Dilling, Abrahamsson Podium, Buffs Third At DU

GEORGETOWN & MINTURN, Colo.—Another busy day of racing that saw all four disciplines in action ended much as it started with the Colorado Buffaloes Ski Teams in third place at the Denver Invitational here Saturday at Loveland Ski Area (alpine) and Maloit Park (Nordic).

Highlighting the Buffs were podium performances by Jacob Dilling, who took a career-best second in the men's slalom race, and Hanna Abrahamsson, who finished third in the women's 10K classic race.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The women's Nordic team opened the day with a 10K classic race, and Abrahamsson led the way picking up her fourth podium of the season in third place, with Anna-Maria Dietze close behind in fifth place. Abrahamsson was in a pack with two Utah skiers the first half of the race.

The two Utes pulled away the second half of the race but Abrahamsson finished strong and had an almost minute lead over fourth place. Dietze was in pack with four other skiers and ended up finishing second out of that pack in the last quarter of the race to take fifth place Elena Grissom had her first top 10 finish, taking 10th as the Buffs third scorer.

The men's 10K classic was finished next and the Buffs were paced by Magnus Boee in sixth place while Alexander Mauer took eighth, his best finish this season and second-best in his career. Will Koch was the Buffs third team scorer in 14th place.

Meanwhile, 30 miles to the west at Loveland Ski Area, the women's alpine team took part in a slalom race, led by Emma Hammergaard's sixth place finish. Elena Exenberger finished 17th and Cleo Braun 24th to score for the team.

The men's alpine team closed out the day with Dilling taking the spotlight. Sitting fourth after the first run, he used the fastest time in the second run to move up two spots and finished second. Louis Fausa finished ninth as the Buffs only two finishers in the race.

WHAT IT MEANS
Several Buffs had solid days of skiing, and just as the Buffs looked to be at full strength, Filip Forejtek and Weronika Kaleta both did not ski Saturday. Still, the Buffs maintained their third place standing in the meet with one day of slalom remaining. After that there will be a much-needed break for the Buffaloes before heading to Alaska for the final regular season meet and the RMISA Championships.

UP NEXT
Sunday will see the alpine teams take part in another slalom race as the Denver Invitational comes to a close.

TEAM NOTES

The Buffs scored 269 points in four races on Saturday, 85 in women's Nordic, 72 in men's Nordic, 59 in men's alpine and 53 in women's alpine.
The Buffs sit 44 points behind Denver in second place while Utah has a commanding lead of 559 points, 146 ahead of the Buffaloes.

WOMEN'S ALPINE NOTES

Hammergaard finished sixth for another solid race, her 21st career top 10 finish. She sat in sixth place after the first run and held the position.
Exenberger finished 17th for the second straight day and continued her streak of top 20 finishes, now having finished in the top 20 of all 14 of her career finished races, in 18 career starts.
Cleo Braun finished 24th and Kaitlyn Harsch did not finish the first run.

MEN'S ALPINE NOTES

Dilling earned a silver medal in second place on the strength of the fastest second run. He now has five career podium finishes, four this season, and two in slalom, both this season. He's finished in the top 10 in 16 out of 20 career races with eight top five finishes.
Fausa finished ninth for his third straight top 10 finish and 10th of his career in his 30th career start.
Alex Birkner and Jack Reich did not finish the first run, Sebastian Kohlhofer and Chase Seymour didn't finish the second run and Filip Forjetek didn't race on Saturday.

WOMEN'S NORDIC NOTES

Abrahamsson finished third, her fourth podium of the season and seventh of her career. She has finished in the top 10 in all 17 career races with 14 in the top five.
Dietze finished fifth and has finished in the top four in all five of her races this season. She has 11 career top five finishes in 36 races.
Grissom picked up her first career top 10 finish, taking 10th, and she has finished between 10th and 14th in five consecutive races.
Karolina Kaleta finished 14th and has finished in the top 15 in all four races she's competed in during the season.
Kili Lehmkuhl finished 20st, her fifth top 20 finish this season and ninth of her career.
Weronika Kaleta did not race Saturday.

MEN'S NORDIC NOTES

Boee finished sixth in his 41st career race. He's now finished in the top 10 in 37 of those 41 races.
Maurer finished eighth, his second top 10 finish of the season and third in his career. He had his second-best finish, having also finished seventh in a classic race as a freshman.
Koch finished 14th as the Buffs third scorer, while Oyvind Haugan finished 17th and Fredrik Nilsen 21st. Luka Riley did not start the race.

