UW Nordic Ski Teams Continue Strong Season at CSU Invitational

Both the University of Wyoming women’s and men’s Nordic ski teams continued their strong start to the winter season when they competed in Leadville, Colo., last weekend at the Colorado State University (CSU) Invitational.

The first day’s competition last Saturday was a classic team sprint in which mixed gender teams of three athletes each took turns skiing a 1km sprint loop. Each athlete skied the loop three total times, and all teams were required to have at least one female cross-country skier. However, the Pokes selected a bold strategy and opted to compose their first team of one male athlete, Kaj Taylor, from Palmer, Alaska, and two female athletes, Erica Meyers and Annie Miller, both from Minneapolis, Minn.

“The team was in the lead for two legs until Erica was faced with skiing against Western Colorado University’s fastest man,” UW co-head Coach Christi Boggs says. “She held tight and handed off to Kaj with only a small deficit. Overall, the team placed third, getting beaten by only two teams with two men and one woman. There were 27 teams total competing.”

Sunday’s race was a 7.5km skate race. The temperature at the beginning of the day was minus 3 degrees.

“Fortunately, the sun was warm, and temperatures rose quickly; however, the snow was cold and slow,” Boggs says.

Miller and Meyers paced the Cowgirls who dominated the competition, placing first and second, respectively.

“Annie’s ability to V2 throughout the race seemed to be key to her win,” Meyers says. “However, I felt like we both used our own unique strategies to post the fastest times of the day.”

V2 is a cross-country skiing technique using a double pole push with every skate.

The Cowgirls’ overall team win was assisted by Casper’s Sammy Veauthier’s fourth-place finish; Grace Erholtz, of Baxter, Minn., was fifth; Wren Hybertson, from Boulder, Colo., took eighth; and Lander’s Shayla Babits was 10th.

UW won the day with five points; Western Colorado University (WCU) followed with 10; Colorado College (CC) was next with 15; the U.S. Air Force Academy had 20; and CSU scored 25.

The UW men were led by Taylor, who took fourth, and was followed by teammates Eliot Kramer, of St. Paul, Minn., who placed 11th; and Laramie’s Austin Quillinan, who took 12th. The two teammates were separated by less than a second.

“Eliot had the advantage of starting after Austin and, when he received a split that he was three seconds down, he then turned on the heat,” UW co-head Coach Rachel Watson says.

The Cowboys picked up their second win of the season by scoring five points, topping season-long leader WCU, which had 10. CC was next with 15; Air Force came in with 20; CSU scored 25; the University of Denver tallied 30; and Colorado Mesa University put up 35.

The scoring Cowboys were joined by a full team of both American and Chinese teammates who all were attempting to qualify for the United States Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association Nationals (USCSA).

“We are excited that two of our Shanghai University of Sport athletes -- Luqi “Lucky” Chen and Zerun “Zion” Tian -- have now met the qualifying mark for nationals,” Watson says. “They will have the opportunity to travel to Lake Placid, N.Y., to compete in three USCSA races along with their American teammates.”

The UW teams host their annual Cowboy Chase competition this weekend, starting at 10 a.m. both days at the Happy Jack trails.