other Buffs are starting to move up the ranks, as well, as Nilsen picked up the first top 10 finish of his career and Oyvind Haugan continues to move up every race, taking 14th place. On the women's side, the trio of Abrahamsson, Dietze and Kaleta all finish in the top seven for the third straight race.

UP NEXT: The final day of racing in Alaska will also close out the RMISA Invitational. After Sunday's races, the regular season will be complete for the Nordic teams ahead of the RMISA Championships at the end of February. Sunday's races are part of the Besh Cup in Alaska, and will consiste of 10K classic races for both men and women.

TEAM NOTES:

The Buffs scored entered the Nordic portion of the RMISA Invitational in fifth place and moved up into fourth after the conclusion of the women's race, moving past Westminster, then moved into third ahead of Montana State in the men's race. The Buffs are just 40 points of out second after outsourcing the Pioneers 185-131 Saturday.
The women scored 89 points and finished second behind the Utes (100). Abrahamsson picked up 37 points, Dietze 27 and Kaleta 25.
The men scored 96 points, the most of the day, and nine ahead of Utah. Boee picked up 37 points with Koch taking 34 and Nilsen 25.
The Buffs scored a combined 185 on the day, just two points behind Utah's two-race total of 187.
Boee and Koch hitting the podium mark the first time this season two Buffs have hit the podium in the same race. It's the first time the Buffs have accomplished the feat since the 2021 NCAA Championships when Cass Gray won and Stef Fleckenstein took second in the GS race. It's the first men's Nordic podium since the 2018 DU Invitational when Alvar Alev won and Petter Reistadt took second.

WOMEN'S INDIVIDUAL NOTES:

Hanna Abrahamsson finished second, her third podium of the season, and second in a row after finishing third in the 10K freestyle race on Wednesday. It matches her season/career-best of second in her first race at the Utah Invitational earlier in the season. She now has seven straight top-five finishes to start her career.
Anna-Maria Dietze finished sixth, her third straight top 10 here in Alaska, all coming in the top six. She now has 15 career top 10 finishes, 10 coming in freestyle races.
Karolina Kaleta finished seventh, her third straight top 10 and fifth in eight races this season. She's finished in the top seven in all three races in Alaska.
Kili Lehmkuhl finished 18th, the best finish of her season and career, bettering a 19th place finish in the 10K Classic race at the Utah Invitational. She now has two top 20 finishes and has finished between 18th and 24th in all eight career races.

MEN'S INDIVIDUAL NOTES

Magnus Boee finished second, the fourth podium of his season and 20th of his career. He now has finished in the top seven in the last 20 races. His 20 career podiums rank tied for 12th all-time, ninth for men's skiers and he's the sixth men's Nordic skier to hit the 20 podiums mark.
Will Koch finished third, the second straight podium and second of his career. He's now finished in the top four in all three races this week in Alaska. He's finished in the top 10 in all seven races this season and in 11 of 17 career races to date. .
Fredrik Nilsen finished seventh, his career-best finish by six spots. He previously finished 13th in two classic races, and his best freestyle finish prior to Saturday was 15th at Montana State.
Oyvind Haugan finished 14th as he continues to get back into the form he showed as a freshman. It's his best finish by five spots, as he's moved from 29th to 22nd to 19th and now 14th in his four races this season. He has 12 career top 20 finishes in 15 career races.
Alexander Maurer finished 18th, his fourth top 20 of the season and third in a row.
Ryan Jackson finished 25th in his 24th career race and has finished between 22nd and 25th in three of his five finishes this season.
Wyatt Gebhardt finished 28th for the second race in a row and he has fluctuated from finishing 21st to 32nd in the eight races this season. He's now finished all 38 of his career races.

RMISA Invitational Team Results (Through 6 of 8 Races): 1. Utah 520; 2. Denver 439; 3. Colorado 399; 4. Montana State 390; 5. Westminster 299; 6. Alaska Anchorage 261; 7. Colorado Mountain 181; 8. Alaska Fairbanks 114.

Women's 5K Freestyle (28 collegiate finishers): 1. Sydney Palmer-Leger, UU, 14:35.1; 2. Hanna Abrahamsson, CU, 14:51.6; 3. Kendall Kramer, UAF, 14:56.6; 4. Abigail Jarzin, UU, 15:07.9; 5. Julia Richter, UU, 15:14.0; 6. Anna-Maria Dietze, CU, 15:37.4; 7. Karolina Kaleta, CU, 15:43.7; 8. Karianne Dengerud, UU, 15:48.2; 9. Isobel Hendry, MSU, 15:50.3; 10. Karly Coyne, UAA, 15:50.9. Other CU Finishers: 18. Kili Lehmkuhl, 16:45.7.

Men's 10K Freestyle (3 collegiate finishers): 1. Bernhard Flaschberger, DU, 26:36.0; 2. Magnus Boee, 26:38.8; 3. Will Koch, 26:44.8; 4. Sam Hendry, 26:53.7; 5. Brian Bushey, UU, 26:56.7; 6. Bjorn Riksaasen, UU, 26:59.6; 7. Fredrik Nilsen, CU, 27:03.0; 8. Espen Persen, UAA, 27:07.6; 9. Walker Hall, UU, 27:13.6; 10. Ole Marius Kirkeng, DU, 27:20.2. Other CU Finishers: 14. Oyvind Haugan, 27:32.6; 18. Alexander Maurer, 27:42.1; 25. Ryan Jackson, 29:47.2; 28. Wyatt Gebhardt, 30:56.6.