DENVER INVITATIONAL TEAM RESULTS (Thru 6 of 8 Races)—1. Utah 559; 2. Denver 457; 3. Colorado 413; 4. Montana State 343; 5. Alaska Anchorage 326; 6. Alaska Fairbanks 220; 7. Westminster 137; 8. Wyoming 68; 9. Colorado Mountain 67; 10. Nevada 49.

WOMEN'S 10K CLASSIC (24 collegiate finishers)—1.Novie McCabe, UU, 36:22.3; 2. Sophia Laukli, UU, 37:10.6; 3. Hanna Abrahamsson, CU, 37:29.0; 4. Mariel Pulles, UAF, 38:16.3; 5. Anna-Maria Dietze, CU, 38:17.5; 6. Karianne Dengerud, UU, 38:18.1; 7. Celine Mayer, UU, 38:18.8; 8. Hanna Ray, DU, 39:05.9; 9. Selma Andersen, DU, 39:21.6; 10. Elena Grissom, CU, 39:22.5. Other CU Finishers: 14. Karolina Kaleta, 40:54.7; 20. Kili Lehmkuhl, 42:21.2.

MEN'S 10K CLASSIC (26 collegiate finishers)—1. Andreas Kirkeng, DU, 31:36.8; 2. Samuel Hendry, UU, 31:37.1; 3. Luke Jager, 31:48.1; 4. Bernhard Flaschberger, DU, 31:50.6; 5. Brian Bushey, UU, 31:54.0; 6. Magnus Boee, CU, 32:00.3; 7. Tom Mancini, UU, 32:29.0; 8. Alexander Maurer, CU, 32:36.0; 9. Noel Keefe, UU, 32:46.9; 10. Walker Hall, UU, 32:55.0. Other CU Finishers: 14. Will Koch, 33:30.5; 17. Oyvind Haugan, 33:52.1; 21. Fredrik Nilsen, 34:36.7. Did Not Start: Hugo Hinckfuss.

WOMEN'S SLALOM #1 (35 collegiate finishers)—1. Sara Rask, DU, 1:30.29; 2. Michelle Kerven, UU, 1:30.44; 3. Nora Brand, DU, 1:30.66; 4. Ainsley Proffit, UAA, 1:31.47; 5. Eleri Smart, DU, 1:31.82; 6. Emma Hammergaard, CU, 1:31.89; 7. Nicola Roundtree-Williams, CMC, 1:31.94; 8. Evelina Fredricsson, WMC, 1:31.99; 9. Denise Dingsleder, WMC, 1:32.31; 10. Kristiane Bekkestad, MSU, 1:32.36. Other CU Finishers: 17. Elena Exenberger, 1:33.27; 24. Cleo Braun, 1:34.00. Did Not Finish First Run: Kaitlyn Harsch.

MEN'S SLALOM #1 (32 collegiate finishers)—1. Wilhelm Normannseth, UU, 1:30.61; 2. Jacob Dilling, CU, 1:31.59; 3. Gianluca Boehm, MSU, 1:31.85; 4. Loic Chabel, WMC, 1:31.93; 5. Mikkel Solbakken, WMC, 1:32.12; 6. Oliver Parazette, UU, 1:32.29; 7. Leon Nikic, UAA, 1:32.39; 8. Raphael Lessard, UU, 1:32.35; 9. Louis Fausa, CU, 1:32.66; 10. Filip Krota, CMC, 1:33.09. Did Not Finish First Run: Alex Birkner, Jack Reich. Did Not Finish Second Run: Sebastian Kohlhofer, Chase Seymour.

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Players Mentioned

Hanna Abrahamsson

Alex Birkner

Magnus Boee

Cleo Braun

Anna-Maria Dietze

Jacob Dilling

Elena Exenberger

Louis Fausa

Filip Forejtek

Elena Grissom

Emma Hammergaard

Kaitlyn Harsch

Oyvind Haugan

Hugo Hinckfuss

Karolina Kaleta

Weronika Kaleta

Will Koch

Sebastian Kohlhofer

Kili Lehmkuhl

Alexander Maurer

Fredrik Nilsen

Jack Reich

Luka Riley

Chase Seymour