Buffs In Second In Tight Team Battle At DU Invitational

Friday, February 9

Minturn, Colo.

10 AM Men / 10:45 AM Women

Colorado

10K Classic

Buffs In Second In Tight Team Battle At DU Invitational

February 09, 2024 | Skiing

Results

By: Curtis Snyder, Associate AD/Athletic Communications

MINTURN, Colo. – Hanna Abrahamsson and Hugo Hinckfuss hit the podium and the Colorado Buffaloes Ski Team had a solid day of Nordic action here Friday at Maloit Park, moving up one spot to second place as yet another three-way battle ensues in the team standings in the Denver Invitational.

Behind Abrahamsson and Hinckfuss, both the men's and women's team won their respective 10K classic mass start races, moving the Buffs past Utah, and within 24 points of Denver with two races remaining in the Pioneer's home meet. DU leads with 482 points, with Colorado (458, -24) and Utah (452, -30) still in the mix. Alaska Anchorage (361) and Montana State (340.5) round out the top five.

But it was the Buffs that ruled the day, scoring 170 points in the two races, 86 in the men's race and 84 in the women's, picking up 15 points on the Pioneers and 68 on the Utes.

The men kicked things off in the first race of the day and Hinckfuss was joined by Johannes Flaaten in the top five in fifth place while Alexander Maurer finished eighth. Hinckfuss matched his career best finish, Flaaten got his career best and Maurer was within one spot of his career best finish. And the Buffs accomplished the team race win shorthanded, skiing without Magnus Boee, who is recovering from illness, Will Koch who is participating in World Cup races, and Trey Jones, who's skiing at the at the Junior World Championships.

On the women's side, the Buffs were also short-handed without Anna-Maria Dietze, who had two podium appearances at the CU Invitational before traveling to compete on the World Cup. Abrahamsson's second place finish is her second straight podium after winning the classic race at the CU Invitational and Weronika Kaleta's sixth place finish is her 13th straight top 10 finish dating all the way back to the 2022 season.

Karolina Kaleta finished 12th as CU's third team scorer and both Elena Grissom and Sophie Spalding finished in the top 20 in 18th and 19th, respectively. Kili Lehmkuhl also finished 22nd for the Buffaloes.

UP NEXT: Colorado returns to action to close out the regular season Saturday with the 7.5K freestyle races back at Maloit Park, also closing out the DU Invitational. After that teams will have two weeks off before heading to Montana State for the RMISA Championships Feb. 22-25.

WHAT IT MEANS: The Buffs aren't the only team short-handed in the Denver meet, but nonetheless it's encouraging that CU battled back into the meet standings, especially on the men's side with only three skiers in the race and all three picking up top eight finishes to win the race. Several Buffs helped their NCAA qualification, perhaps none more than Abrahamsson who picked up her second top two finish in classic.

TEAM NOTES

The Buffs won both races, scoring 86 in the men's race, beating DU by two, and 84 in the women's race, topping Montana State by five. CU's 170 points on the day were 15 more than second place Denver and 68 more than Utah.

MEN'S NORDIC NOTES

Hugo Hinckfuss finished third, the second podium of his career and in his last three races. It's his first career classic podium and second career top five finish in classic, the other coming in a sprint race last season.
Johannes Flaaten finished fifth, the best finish of his young career and first top five finish. He has steadily improved each race this season, finishing between 11th and 15th in his first four races, he now has four straight top 10 finishes including a fifth place classic and sixth place freestyle finish in the last three races.
Alexander Maurer's eighth place finish is the second best of his career and fourth career top 10 finish, all of which have come in classic races. He also finished eighth in last year's DU Invitational 10K classic race.

WOMEN'S NORDIC NOTES

Hanna Abrahamsson finished second, solidifying her classic NCAA Championship qualification points along with her classic win in the CU Invitational last weekend. She is returning to form, as having never finished lower than seventh through her first two seasons, she began this year with four straight finishes between 14th and 20th, but now has four straight top 10 finishes and two straight podiums. She now has 12 career podiums, nine of which have come in classic races.
Weronika Kaleta finished sixth, her 13th consecutive top 10 finish dating back to the 2022 season. She has finished between second and 10th in all seven races she's started this season.
Karolina Kaleta finished 12th as CU's third team scorer, her best finish of the season and best since a sprint race in Alaska near the end of the 2023 season. It's her 18th career top 20 finish in 21 starts.
Elena Grissom finished 18th, her best finish of the season and second straight top 20, also taking 19th in the classic race last weekend at the CU Invitational.
Sophie Spalding finished 19th, the best finish of her young career and first top 20.

TEAM STANDINGS (Thru 6 of 8 Races): 1. Denver 482; 2. Colorado 458; 3. Utah 452; Alaska Anchorage 361; 5. Montana State 340.5; 6. Westminster 241.5; 7. Nevada 118; 8. Colorado Mountain 116; 9. Alaska Fairbanks 100; 10. Wyoming 62.

MEN'S 10K CLASSIC (26 Collegiate Finishers): 1. Andreas Kirkeng, DU, 25:56.5; 2. Tom Mancini, UU, 25:57.4; 3. Hugo Hinckfuss, CU, 26:23.5; 4. Fredrik Nilsen, MSU, 26:24.5; 5. Johannes Flaaten, CU, 26:27.0. Other CU Finishers: 8. Alexander Maurer, 26:42.8. Did Not Start: Magnus Boee.

WOMEN'S 10K CLASSIC (30 Collegiate Finishers): 1. Tilde Baangman, MSU, 29:41.3; 2. Hanna Abrahamsson, CU, 30:05.0; 3. Witta-Luisa Walcher, UU, 30:38.2; 4. Selma Andersen, DU, 30:47.9; 5. Astrid Stav, UAA, 30:56.7. Other CU Finishers: 6. Weronika Kaleta, 31:08.8; 12. Karolina Kaleta, 31:52.5; 18. Elena Grissom, 32:34.5; 19. Sophie Spalding, 32:35.4; 22. Kili Lehmkuhl, 33:11.4. Did Not Start: Anna-Maria Dietze.