UW Nordic Ski Teams off to Strong Start

Both the University of Wyoming men and women’s Nordic ski teams picked up wins in their respective divisions in the opening competition last weekend at the Colorado Mesa University (CMU) Invitational at Devil’s Thumb.

The first day was a point-to-point, uphill classic 15km race and was part of the Stagecoach Classic -- a citizens’ race. The UW men took the team title from CMU (Grand Junction, Colo.) by six points, and Western Colorado University (WCU, Gunnison, Colo.) placed third, seven points behind the Pokes. The race featured 34 male competitors.

The Cowgirls opened the season by edging WCU by a single point and eight points over CMU. The race attracted 28 women.

The UW teams had 13 men and 14 women competing, including visiting scholars from Shanghai University of Sport (SUS) who are studying on the UW campus this year.

Matthew Williams, a sophomore from Jackson, won the men’s race, with Silas Goetz, a Lander sophomore, in fourth. Nathan Kessler, a first-year skier from Buffalo, took sixth, and sophomore Ben Romanjenko, from Sheridan, was 12th.

Other finishers for the UW men’s team were:

-- Andy Han, SUS visiting scholar, 15th.

-- Derek Larsen, Casper, 28th.

-- Fredy Lin, SUS visiting scholar, 20th.

-- Leon Liu, SUS visiting scholar, 18th.

-- James Meng, SUS visiting scholar, 19th.

-- Harry Wang, SUS visiting scholar, 16th.

Laramie’s Ella DeWolf, a UW graduate student with a year of eligibility remaining, was the runner-up in the women’s competition. Cowgirl teammates Katherine Gruner, a Casper sophomore, placed third; Jackson sophomore Sydney Wiswell was sixth; Maddy Tinker, a Casper junior, finished seventh; and Lander’s Morgan Robins, another UW graduate with one year of eligibility remaining, took 10th.

Other finishers for the UW women’s team were:

-- Krisanna Andrews, Laramie freshman, 20th.

-- Simona Duan, SUS visiting scholar, 14th.

-- Michaela Forty, Vermont sophomore, 16th.

-- Ellie Inkster, Minnesota freshman, 23rd.

-- Eva Koplin, Minnesota freshman, 26th.

-- Lydia Li, SUS visiting scholar, 17th.

-- Mei Wang, SUS visiting scholar, 18th.

-- Doris Yan, SUS visiting scholar, 15th.

-- Murong Yu, SUS visiting scholar, 22nd.

Both UW teams competed in a Sunday team sprint.

The Cowgirls trio of Tinker, DeWolf and Gruner combined to win the women’s race by nearly two minutes over CMU. Another UW team -- Robins, Forty and Wiswell -- was third.

The Cowboys team of Goetz, Romanjenko and Kessler finished second behind WCU.

The UW teams will be at Crested Butte, Colo., for the WCU Invitational this weekend.