The University of New Mexico won the overall Utah Invitational in Soldier Hollow today.
“Considering all of the illness we have been battling this week, this is a great win,” said Lobos head coach Fredrik Landstedt. “One of our top men’s racers, Tor-Hakon Hellebostad, did not race all weekend and Polina Ermoshina was struggling with illness all week and still skied.”
Colorado’s Buffaloes were the fastest cross country team for the second weekend in a row. They also scored the most points at the MSU Invite last weekend at Bohart Ranch.
Friday’s 5/10Km classic was stormy with 40Mph winds, and searching for kick right around 32F, some teams raced on hairies. Saturday’s 15/20Km freestyle was nicer with a little sun poking through the clouds above the trails above Soldier Hollow.
Eliska Hajkova of CU beat Denver’s Antje Maemple in Friday’s 5k by 7.6 seconds, followed by Kate Dolan, also of DU. Antje took back the top podium spot on Saturday to beat Hajkova by 38.9 seconds, with Alexa Turzian of CU in third. Antje has continuously been a dominating force on the RMISA nordic scene since last weekend at the MSU Invite.
It is important to mention that on Friday the US Ski Team’s Morgan Arritola crossed the finish line first, followed by Liz Stephen, also of the USST, 24 seconds back. Hajkova was 55 seconds behind Arritola in third overall.