UW Nordic Ski Teams Take Opening Conference Races

Both University of Wyoming Nordic club ski teams took the season’s opening United States Collegiate Ski Association (USCSA) race last weekend at the Colorado Mesa University (CMU) meet.

The defending national champion Cowboys had a team-low nine points in the classic sprint race to top the seven-team USCSA field. Western State Colorado University (WSCU) placed second with 26 points; the host CMU team took third with 30 points; followed by the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) with 34; both the University of Colorado (CU) and Colorado College (CC) scored 59 points; and visiting Oregon State University-Cascades (OSU-C) had 63 points.

In the skate competition the following day, the Pokes again placed first with 15 points, followed by CMU with 18; WSCU scored 26; USAFA with 39; CU scored 44; OSU-C had 60; and CC scored 78.

The national runner-up UW women’s team also dominated both races last weekend.

The Cowgirls won the sprint race with a team-low 10 points; CMU scored 20; OSU-C tallied 39; CC scored 40; WSCU accumulated 44; and USAFA had 55.

UW had a commanding day in the skate competition, scoring a season-best six points to outdistance the field. CMU again was the runner-up with 15 points; OSU-C placed third with 36; USCU had 47; USAFA scored  48; and CC had 75 points.

Individually, the UW women swept three of the four top skate competition positions. They were Elise Sulser, from Casper, first; Laramie’s Meghan Kent, second; and Bridget Weiner, from Casper, fourth.

Jackson’s Sam Wiswell led the Pokes, taking the men’s division, while teammate Mason Vincent, from Laramie, placed fourth.

Vincent was the overall sprint competition champion, while teammates Ben Noren, of Ironwood, Mich.; Wiswell and Taylor Vignaroli, from Casper, all placed among the top 10 racers. Noren was fifth, Wiswell finished seventh and Vignaroli placed eighth.

In the women’s race, Sulser placed first, while Kent and Yara Thomas, of Jackson, were fifth and sixth, respectively. Weiner placed eighth overall, and Britta Schroeter, from Ironwood, Mich., took 10th.

UW’s teams will compete at the WSCU invitational this weekend in Gunnison, Colo.