Last year, Utah’s four-year streak of winning the NCAA skiing championship came to a halt — by the most minuscule of margins.
Colorado just edged out the Utes on the final event of the 2024 championship, the 20K mass start finish, by just two total points.
“As you know, last year we lost by two points, so that’s about a hundred of a second in a couple of Alpine races or one Nordic stretch of the toe a bit farther,” Utah director of skiing Fredrik Landstedt said earlier this week.
That narrow championship loss ended the Utes’ reign atop the NCAA mountain, but would also make a win this week all the sweeter. Utah, which was one of just five teams nationally that qualified 12 participants for the championships, will travel east to New Hampshire to try to avenge last season’s loss.
“I think we had that motto this year — we’re getting those two points back — so it kind of drove the whole team,” said women’s alpine skier Claire Timmermann. “We did have a big freshman class come in on the Alpine side, Nordic too, so we kind of just tried to show them the way.
“They did everything they could to step up and they did. But honestly they could have taken any single person on this team (to NCAAs) and we probably can win, well, we will win. But I think it just puts it into perspective that the margins are so small and you got to be on your ‘A’ game.”
Clearly, the Utes are confident heading into the NCAA championships, and they have reason to be. Utah won its 10th regular-season Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association title this winter, finishing ahead of second-place Colorado and third-place Denver. At the end of February, the Utes finished first at the RMISA championship meet, totaling 683 points, ahead of Colorado’s 606 and Denver’s 564.
Utah’s Celine Mayer won the Women’s 7.5K Classic, while Zachary Jayne finished first in the Men’s 7.5K Classic. As a team, the Utes won the Women’s Giant Slalom, Women’s 7.5K Classic, Women’s 20K Freestyle and tied for first in the Men’s Slalom.
“It looks like we’re coming together,” Landstedt said. “... again, anything can happen but I feel pretty confident we’re going to be right in the mix and it’s going to be between us, Colorado, Denver and Dartmouth most likely. And any one of those teams can really win.”
Helping matters for the Utes is the return of a few skiers who have been competing in international competitions — Joe Davies and Walker Hall.
“We’ve also been, the last few meets, missing a couple of key people so they’re coming back and hopefully we’ll be stronger at the NCAAs than we’ve been these last few meets,” Landstedt said.
Davies, a Nordic skier, earned All-RMISA first-team honors this season in just four starts. He was limited in meets for Utah due to his participation in the World Cup, where he made six starts and finished in the top 20 four times. Hall, also a Nordic skier, garnered All-RMISA first-team honors while making two starts at the U23 World Championships and five starts at the World Cup.
Having those two back in the fold will be a huge boon for Landstedt’s squad.
Johs Braathen Herlans, the RMISA co-MVP in Alpine men’s giant slalom, will also play a critical role for the Utes at the championships.
On the women’s side, Erica Lavén was named the RMISA MVP for the women’s Nordic classic and freestyle after racking up 151 points in freestyle races and 197 points in classic races. Alpine skier Kaja Norbye and Claire Timmermann also garnered RMISA first-team honors and will start at the NCAA championships.
For Timmermann, who is in her fifth year at Utah, ending her career on top would make her fourth ring the most special. Timmermann wasn’t in the lineup during Utah’s last three NCAA wins, but will be making her debut this week.
“My freshman, sophomore, junior year we won. Last year we came up short. So I have three rings, hoping for four, but I think those first three, not being on the skiing part of it, just watching has its own nerves to it. But I think it’s a different type of ring. I think it would be a lot more special to be a part of the team,” Timmermann said.
The NCAA skiing championships get underway Wednesday with the giant slalom. Thursday will see the 7.5K classic, while Friday features the slalom. The final event, the 20K mass start, will be on Saturday.
