The Mesa State Nordic Ski Team hosted its first-ever home Invitational
this past weekend at Skyway on the Grand Mesa. Teams competing
included defending national champions University of Wyoming, highly
ranked Western State and the US Air Force Academy.
On Saturday, mother nature provided perfect weather, and the Grand
Mesa Nordic Council and groomer Jon Canty provided perfect trails for
the Mesa State Sprints. The 1 kilometer course featured a short, steep
uphill, a sweeping downhill and flat, fast straightaway to the finish.
After completing a timed trial of the course, racers were sorted into
heats for elimination rounds.
In the men's race, Mesa State sophomore Tre Anastasia made it all the
way to the final round and finished an impressive 4th place against
some of the USCSA's top sprinters. The race was won by Wyoming skier
Daniel Lewis, Western State's Tom Sunderland finished second and
Wyoming's John Kirlin rounded out the top three.
The women's final came down to a photo finish between Western State's
Brittany Perkins and Wyoming's Gwynn Barrows. Western State's Jamie
Woelk finished third. Mesa State's women posted solid finishes, and
sophomore Megan McGrath's close 11th place finish qualified her to
compete at the USCSA Nationals.
On Sunday, a storm came in, but that didn't deter racers, who skied
the 10km classical technique race through fog and falling snow. Once
again, Wyoming's Daniel Lewis finished first in the men's race,
followed by Western's Scott Krankkala and Chris Lange. Mesa State star
Tre Anastasia finished fourth.
Western's Brittany Perkins won the women's race, finishing more than
two minutes ahead of second place finisher Gwynn Barrows of Wyoming.
Third place went to Mesa State's Brooke Bosman. Three other Mesa women
finished in the top ten--Silvia Moelk in 7th, Kelsey Follett in 9th,
and Amanda Moore in 10th.
Mesa State has now qualified four skiers for the USCSA Nationals March
1-6 at Black Mountain in Rumford, Maine. Newcomer Silvia Moelk's 6th
and 7th place finishes in the sprint and classic, respectively, met
the performance standard for nationals, and if she completes two more
conference races she too will qualify.
This weekend's results propelled three MSC skiers into the top ten in
the current USCSA Rocky Mountain Division rankings. Sophomore Tre
Anastasia is now ranked #3, sophomore Brooke Bosman is ranked #5, and
sophomore Kelsey Follett climbed to #7.
Mesa State Sprint Results
Finals
Men
1 0:01:57 1 Daniel Lewis M UW
2 0:02:03 1 Tom Sunderland M WSC
3 0:02:06 1 John Kirlin M UW
4 0:02:18 1 Tre Anastasia M Mesa State
5 0:02:23 1 Justin Kinner M UW
Finals
Women
1 0:02:35 1 Brittany Perkins W WSC
2 0:02:35 1 Gwynn Barrows W UW
3 0:02:41 1 Jamie Woelk W WSC
4 0:03:01 1 Gracey Lewis W UW
5 0:03:07 1 Sarah Dixson W UW
Also:
6th Silvia Moelk Mesa State
8th Brooke Bosman Mesa State
10th Kesley Follett Mesa State
11th Megan McGrath Mesa State
20th Morgan Moore Mesa State
21st Amanda Moore Mesa State
Grand Mesa Classic Results
Men:
Place LName FName Gender Team RaceTime
1 Lewis Daniel M UW 39:15
2 Krankkala Scott M WSC 39:16
3 Lange Chris M WSC 39:30
4 SunderlandTom M WSC 40:09
5 Anastasia Tre M MSC 41:05
6 Kinner Justin M UW-DEV41:44
7 OderwaldDevin M UW 42:03
8 Smith Sage M WSC 43:48
9 Karges Adam M UW 44:22
10 Looney Adam M UW 44:35
Women:
Place Name Name Gender Team RaceTime
1 Perkins Brittany F WSC 45:03
2 Barrows Gwynn F UW 47:17
3 Bosman Brooke F MSC 48:08
4 Cropsey Morgan F UW 48:45
5 Cartwright Marie F UW 49:51
6 Woelk Jamie F WSC 50:39
7 Moelk Sylvia F MSC 54:12
8 Noseworthy Cara F UW 55:15
9 Follett Kelsey F MSC 56:02
10 Moore Amanda F MSC 58:44
ALSO:
17th Moore Morgan F MSC 1:04:47
18th McGrath Megan F MSC 1:05:02