The University of Denver skiing team saw three athletes reach the podium at the Colorado Invitational in Aspen Highlands on Thursday. Senior Adrian Minde Hunshammer and freshman Cecilia Pizzinato each earned their first career podium finishes, while graduate student Sara Rask finished second for the second day in a row in the alpine giant slalom event.
The Denver women’s team won their competition with 94 points on Thursday, accumulating a total of 198 points across both Thursday’s giant slalom and Tuesday’s slalom at Loveland Ski Area. The men’s team placed two skiers in the top ten and four in the top thirteen, helping them collect 149 points over the two days.
Denver remains in second place overall at the CU Invitational with 347 points, trailing host Colorado by nine points as they head into Nordic events next month in Steamboat Springs. Utah is currently third, 47 points behind Denver.
Sara Rask has now finished on the podium in all four races this season and has achieved either first or second place in eight consecutive events dating back to last year’s Alaska Anchorage Invitational. She improved from third after her first run on Thursday to finish with a combined time of 2:01.96.
Cecilia Pizzinato, who recorded her first career top ten just one day earlier at the Denver Invite’s giant slalom, moved up from tenth to third by posting the second-fastest time during her afternoon run. Her total time was 2:02.49.
Colorado’s Louison Accambray won both sessions and took first place by nearly a second and a half over Rask.
Freshman Elisabeth Creighton notched her second top-ten finish of her collegiate career by finishing eighth, serving as Denver’s third women’s scorer for the day.
On the men’s side, Adrian Minde Hunshammer continued his strong start to the season by placing third with a time of 1:58.30—his first collegiate podium finish. His recent results follow steady improvement through pre-season competitions, including a podium at December’s Holiday Classic giant slalom at Aspen Highlands and another top finish at last week’s FIS Nor-Am Cup event in Quebec.
Utah’s Johs Herland secured his fourth straight win this season with a time of 1:57.99; Colorado’s Filip Wahlqvist came in second just ahead of Hunshammer.
Christian Soevik earned his second consecutive top-ten GS result for Denver by placing seventh; Pietro Motterlini and Eirik Kveno finished twelfth and thirteenth respectively.
The Colorado Invitational will conclude with two days of Nordic racing at Howelsen Hill Ski Area on February 13-14 in Steamboat Springs. The next scheduled alpine events for Denver are set for January 31-February 3 at Mount Rose-Ski Tahoe during the Nevada Invitational and RMISA Qualifiers. Nordic skiers will compete next at the Utah Invitational on January 24-25.
