Aspirations for the its first outright victory of the season fell considerably short for the U ski team this weekend, as the Utes stumbled to a fourth-place finish at the New Mexico Invitational.
Utah totaled 461 points, finishing distantly behind third-place Colorado, which had 535. The Invite’s host, the New Mexico Lobos, finished the weekend at the top of the heap with 590 points.
The Utes’ chances at a weekend victory were in serious jeopardy after day one of competition.
“We had a tough first day,” U head coach Kevin Sweeney said. “It was an up-and-down day for our teams. I think the altitude really made a difference.”
Utah’s nordic teams both came out of the first day with third place finishes, as the women scored 71 points in the 5-km classical and the men 66 in the 10 km classical.
The Ute women placed three skiers in the top 10 in the event, led by Jenny Hansson, whose two run time of 18 minutes, 45.2 seconds was good enough for sixth place.
For the men, junior Henning Dybendal was the top finisher, placing third with a two-run time of 30:39.1, while freshman Daniel Sonntag finished 11th.
The second day wasn’t much better for the Utes, as they couldn’t make up any ground and finished the Invitational in fourth place overall.
There were second-day highlights, however, that have Sweeney and his coaching staff optimistic for the rest of the season, regardless of their disappointing weekend finish.
“We came out charging,” Sweeney said. “It was good to see everyone getting after the competition. We came up a little short, but there were a lot of bright spots.”
The men’s nordic team won the 10-km freestyle, thanks to strong showings from Dybendal (second place) and Benjamin Sonntag, who finished 12th.
Daniel Sonntag was in contention for a first-place finish, but suffered a crash on the last hill and came up short, but still finished third. Despite the crash, the Utes won the event to keep pace with the rest of the crowd.
“The cross country team had an excellent day,” Sweeney said. “It was great to see Henning taking second and Daniel placing third. We struggled with altitude, but we are in good shape.”
On the women’s side, the Utes placed second in the 5-km classical, as freshman Sandra Gredig came in third and junior Barbro Hatlevik fifth.
The alpine teams didn’t have as much success, finishing a distant sixth overall with 176 total points.
“We had a tough weekend, but overall we skied well,” head alpine coach Aaron Atkins said.
“This was good practice for the NCAAs, and I feel we will be really prepared for this year’s championships.”
