Monday, March 5, 2018 • by Brooke Frederickson, RMISA
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo.—The RMISA travels to the NCAA Championships this week, hosted by Colorado in Steamboat Springs, March 7-10.
Each team will send a full complement of 12 skiers (or six skiers in the case of Nordic-only Alaska Fairbanks). Alternates are available in case of injury or illness. In addition to the RMISA schools, Vermont and Dartmouth will also field a full team.
RMISA schools have won 56 of the 65 NCAA Championships held. Denver leads the NCAA with 23 team titles, followed by Colorado with 19 and Utah with 11. Wyoming (2) and New Mexico (1) have also won championships for the RMISA. Colorado, Denver and Utah have been the top three teams at the past three NCAA Championships with the Utes winning the 2017 title.
The NCAA Championships will be held March 7-10. Most events will be held at Howelsen Hill with the giant slalom races at Steamboat Springs. The meet kicks off with the men's and women's giant slalom races beginning at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, March 7. The Nordic teams begin on Thursday, March 8, with the women's 5-km and men's 10-km classical races beginning at 9 a.m. The men's and women's slalom races go off on Friday, March 9, with the meet closing with the men's 20-km and women's 15-km freestyle races on Saturday, March 10.
All events will be webcast live at NCAA.com.
A breakdown of the RMISA’s top skiers is below.
Men’s Alpine
- Colorado’s David Ketterer is the defending NCAA champion in both the giant slalom and slalom. Ketterer spent the early part of the season competing on the World Cup circuit before returning to Colorado. He has two top-five finishes this year.
- Six different skiers have won races on the year.
- Denver has scored the most points in men’s alpine this year with 614 followed by Montana State (609) and New Mexico (598).
- Colorado’s Ola Johnasen earned RMISA MVP honors. He tied for the league lead with three race wins on the year and led the league with seven podium finishes. He earned All-America honors in giant slalom in 2016.
- Montana State’s Garret Driller also had three wins on the year with five podium finishes. He is a two-time All-American.
- New Mexico’s Vegard Busengdal, who did not compete at last year’s NCAA Championships due to a crash suffered in training, won two races this year with five podium finishes.
- Montana State’s Addison Dvoracek has won two races with four podium finishes and six top-five finishes. He earned All-America honors last year in the giant slalom.
- Denver’s Tobias Kogler and Jett Seymour each have a race win this year. Kogler has three podium finishes. Both are in their first season at Denver.
- Denver’s Alex Leever has four podium finishes, Montana State’s Morten Bakke has two podiums and Utah’s Sam Dupratt also has two podium finishes. Bakke and Dupratt are both returning All-Americans.
- Colorado’s Max Luukko is a three-time All-American.
- New Mexico’s Rob Greig earned All-America honors in 2016.
Women’s Alpine
- Denver has scored the most points in women’s alpine this year (621.5) followed by Colorado (612) and Montana State (533).
- Six different skiers have won races.
- Colorado’s Tonje Trulsrud was the RMISA MVP. She tied for the league lead with three wins and had seven podium finishes on the year. Trulsrud is a 2017 giant slalom All-American.
- Denver’s Kristine Aasberg is tied for the league lead with three wins and had four podium finishes.
- Colorado’s Nora Christensen, a two-time slalom All-American, had two wins and four podium finishes during the year.
- New Mexico’s Katharine Irwin has two wins on the year. She earned All-America honors in the giant slalom last year.
- Also with wins this year are Alaska Anchorage’s Charley Field and Denver’s Amelia Smart. Field is making her fourth appearance at the NCAA Championships. Smart has three podium finishes in her first year at Denver.
- Utah’s Ann-Kathrin Breuning had two podium and seven top-five finishes this year. She is making her NCAA debut after skiing three seasons at Westminster and has three collegiate wins.
- Denver’s Tuva Norbye, who has three podium finishes this year, was the 2016 NCAA giant slalom champion. She is a three-time All-American.
- Montana State’s Benedicte Lyche is last year’s NCAA giant slalom champion. She is a four-time All-American.
- Utah’s Julie Mohagen was the 2016 NCAA slalom champion.
- Denver’s Andrea Komsic, who recently competed in the Olympics, had four podium finishes this year and is a two-time All-American.
- Montana State’s Kari Hole has two podium finishes this year and Montana State’s Stephanie Gartner has one podium on the season.
Men’s Nordic
- Utah has scored the most points in men’s Nordic this year (709), followed by Colorado (665) and Denver (595.5).
- Utah’s Martin Bergstroem, the defending NCAA freestyle and classic champion and this year’s RMISA MVP, leads the league with four wins this year and is tied for the league lead with eight podium finishes.
- Denver’s Dag Trolleboe has three wins this season and is tied for the league lead with eight podium finishes. He is a three-time All-American.
- Utah’s Haakon Hjelstuen has two wins and three podium finishes, all in races of 20-km or longer. He makes his second NCAA appearance, with his first coming as a skier at Michigan Tech in 2015 when he competed while sick at the championships.
- Colorado’s Alvar Alev has two wins and four podium finishes on the season.
- Denver’s Eivind Kvaale has one win and five podium finishes on the year.
- Colorado’s Petter Reistad has five podium finishes on the year. He is a four-time All-American.
- Denver’s Lars Hannah is a two-time All-American.
Women’s Nordic
- Colorado has scored the most points in women’s Nordic this year (749), followed by Utah (640.5) and Denver (615.5).
- Utah’s Guro Jordheim, a two-time All-American, earned RMISA MVP honors. She led the RMISA with seven race wins and 10 podium finishes.
- Colorado’s Petra Hyncicova is the defending NCAA classic and freestyle champion. She is a five-time All-American. Hyncicova, who competed in the Olympics, had one win and five podium finishes during the year.
- Denver’s Linn Eriksen, the 2016 NCAA classic champion and a two-time All-American, has one win and four podium finishes this year.
- Denver’s Jasmi Joensuu has one win and four top-five finishes.
- Alaska Anchorage’s Hailey Swirbul missed part of the season competing at the Junior World Championship. She had three podium finishes on the year.
- Colorado’s Anne Siri Lervik had four podium finishes on the year.
- Colorado’s Christina Rolandsen, who had two podium finishes this year, is a two-time All-American.
- Denver’s Taeler McCrerey is a two-time All-American in the freestyle. She has one podium finish this year.
- Montana State’s Johanna Taliharm, who competed in the Olympics and has four top-10 finishes, earned All-America honors in the freestyle in 2017.