On Feb. 8 and 9 the University of Utah Ski Team competed in the first days of the RMISA Invitational at Westminster and Soldier Hollow. Men’s and women’s slalom teams competed at Snowbird, and both teams had fantastic finishes. Both the men and women finished the competition in first.

Katie Vesterstein had a pair of second place finishes that helped propel Utah into the top spot. The alpine team’s last race was on Jan. 13, so the team had a lot of time to prepare and train for this invitational. Vesterstein’s second place finishes are the highest of her career, and in the second race she just missed first place by .02 seconds.

Michelle Kervén had two top-10 finishes, placing seventh and ninth. Sona Moravcikova finished twelfth in the first race and eighth in the second.

“It showed a lot, because they were fighters today and it was a lot of fun,” head alpine coach JJ Johnson said.

The women finished the day in first, and the men would come out to extend that lead the very next day. The men’s team extended the lead to 49.5 points and had a dominant day. Bjorn Brudevoll finished first in both races, and Wilhelm Normannseth finished second in both races.

Joachim Lien was the other Ute to finish top-10 with sixth and fifth place finishes. The Nordic side of competition will be competing on Feb. 22 and 23 at Soldier Hollow. Their last race was Jan. 17 and 18 at Soldier Hollow, winning three out of four races and finishing in first.

On Feb. 11 the women took a quick trip to Park City to compete in the Giant Slalom. The Nordic team previously placed first at this home invitational and set the alpine team up with a dominant 75-point lead.

The women’s team ended the day with an even larger lead of 86 points and another win for the team. Katie Parker led the Utes for the first race, finishing in sixth. Moravcikova finished eleventh, Kervén finished eighteenth, Claire Timmermann finished twenty-first, and Vesterstein finished twenty-fourth.

Moravcikova stepped up in the second race and finished fourth, her highest finish this season. “My mindset was just to ski as fast as I can and have fun and that worked out really well,” Moravcikova said.

The men’s team competed on Feb. 12 and came into the day with a giant 86-point lead, and they expanded it as the day progressed. The team ended up winning by 117.5 points. The second race was postponed due to heavy snow, but the Utes still managed to have four top-15 finishers.

Freshman Normannseth led Utah and finished in eighth. Lien finished close behind him in tenth. Tomas Birkner finished just behind Lien in eleventh, and Huston Philp rounded out the top-15.

With this win behind them, the team has won every meet so far this year and are currently leading the RMISA Invitational at Westminster. The next race for the team will be on Feb. 22-23 as the Nordic team finish up the Invitational at Westminster.

The Alpine team will be preparing for the RMISA Championship which starts Feb. 18. The team has had a dominant season so far, and looks to move forward into the RMISA Championship and NCAA Championship later this season.

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@SeanOverton3