Results

MINTURN, Colo. – The Alaska Nanooks men's and women's Nordic ski teams opened up the Denver University Invite on Saturday morning by competing in the 10/5km individual-start, freestyle race at the Maloit Park Trails.

Alaska currently sits fifth place in the Nordic standings after the first day of competition, combining for 91 points. Colorado University currently sits in first in the Nordic standings with a combined total of 180 points. The Alaska men's team tallied 44 points to rank sixth, while the women registered 47 points to sit in sixth place, as well.

"As a team, today wasn't our strongest day but we did have a few good individual races led by Nick Lovett, who placed 12th," head coach Nick Crawford said on Saturday. "We had a very demanding travel schedule getting to Minturn so now that we're settled in and able to rest, I'm optimistic that tomorrow is going to be a better day for the team."

Redshirt-senior Nick Lovett was the highest-finishing Nanook on the day, posting a 10km freestyle time of 34:36.0 to rank 12th overall. Lovett's time was only 1:54.5 behind Colorado University's Alvar Alev (32:41.5), who placed first overall in the men's race.

Behind Lovett, junior Max Donaldson was the only other Alaska men's skier to post a top-20 Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association finish on Saturday, ranking 20th overall with a time of 35:19.5.

Senior Seiji Takagi was close behind with a time of 35:19.0 to rank 22nd overall, while junior Arnaud Guyon (35:47.3) and redshirt-senior Jan Cech (36:08.9) placed 25th and 26th, respectively to round out Alaska's top-five.

"The race of the day for sure goes to Nick Lovett, who had a little bit of a slow start to the year by overcoming some illness but is really coming into good form now," Crawford continued. "Nick also did really well on these types of races last year so it wasn't a surprise to see him leading the team again today."

Of the Alaska women's Nordic ski team, sophomore Anna Darnell was the first Nanook to cross the finish line with a 5km freestyle time of 21:03.3 to rank 17th overall. Darnell's time was only 2:30.0 behind Utah's Guro Jordheim (18:33.3), who placed first overall in the women's race.

Junior Kati Roivas was the only other Alaska skier to place within the top-20, posting a time of 21:06.9 to place 19th overall. The rest of the Nanooks followed suite, as freshman Anja Maijala (21:37.3) placed 23rd overall, while senior Ann-Cathrin Uhl (22:06.8) and freshman Hannah Dueling (22:11.1) placed 27th and 28th, respectively to round out the remaining Nooks.

"Today was a solid day for our women's team with Anna and Kati finishing inside the top-20, as they have for most of the season," Crawford concluded. "The course and the conditions really play well to Anna's strengths with lots of climbing and soft snow where having a quick tempo is beneficial."

The Alaska Nanooks men's and women's Nordic ski teams will be back in action at the Maloit Park Trails again tomorrow (Sunday, Feb. 11), as they close out the Denver Invite by competing in the 10/5km individual-start, classic race in Minturn.

For more information on the Alaska Nanooks men's and women's Nordic ski teams, follow @AlaskaNanooksXC on Twitter or like the Alaska Nanooks XC team page on Facebook.