The University of New Mexico Lobos Nordic ski team demonstrated why they are the NCAA National Champions this past weekend, with a big win in the RMISA division on “home turf†here in New Mexico. UNM hosted ten schools in the RMISA at the Enchanted Forest XC ski area in Red River, NM. Conditions were great for the event, if not a little bit warm and wet from the constant barrage of wet, warm El Nino snow. All the collegiate teams had to break out the 100% fluoros and an extra lung for this high-altitude wet-snow shootout in northern New Mexico’s Sangre de Cristo mountains.
UNM (162 pts) dominated the event on the women’s side, with Martina Stursova (CZE), recently returned from training with the Czech national team, winning the classic event and scoring top collegiate points in the skate (won by Estonia’s Jana Rehemaa). Maximizing UNM’s scoring was Trine Lundamo (NOR), placing one spot behind Stursova both days. University of Colorado’s Muriele Hueberli (SUI) challenged hard with third place points both days. UNM’s women also scored with Pirkko Pulkkanen (FIN) in the classic, and Andrea Roberts (USA) in the skate. Second and third place in the team standings were the University of Denver (141 pts) and the University of Colorado (132 pts).
In the men’s events, the University of Denver (161 pts) came out ahead of its rival, the University of Colorado (141 pts) and UNM (140 pts). Strong individual performances from RMISA points leader Erling Christianson (NOR, CU) and Rene Reisshauer (GER, DU), who swapped 2nd and 3rd places over the two days of competition, gave them the edge on UNM, who had solid team performances from Geir-Endre Rogn (NOR) and Dirk Grimm (GER) both days. UNM placed third in the classic portion, but bumped up its game in the skate with a close second to DU by placing Grimm, Rogn, and Jedd Young (USA) in spots 6-8 respectively. The classic race was won by DU’s Harvard Selseng (NOR) over Reisshauer and Christianson (respectively) and the skate was won by Utah’s Daniel Sonntag (GER) over Christianson and Reisshauer (respectively).
The event was also an open FIS race, with Glenn Randall (Grand Mesa Nordic, CO) being the highest open category racer with 7th in the classic and 14th in the skate.
Men's 10km Skate
Name nation Team Time
1 Daniel Sonntag GER Utah 28:34.1
2 Erling Christiansen NOR CU 28:51.2
3 Rene Reisshauer GER DU 29:31.5
4 Andre Haugsboe NOR DU 29:53.9
5 Jesse Carlstrom USA NEV 30:00.9
6 Dirk Grimm GER UNM 30:13.7
7 Geir-Endre Rogn NOR UNM 30:15.6
8 Jedd Young USA UNM 30:38.3
9 Casey Simons USA Utah 30:42.1
10 Mark Iverson USA MSU 30:45.0
Women's 5km Skate
Name nation Team Time
1 Jana Rehemaa EST Est 16:53.9
2 Martina Stursova CZE UNM 17:09.7
3 Trine Lundamo NOR UNM 17:23.4
4 Muriele Hueberli SUI CU 17:55.3
5 Mandy Bowden USA MSU 18:08.6
6 Bodil Ryste NOR DU 18:09.8
7 Sandra Gredig SUI Utah 18:15.0
8 Kara Lapoint USA DU 18:30.9
9 Pirkko Pulkkanen FIN UNM 18:35.0
10 Tara Hamilton USA DU 18:38.3
Men's 10km Classic
Name nation Team Time
1 Haavard Selseng NOR DU 30:00.5
2 Rene Reisshauer GER DU 30:03.1
3 Erling Christiansen NOR CU 30:15.0
4 Henrik Hoye NOR CU 30:24.9
5 Andre Haugsboe NOR DU 30:51.5
6 Geir-Endre Rogn NOR UNM 31:11.7
7 Glenn Randall USA Grand Mesa 31:16.7
8 Mark Iverson USA MSU 31:20.8
9 Dirk Grimm GER UNM 31:25.8
10 Jess Kiesel USA Utah 31:46.5
Women's 5km Classic
Name nation Team Time
1 Martina Stursova CZE UNM 17:46.8
2 Trine Lundamo NOR UNM 18:05.9
3 Muriele Hueberli SUI CU 18:29.0
4 Sandra Gredig SUI Utah 18:34.1
5 Jana Rehemaa EST Est 18:50.2
6 Sally Johnson USA Nev 19:06.9
7 Brooke Rygg USA CU 19:11.8
8 Linda Pettersson SWE Utah 19:15.4
9 Tara Hamilton USA DU 19:16.2
10 Julia Swieder GER DU 19:18.2
NORDIC TEAM STANDINGS
2005 MICHELOBO INVITATIONAL UNM SKI TEAM FEBRUARY 11-12
ENCHANTED FOREST NORDIC CENTER RED RIVER, NEW MEXICO
Friday Friday Saturday Saturday Total
W-classical M-Classical W-Freestyle M-Freestyle Points
1 New Mexico 80 68 82 72 302
2 Denver 60 85 72 75 292
3 Colorado 72 74 69 66 281
4 Utah 64 40 58 68.5 230.5
5 Montana State 54 51 61 49 215
6 Nevada 48 48 41 53.5 190.5
7 Whitman 40 24 36 22 122
8 Western State 19 38 18 32 107
9 Boise State 18 0 18 0 36
10 Alaska- Anchorage 0 16 0 12 28
WOMEN NORDIC STANDINGS
Friday Saturday Total
1 New Mexico 80 82 162
2 Colorado 72 69 141
3 Denver 60 72 132
4 Utah 64 58 122
5 Montana State 54 61 115
6 Nevada 48 41 89
7 Whitman 40 36 76
8 Western State 19 18 37
9 Boise State 18 18 36
10 Alaska- Anchorage 0 0 0
MEN NORDIC STANDINGS
Friday Saturday Total
1 Denver 85 75 160
2 Colorado 74 67 141
3 New Mexico 68 72 140
4 Utah 40 68.5 108.5
5 Nevada 48 53.5 101.5
6 Montana State 51 49 100
7 Western State 38 32 70
8 Whitman 24 22 46
9 Alaska- Anchorage 16 12 28
10 Boise State 0 0 0
