ELDORA, COLO. – The Alaska Anchorage ski team posted four top-10 finishes at the Eldora Giant Slalom Sunday.
Didrik Nilsen's first run was the second-fastest in the field (55.63) and finished second overall with a combined time of 1:52.16.
Anthony Naciuk also finished in the top-10 with an eighth-place finish in 1:52.84.
Georgia Burgess put together a pair of fifth-place runs to finish fourth in a time of 2:00.13.
Li Djurestaal second run was the second fastest in the field (58.51) to propel her to a sixth place finish (2:00.35).
“We've had a good prep period this fall,” said head coach Sparky Anderson. “It's encouraging to see some solid results from the group today. Most of the university kids are here, and the CU invite starts Wednesday, so we'll see where we truly are this week. Exciting to see a podium finish from Didrik and a top-10 from Tony on the guy's side. In the women's race, Georgia was just off the blocks in fourth and Li put down the second fastest run on the second course to move into sixth. Kids are working hard and pushing each other. Hopefully we keep improving.”
Other finishes for the men included Sky Kelsey 17th (1:53.75) and Martins Onskulis 37th (1:57.26). Soleil Patterson was 24th (2:06.30) for the women.
The Nordic team competed in the distance freestyle races at the 2019 US Nordic National Championships in Craftsbury, Vermont.
JC Schoonmaker finished 18th (27:46) in the junior men's 10-kilometer freestyle, and Jenna diFolco was 27th (22:31) in the junior women's 7.5-kilometer race.
Anna Darnell was 31st (1:05:41) in the women's 20-kilometer freestyle, and Michaela Keller-Miller was 58th (1:08:42).
“Sideways snow made for tough conditions, but Anna rose to the challenge on a tough course and just missed the top-30,” said head Nordic Coach Andrew Kastning. “JC has had a great week and ended the qualifications for junior world championships as the second alternate. We have one more skate sprint before moving to Steamboat to start the CU invite and are looking forward to RMISA skiing.”
