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The Utes will continue the Western State Invitational tomorrow, Feb. 8, as they compete in both the slalom and 5/10 km freestyle events.
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Feb. 7, 2003
GUNNISON, Colo. - The University of Utah ski team holds its own in the first day of the Western State Invitational. The Utes finished on top after tremendous success in all disciplines. Utah holds a 22 point lead in front of the Lobos of New Mexico.
"This was the best consistent performance this season," remarked Head Coach Kevin Sweeney. "We had almost three top 10 finishes in all the events (Classical and Alpine)."
The alpine team pulled through in impressive fashion taking both the men's and women's giant slalom events. The men's squad placed four athletes in the top 10. Junior Pierre Olsson ran away with the GS race placing first, with an overall combine time of 2:01.00. Freshman Benjamin Thornhill finished with a career best fifth, while senior Jernej Bukovec skied to a ninth-place finish. Josh Whitham came in finishing 11th.
The women excelled in the GS event, led by junior Lena Johansson's first-place finish. Petra Svet notched sixth-place after skiing a quite difficult flat-course. Sophomore Elisha Stephens made herself known, skiing 16th.
"This was a good first day," Head Alpine Coach Aaron Atkins said. "This was our best result of this season. This phenomenal performance has put everyone in good spirits and we are hopeful to add to our scores tomorrow."
The nordic team held nothing back, placing six skiers in the top 10. On the men's side, it was the leadership of seniors Ryan Quinn and Zack Simons that led the pack. Quinn finished, the 10 km classical, with a time of 31:35.2 to snag third-place, while teammate Simons skied 15 seconds behind to finish fourth. Freshman Anders Hansson and Tony Bozzio made the difference for the Utes, nabbing eighth- and 17th-place efforts.
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"The cross country team skied awesome," said Sweeney. "I'm very impressed with Katrin's winning streak. She is really rallying the troops. Our skiers skied well overall and I'm very happy about that. Zack and Ryan were great today and Anders had one of his best results of the year. I really feel the team is coming together. I was a little unsure about the first day, knowing both Torin (Koos) and Rowena (Bright) were not competing. Everyone stepped it up a notch and that was impressive."
The Utes will continue the Western State Invitational tomorrow, Feb. 8, as they compete in both the slalom and 5/10 km freestyle events.
