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BOZEMAN, Mont. - After the fourth and final day of competition, the University of Utah fell just 2.5 points short of winning it's third straight national title. Going into the final day of the meet, the Utes found themselves in third place and trailed first place Colorado by a monumental 29.5 points. The last two events of the meet were Women's 15K Cross Country Freestyle and the Men's 20K Freestyle.
In the women's race, all-American Line Selnes of Colorado ran away with the victory, winning by better than two minutes. Hailey Wappett skied to a fifth place finish followed by teammate Kristin Tjelle who took sixth. The third Ute skier was Kristina Joder who placed twelfth to help the Utes inch their way back into the race for the title.
The men's race was Utah's last chance to complete their comeback and win the title. Vermont's Thorodd Bakken won the race by clocking in at 52:40.6. Utah's Rune Kollerud took second place and was followed by his brother Frode Kollerud who took third. Pat Casey also skied well for the Utes, finishing at sixteenth.
This marks the end of the 1998 season for the Utes. This year's only graduating senior is Mike Elvidge from Quebec, Canada. We'll see Coach Pat Miller and the rest of the skiing Utes in 1999!
Team Results: final 1. Colorado 654 2. Utah 651.5 3. Denver 638 4. Vermont 556.5 5. UA-Anchorage 524 6. New Mexico 524 7. Dartmouth 513 8. Middlebury 505 9. Bates 481 10. New Hampshire 205 11. Nevada 199 12. Western State 193 13. No. Michigan 187 14. UW- Green Bay 170 15. St. Lawrence 128 16. Williams 103 17. Montana State 45 18. St. Michael's 38 19. Colby 24 20. UA-Fairbanks 15 21. Colby-Sawyer 9 22. St. Olaf 8
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