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By: Francesca Kitch
Racers gathered in Bozeman, Montana, on Friday for the Bozeman Supertour and Montana State University Invitational. With a 20 k skate mass start on Friday, skate sprint Saturday, and 7.5 k classic race on Sunday, it was a full weekend of racing. The skate sprint did not yield NCAA points, so some elected not to race and instead rested from the 20km to focus on Sunday’s race. Utah led in the team standings after the weekend, followed by Denver and Colorado.

Friday’s mass start took place on a 5km loop that included one large climb–Amphitheater Hill–reaching almost a 20 percent grade. The course was not the only challenge that day: it was cold and snowy, with snow accumulating 3-5 inches during the races which resulted in slow skiing conditions. “The leaders took off pretty much from the gun, so the race strung out quickly,” said Nina Schamberger (UU), 5th place finisher. After 2 k she found herself skiing alone for the rest of the race. “In conditions like that, it isn’t ideal to be on your own because you have to work harder to go the same speed — you don’t get the draft from other skiers — but that’s what I did anyway, and I got lucky and was able to stay away from the chase pack!” Women’s winner Erica Laven (UU) added that the “course didn’t have many places to rest”, emphasizing the need for pacing. “I like challenging courses where you really have to stay focused all the way,” Laven said.

UU was dominant all around, with Laven’s teammate, Joe Davies, winning the men’s mass start for RMISA to finish second in the overall standings. “I love racing at Crosscut; the courses are hard, and the altitude always keeps things interesting. I was coming off of a tough two weeks sidelined with the flu, so I was pleasantly surprised with the races I was able to put down,” Davies said. The finish was a close one between himself, his teammate Brian Bushey, and John Steel Hagenbuch (Dartmouth), who traveled out west to race the SuperTour with the goal of being the overall winner this season. “It’s always especially fun racing against Johnny as we see each other both on the World Cup scene as well as the college/supertour scene. He’s a good buddy and we tend to go back and forth quite a lot, which will guarantee that NCAAs will be an exciting matchup,” said Davies.
Saturday’s race was a skate sprint, and Eemil Juntunen and Trey Jones of Colorado University led the collegiate field in 3rd and 5th place overall. On the women’s side, Erica Laven, Eve-Ondine Duchaufour (DU), and Astri Lunde (CU) made up both the RMISA podium and the overall top finishers. “Some of the European athletes in the RMISA have a fairly high level of sprint experience and provided some aggression that I think that the US sprinters are often not accustomed to,” said Adam St. Pierre, head coach of MSU.

Sunday’s race was another NCAA qualifier for RMISA. The 7.5km classic race took place on two laps of a 3.75 k course, and athletes arrived at the venue with temperatures dipping below -5°F. Yet, while altitude and difficult courses made for a challenging weekend, the cold nights were viewed positively. “[They made] for great skiing conditions which the grooming crew definitely capitalized on and made perfect courses all three days, which was really awesome and certainly deserves a large thanks,” said Bushey, 4th place finisher that day. “They were like dream conditions,” added Florian Knopf (DU), 2nd place finisher. “I raced on my coldest skis and I haven’t raced on them for probably 2-3 years, and that showed how special these conditions were.” About the race itself, Knopf added that with a 7.5 k it’s very hard to find the right pace, yet pacing is very important. “This course, you had to work most of the time, so I tried to set good loop times that did not differ much from each other…my strengths are definitely the uphills, but yesterday I tried to focus more on the transitions, especially the gradual stuff because you will lose more on the gradual stuff than you would win if you send it on the uphills,” Knopf said.

Men’s winner Andreas Kirkeng (DU) echoed the importance of pacing and lamented his own. “I knew it was going to be a close and hard race where every second counts…I tried to ski equal laps but ended up starting slightly too fast for my shape that day. Managed to pull it through well but had to push hard and dig deep halfway through the last lap. Always a bummer to lose a close fight but gave what I had that day,” Kirkeng said, referencing Hagenbuch’s 0.6 second win over him in the overall Supertour race. Kirkeng’s RMISA win was his 16th ever over the 40 races he has started, tied for the most RMISA wins in history with Magnus Boee (CU) who achieved his count in 58 races over 5 years. Both Kirkeng and Knopf also commented on how the Supertour and the athletes it brought to Bozeman elevated the racing experience. “The field gets more competitive and it’s really really cool to ski with the best skiers in the states,” Knopf said. “It’s always good to see how these guys are doing overseas in Europe at the World Cup level because then we can also know how we’re doing.”

On the women’s side on Sunday, Laven won again, continuing her weekend of dominance. Laven was happy with her effort and again excited by the challenge the course posed, and she was aided by what she said were her “best skis yet.” Laven also remarked that the teams and the supportive environment are important parts of racing, too. “Cheering each other on and being happy for everyone is so important and I felt that not only from our team but all the other teams as well. Which makes the atmosphere out there so fun!” Tilde Baangman (CU) and Lunde followed behind to round off the podium on an exciting weekend.

“Overall, [they were] beautiful, beautiful winter days, and it’s definitely worth it to train the whole year for moments like this,” Knopf said.
RMISA athletes who are not competing abroad will enjoy a weekend off before heading to the Denver Invitational on February 8th.
