The Utes traveled to Bozeman, Mont. to participate in the Montana State Invitational last Saturday and Sunday and took second to Denver. The runner-up finish came after Utah beat the Pioneers in the Pat Miller Invitational. Denver finished with a total of 737 points while the Utes scored 557. Third-place New Mexico was just behind Utah with 555 points.
Like the season opener, the women led the Utes with a solid performance. Freshman Chloe Fausa had Utah’s best result, finishing third in the giant slalom with a time of 1:56.78. Junior Kristiina Rove led the team in the slalom with a fifth-place finish.
For the men, sophomore Andy Trow led the team in both the giant slalom and the slalom with times of 1:57.31 and 1:38.93, respectively. Trow’s giant slalom time was good enough to earn him a fifth place finish.
One issue that plagued the team was that multiple skiers who placed high last week did not finish in their events this week. Freshman Mark Engel placed fifth overall in last week’s giant slalom but did not finish in Montana.
On the women’s side, Rove did not finish in the giant slalom this week, an event in which she placed fourth overall in last week’s invitational.
While DNFs may have played a factor in the Utes’ finish, Trow said mistakes the team normally doesn’t make and conditions such as a different slope and icier snow affected the team.
“We made some small mistakes, and the terrain and snow was different and didn’t really suit our style,” he said.
Trow also feels the competition level was extremely close and that the final score doesn’t show how close the Utes were with Denver.
“Looking at the times, the races were really tight,” he said. “Half a second better would have made the difference between placing in the top 10 and not.”
Alpine coach Jaka Korencan was pleased with how the women performed, although he was disappointed with the men’s results.
“Our women got it done again,” he said in a press release. “Congrats to the ladies for a phenomenal weekend. On the men’s side, Andy had a big breakthrough this weekend, and I am super excited for him. As a team, we expected much more from our men’s team. However, I really believe in this group of guys, and I know that we just need to refocus and move on.”