PARK CITY -- Push yourself after a bad day to have a good one, take some risks, and then your team can win. That was the case Sunday for the University of Utah men's ski team.

After what Utah coach Pat Miller called an "average" first event and an uncharacteristically poor showing Saturday in the slalom, the Utah men came out Sunday and won the men's giant slalom in the annual U. of U. Invitational.An equally good showing by the Utah women's team pushed the Utes into second place behind the University of Denver. The University of Colorado was third and the University of New Mexico fourth.

Saturday, the women skied well while the men placed only one of their four skiers in the top 10, which for a Utah team is very rare. This dropped the U. into third place in the overall standings.

"We knew we were better," said Ryan Forsyth, the official winner of the event. "We were determined to have a good day (Sunday) and we did."

"I don't know why, but I think I skied the best GS of the season for me," he added. "I did have one problem on the first run. I got myself off balance and had both skis in the air. I thought it was over. When I got both skis on the ground I was able to pull out."

He said that one reason the Utes may have struggled this season is that they've raced more than they've trained so far. However, the U. won't race again for several weeks.

First in the unofficial list was Uros Pavlovcic of the University of Sierra Nevada with a two-run time of 1 minute, 56.65 seconds.

Markus Leunig of Utah was second in the official standings and teammate Alain Britt-Cote was eighth.

Forsyth's mention of too many races and not enough training hit home with Utah's Elizabeth Sherry, a transplanted Vermont skier who now lives in Park City. Over the past 10 days, she has competed in eight races, including collegiate and FIS events.

She admitted she was tired after Sunday's race and ready for a rest.

View Comments

"I skied well and I'm happy with the way I skied, but it's been a hard week. I'm tired," said the third-place finisher in the women's slalom. "Also, the courses were a little turny today. I really don't like turny courses."

First in the unofficial cass was Sabine Fraise of Sierra Nevada, posting a 2:37.06 time over two runs. Winning the event was Cecilie Hagen Larsen of the University of Denver at 1:38.08, while Sherry posted a time of 1:40.03.

Utah's Savrina Lawrence was 10th and teammate Tina Kavcic of Utah was 12th

The nordic portion of this event was canceled because of the lack of snow on the cross country track.

Join the Conversation
Looking for comments?
Find comments in their new home! Click the buttons at the top or within the article to view them — or use the button below for quick access.