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Show 6 SPORTS Tuesday March 19, 2013 TODAY'S SKI REPORT Alta 22° / 9 a.m. 34° / 3 p.m. www.dailyutahchronicle.com Conditions and weather from utahskiweathercom Spring skiing conditions Brighton UPCOMING SPORTS EVENTS TODAY: Baseball 22° / 9 a.m. 34° / 3 p.m. Canyons 27° / 9 a.m. 40° / 3 p.m. Deer Valley 27° 400 /I 93 a.m. p.m. 22° / 9 a.m. 34° / 3 p.m. Snowbird Solitude Utah snags second, in Vermont Utah vs. UVU 6 p.m. Spring Mobile Ballpark The Utah ski team went into the NCAA Championships in Middlebury, Vt., with the goal of taking home the title. While the Utes came up short, finishing second, they jumped two teams on the final day and finished only behind Colorado. Going into the final day of competition, Utah was sitting in fourth place in the team standings. As a team that entered the championships expecting to compete for the title, it was time to step up. The final race of the day, the Nordic freestyle, became a memorable one for the Utes. Miles Havlick won his second career national title, and teammates Einar Ulsund and Niklas Persson finished in the top five to give Utah a total of 186 points for the day. While Havlick was worried about his own performance, it was the team effort that made the day. "This year was different than last year, but every bit as rewarding," Havlick said. "Going I, 3, 5 [places] in that race was remarkable. I will never forget the smiles on everyone's faces after that race." Head Nordic coach Abi Holt felt similarly about the race. "That race will definitely go down as one of my top coaching memories," Holt said. "Watching Miles defend his title and then turn around and see his teammates finishing right behind him was an amazing experience for every Ute who saw the race. We were all overwhelmed by that performance." WEDNESDAY: Softball Utah @ Utah State 4 p.m. Logan Volleyball Utah vs. UVU 4 p.m. Crimson Court THURSDAY: Swim & Dive NCAA Women's Championships All Day Indianapolis PAC-12 STANDINGS BASEBALL CONF OVERALL Oregon St. 3-0 19-1 UCLA 3-0 15-3 California 3-0 13-7 Oregon 2-1 15-6 Washington 2-1 11-7 USC 1-2 8-11 Arizona St. 1-2 12-4 Stanford 0-0 10-5 Arizona 0-3 15-8 Utah 0-3 8-9 Washington St. 0-3 4-14 350 / SKI STAFF WRITER TEAM 23° / 93 a.m. p.m. PHOTO COURTESY JEREMY ELLIOT Senior Miles Havlick (top) and junior Jeremy Elliot (bottom) celebrate after Havlick won his second career national title in the Nordic freestyle. BASEBALL Offense crucial focus for young roster in facing in-state rivals Adding to podium finishes for Utah was Jeremy Elliot, who finished second in the men's giant slalom. Elliot came out of the gates quickly, as he posted the fastest time among first runs. Elliot was unable to sustain that lead, but still held on to tie for second. "I definitely could have won the race if I had not made a mistake on my second run," Elliot said. "I was disappointed at first, but that soon turned to happiness once it settled in that I had just become an NCAA First Team All-American." On the women's side, there were many top io finishes for Utah. In their NCAA Championships debuts, Kristiina Rove and Ana Kobal finished in fourth and sixth places in the giant slalom, respectively. Kobal also grabbed fifth place in the slalom. Sloan Storey finished fifth in the classical race while teammates Anna Svendsen and Rose Kemp finished in loth and iith places, respectively. Kemp also finished in ninth place in the freestyle race. While the championships are the main focus of the year, there is still some racing to be done for these Utes. Both the alpine and Nordic teams will compete in the Spring Series in Truckee, Calif., and the alpine team will compete in the U.S. Nationals as well. "We all took a breather last week during Spring Break, but this week we will be back to normal team training," Holt said. "To be honest, I don't even remember what free time feels like." g.adams@ chronicle.utah.edu Twitter: @GriffDoug Mountain West Tourney doesn't fail to entertain Chad Mobley STAFF WRITER Utah will look to get back to .500 Tuesday night at Spring Mobile Ballpark as it takes on the Utah Valley Wolverines. This will be the first in-state opponent the Utes will face this season. After dropping three straight games to Cal last weekend, Utah will be focusing on executing its offense. The Utes had no trouble chalking up hits, but they struggled to get runners across the plate in their home-opening series. In particular, Utah will be hoping to execute on the base paths in bunting situations and in hit-and-runs. "When there are those opportunities, we've got to be able to capitalize on those," said Utah head coach Bill Kinneberg. Kinneberg said the ability to execute on offense is going to come from Utah's young roster gaining more game-time experience. "Two things that are hurting us right now are injuries and youth," Kinneberg said. "With five or six freshmen on the field at one time, they are getting their feet wet and learning what it's like to play in this league. It's a good thing." Utah's senior Trey Nielsen will have a key role in helping the Utes execute their offense. Whether he is playing first base, designated hitter or pitching, Nielsen will be in the middle of the lineup to help spur run production. He played all three positions over the course of last weekend's series on his way to four doubles, two singles and three RBIs. "I don't think there's one role that I'm most comfortable in," Nielsen said. "They groom me that way throughout the fall and prep me for the season. That was the plan going See BASEBALL page 8 JAKE BULLINGER Sports Editor tah fans that traveled to the Pac12 Tournament in Las Vegas were treated surprisingly well. Most probably booked just one or two nights, but Utah kept the fans in town by winning — not just one — but two games before it eventually fell to Oregon. Utah fans stayed longer than they imagined and got to watch some entertaining basketball in the process. But was the Pac-12 Tournament the site of the best basketball in Vegas last week? The answer — unequivocally — is no. If Utah fans wanted to watch some really good basketball, they should have kept driving down Tropicana and pulled into the Thomas and Mack Center, which was hosting the Mountain West Conference Tournament. Last week in Vegas was a shining example of how Utah's fortune has changed with its move to the Par-12. While Utah's old MWC opponents were playing in Thomas and Mack on the UNLV campus, the Utes were playing in the MGM Garden Arena, normally the host of prize fights and premier concerts. Instead of stands filled with Albuquerque and Laramie residents, Utah was playing in front of Los Angeles' elite. These differences were clear and unmistakable, but they don't signal Pac-12 superiority. Miami Heat president Pat Riley chose to watch the Pac-12 contests over the MWC, but Pat Riley doesn't stand up and cheer during games. Crowd atmosphere was easily the biggest difference between the tournaments. The crowds at both were big, but they were much bigger at the MWC games. While 18,5oo fans packed into Thomas and Mack to watch the UNLV-New Mexico championship game, just U KARINA PUIKKONEN/The Daily Utah Chronicle Senior infielder Trey Nielsen will play a key role in helping the Utes execute their offense Tuesday night at Spring Mobile Ballpark as they take on the Utah Valley Wolverines. See BULLINGER page 8 |