SNOWBIRD, Utah – Wilhelm Normannseth won both men's slalom races and Oliver Parazette added a silver medal in the morning event to seal a team victory for the Utah Ski Team on Friday at Snowbird in the Westminster Invitational.
 
Friday's men's slalom was host to two races, following the same format as Thursday's women's slalom. It ended with 365 points for the Utes, separating the squad by 63 points from second-place Denver.
 
This was the first meet of the RMISA's alpine season; from here teams will head to Bozeman, Montana, to conclude the Montana State Invitational with two days of giant slalom. That is currently scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, January 31 and February 1 at Bridger Bowl.

Hear from head alpine coach JJ Johnson following today's men's slalom races @Snowbird#GoUtes pic.twitter.com/QK5aSmDdwZ

— Utah Ski Team (@utahskiteam) January 28, 2023

 
In the morning slalom, four Utes placed in the top-10, headlined by Normannseth's victory. Parazette was right behind him in second place and Jeremy Mathers narrowly missed the podium in fourth place to close the scoring. Raphael Lessard finished in a tie for ninth and Gustav Vøllo rounded out the top-15 Utes with a 12^th-place performance.
 
Parazette logged his silver medal just two days removed from competing in Austria at the FIS Alpine Junior World Championships. He traveled back to the United States following Junior Worlds and was ready to race in Friday's competition. Lessard's morning result marked his first collegiate race.
 
Normannseth clocked a first-run time of 40.82—best in the field—and followed it up with another top-five second run to win the overall race.
 
Conditions were a little more challenging in the afternoon race, but nevertheless Normannseth triumphed again including a first-run win (43.62 seconds). Mathers placed 10^th, Tomas Birkner was 17^th as a non-team scorer and Lessard took 18^th.
 
Normannseth now owns four RMISA victories in his career—all slalom—with Parazette earning his second collegiate podium and first in slalom.
 
As teams head up to Bozeman and turn their focus to the Montana State Invitational, Utah leads that meet with a 120-point cushion following the Nordic races.
 
Nordic Update From Whistler
It's an open weekend on the RMISA Nordic calendar, but not for four Utes who are in Whistler, British Columbia, for the 2023 FIS Junior/U23 World Championships running from January 27-February 5. Utah's Luke Jager, Sophia Laukli, Novie McCabe and Sydney Palmer-Leger are all up North, with event schedules and live streaming available through WJC2023.ca.
 
Follow the Utah Ski Team on social media @utahskiteam.