The Bobcat ski team finishes second in the 2022 Montana State Invitational

Competing under new Head Alpine Coach Kris Shampeny, the MSU ski team hosted the 2022 Montana State Invitational on Saturday, Jan. 15, to Wednesday, Jan. 19, where Bobcat skiers competed against the defending national champions, the Utah Utes, as well as teams from Denver, Colorado State, Anchorage, Westminster, Alaska Fairbanks, Colorado Mountain College and Wyoming. These teams competed in four different races, and all the individual scores were combined to create an overall team score.

 Junior Nellie Talbot started her season perfectly by finishing first in the womens’ giant slalom with a combined time of 1:37.12. Talbott was fourth fastest in both races, but both those times combined put her in first place.

 "Nellie did a lot of things right," Shampeny said. "She really did a nice job attacking and pushing on the bottom part of the hill." Talbot also had a 12th place finish in the womens’ slalom race, contributing a total of 61 points to the team.

Another excellent performance came from junior nordic skier Reed Godfrey. He placed sixth in the 10K freestyle, with a time of 27:52.0, and scored 27 points for the team. The next day Godfrey placed eighth in the 15K men's classic race with a time of 38:54.3, scoring another 23 points for the team.

Sophomore Kristiane Bekkestad finished ninth in women's giant slalom with a combined time of 1:38.40, contributing 22 points to the team. "Kristiane had a nice first run and tightened up a little in the second," Shampeny said. "She'll come out tomorrow more relaxed and looking for a great finish."

 The next day, Bekkestad indeed found that great finish. She placed second in the women's slalom race with an impressive time of 1:52.89, scoring 37 more points for the Cats.

Junior All-American Riley Seger finished third in the mens’ giant slalom, finishing the course in 1:34.82. He had the fastest first race but the 15th fastest second race. He also placed 17th in men's slalom, and contributed a total of 34 points. 

Once the scores of all the athletes were added up, the Cats secured a second place finish behind Utah. The Utes dominated the competition with 760 points, 235.5 points ahead of the Cats.

For updates about future competitions, follow the MSU Ski Team on social media @MSUBobcatskiing.