From Jan. 15-19, the University of Utah Ski team competed in the Montana State Invitational in Sun Valley, Idaho and Bozeman, Montana. The Utes didn’t just show up for this competition. They displayed absolute dominance. The reigning NCAA Champions took home first place in all four days of the competition, achieving many great feats along the way.

To start off the first day of the Montana State Invitational in Sun Valley, Junior Sophia Laukli made her collegiate season debut by earning a first-place finish in a 5K freestyle race interval start. Laukli was followed by a second-place finish from Novie McCabe and a third-place finish by Sydney Palmer-Leger.

The men also had a fantastic showing in their 10K freestyle race. Walker Hall, a true freshman, took second place while junior Samuel Hendry took third.

Going into Sunday, the Utes led the team standings with 204 points, holding onto a 64-point lead over the Alaska Fairbanks.

“It was a great day for the team and amazing to have nearly the whole team together for the weekend,” said head Nordic coach Miles Havlick to Utah Athletics. “The race course today was very challenging with big climbs and twisting downhills. It was also much colder than forecast, which was a surprise to everyone this morning. Nonetheless, everyone threw down some big results and great NCAA qualifying results today.”

The Utes continued their domination on Sunday the 16th. The Nordic portion of the Invitational finished with a 10/15K classic mass start.

McCabe, Palmer-Leger and Laukli finished from first to third respectively in the 10K, which gave Utah a perfect score and a 123-point lead in the standings. This was their second straight sweep, after Saturday’s performance.

Because of her incredible performance, McCabe was named RMISA Nordic Skier of the Meet for the Nordic portion of the MSU Invitational.

“It was a great weekend for the Nordic team,” said director of skiing Fredrik Landstedt via Utah Athletics. “Solid does not really capture it being up by 123 points. The team is really feeding off each other’s performances. Just an incredible team spirit and a group of super hard-working athletes.”

For the men’s 15K race, Hendry took second place to lead the Utes team while Luke Jager finished in fourth.

After another dominant day of competition, the Utes got a day off before the alpine portion of the Invitational began on Tuesday, Jan. 18.

The Utes opened their alpine season with the second half of the MSU Invitational at Bridger Bowl in Bozeman, Montana. They had another successful day on Tuesday, finishing with a 146-point lead on second-place Denver.

Madison Hoffman began the day, and the season, with a third-place finish for Utah with a quick follow-up from fourth place Katie Parker.

Utah was able to have three top-10 finishers in the men’s GS, with seventh-place Gustav Vøllo and 10th place shared by Joachim Lien and Bjorn Brudevoll.

“It was great to start off the season today,” said head alpine coach JJ Johnson via Utah Athletics. “From all the levels of racing our team has been doing, to get back into the college season, there’s confidence as well as nerves with all that they’re preparing for. It’s always challenging here — there’s such a different weather pattern. The snow seems to be different throughout the course. But the girls were ready to roll, and the guys were as well. It was fun to watch.”

“Our team is firing pretty good,” Johnson said. “It was a good test for day one, and a good start day to see where we’re lining up. But we have a lot more in the tank and it should be fun.”

The Utes concluded the Invitational with a final dominant performance at the Bridger Bowl on Wednesday, Jan. 19. They finished up the meet with 760 points, a huge 235.5-point lead over the hosting Montana State in second place.

Brudevoll and Parker earned individual wins in the men’s and women’s races with Parker earning her first win as a Ute. Wilhelm Normannseth joined Brudevoll on the podium with a second-place finish.

“It was again some of the most challenging conditions I’ve seen. You just don’t train on this stuff,” said coach Johnson. “The guys in particular skied awesome and positioned themselves well. But the only problem with that is you end up starting 25-30 on the second run. The way they managed it and dealt with the snow conditions was unbelievable.”

“It’s all over the place—there’s people skiing fast from all aspects, instead of just banking on one or two. It shows what we’ve been building the last couple years, and that they all help each other. It’s a pretty cool vibe that shows what the whole crew is doing, and the culture of how they’re starting to feed off of each other,” Johnson continued.

While the MSU Invitational finished up on Wednesday, teams remained at Bridger Bowl for a final day of slalom racing on Thursday, Jan. 20. This competition is separate from the MSU Invitational, instead of being part of the RMISA Invitational.

Following that, teams will move to Park City, Utah for three straight days of racing from Jan. 23-25.

“I think [this meet] at points showed above and beyond what this team can do,” Johnson concluded. “I’m over the moon with how they did today. It was a heck of a start. The thing that is ahead of pace is the depth of our team. It’s made it fun, and it’s a really good problem to have. We have a lot more racing to go though.”

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