The University of Utah is closing in on another NCAA skiing championship.

Heading into the final day of competition on Saturday, the Utes have piled up 398 points and have a 24.5-point lead over second-place Colorado and a 52-point lead over third-place Denver as Western schools rose to the forefront on Friday.

The championship being held at Cannon Mountain in New Hampshire conclude Saturday with men’s and women’s Nordic racing at the Jackson Nordic Center. The women’s 15K freestyle and the men’s 20K freestyle can be watched live at NCAA.com.

On Friday, Utah scored 79 points in the men’s and women’s slalom events.

“It was some warmer weather today, so the course got pretty beat up in both runs. Personally, I skied too safe and didn’t let it go in the first run. On my second run I let it go despite the tough conditions.” — Utah Nordic racer Joachim Lien

Senior Joachim Lien was fourth in the men’s slalom with a total time of 1:29.99 to earn his second All-America award this year and third of his career.

“It was some warmer weather today, so the course got pretty beat up in both runs,” Lien said in a school news release. “Personally, I skied too safe and didn’t let it go in the first run. On my second run I let it go despite the tough conditions.”

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All three of Utah’s women’s competitors scored points Friday, led by junior Katie Vesterstein, who took 10th with a time of 1:42.59 and earned her first All-America honor.

Junior Katie Parker was 15th (1:43.84) and junior Sona Moravcikova was 20th (1:46.41).

“My mindset for today was to just try and ski like I have been in training and make it to the finish line,” Vesterstein said in the release. “I was skiing more conservative than I normally do, but today was more than just skiing for myself. It was for the team, and my goal was to make it down in a solid position for the Nordics tomorrow.”

In the first three days of competition, Utah has claimed 12 All-America honors by 11 student-athletes.

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