Soldier Hollow, Utah — The University of Nevada ski team finished in seventh place at the 2010 Utah Invitational. The team competed in the Alpine Giant Slalom and Slalom along with Nordic Freestyle and Classic events at the Park City Mountain Resort January 11-12 and 21-22, 2010.
New Mexico won the invitational with 850 points followed by Denver (835) in second place. Colorado (821) finished in third, Utah (737) in fourth and Alaska-Anchorage (698) and Montana State (638) in fifth and sixth. Nevada came in seventh with 627 points.
The last day of events included the 15K Classic for the women and the 20K Classic for the men.
Maria Graefnings was the top Nevada finisher out both men and women. Graefnings came in fifth in the 15K clocking a 57:06.7, only +3:47.3 off the lead finisher, Antje Maempel of Denver (53:19.4). The Wolf Pack’s Kristin Ronnestrand (59:53.5) and Ase Carlson (1:01.10.5) came in 18th and 22nd, respectively.
Charlie Smith was the leader of the Wolf Pack men, Smith finished 15th, clocking a 1:05.26.7. Elias Bucher finished 26th at 1:07.42.0 and August Brautigam came in 28th with a time of 1:08.48.3. Rounding up the men’s side were Gustavo Johnson (1:13.25.6) and Jonathan Pluvinet (1:13.43.9) in 26th and 28th. The top finisher in the men’s 20k was Micheal Schallinger (UAA) coming in first at 1:00.36.7
5/10K Classic, January 21, 2010
The Wolf Pack women competed in the 5k Classic and were led by Maria Graefnings. Graefnings came in 9th with a time of 19:35.2. Senior Kristin Ronnestrand (Stromsund, Sweden) finished 18th with a time of 21:06.1 and sophomore Ase Carlson (Bozeman, Montana) followed in 19th (21:10. 8).
In the men’s 10k Classic the Pack was led by Elias Bucher (Schüpfheim, Switzerland). Bucher finished in 23rd at 37:16.7. Freshman Trygve Ellingsen came in 28th at 37:56.2. The remainder of the Pack, Charlie Smith (39:16.1), August Brautigam (39:48.6), Jonathan Pluvinet (40:16.1) and Gustavo Johnson (41:43.1) rounded out the competition in 35th-38th, respectively.
Slalom, January 12, 2010
Martin Harris had a top 10 finish as he came in sixth with a time of 1:51.71, 2.95 seconds behind the first place finisher Leif Kristian Haugen of Denver University who came in at 1:49.76.
"Marty proved he's a contender this season and will be a great asset for our team in training and scoring points," Head Alpine Coach Evan Weiss said.
Behind Harris for the Wolf Pack was sophomore Aldo Ballbio who finished 15th clocking 1:53.68, followed by junior Shane Collins (1:55.17) in 19th.
"Shane is also showing solid early season form and his Slalom skiing continues to improve," Weiss said.
On the women's side the top finisher was freshman Nicole Polechuk who came in 13th for the Slalom with a time of 1:45.93. Junior Kristina Palovicova followed Polechuk in 19th place at 1:48.38 and junior Amy Harris rounded out the women's team tied for 26th clocking a 1:57.49.
"The women encountered some first race jitters, yet I expect continued improvement from them throughout the season," Weiss said.
David Apap, Jake Baker and Erika Horst did not finish the Slalom for the Pack in Tuesday's competition.
Giant Slalom, January 11, 2010
After day one the Pack was in fourth place with 189 points, 42 points behind first place held by New Mexico at 231 points. Denver was second with 212 and Utah was third with 195. Colorado (173) was fifth followed by Alaska (162) and Montana State (139) in sixth and seventh.
On the men's side the Pack had four top 20 finishers in the Giant Slalom; the top finisher was sophomore Martin Harris who came in second for the men with a time of 1:56.70. Junior Shane Collins came in fifth clocking a time of 1:56.96, freshman Jake Baker finished 16th at 1:59.05 and junior David was 20th with a time of 2:01.48.
Sophomore Aldo Ballabio and freshman Cory McConnell finished 22nd and 23rd with times of 2:03.07 and 2:04.58 to round out the Wolf Pack men.
Junior Amy Harris led the women's side for the Wolf Pack, coming in eighth at 1:58.00. Following Harris was junior Erika Horst in 17th at 2:00.04. Freshman Nicole Polechuk and junior Kristina Palovicova rounded out the women's team coming in 33rd (3:03.47) and 34th (3:15.94), respectively.
