DU’s skiing team finished third at this year’s NCAA National Championships. The team’s performance was highlighted by a second-place finish from senior Tobias Kogler (Salzburg, Austria) in the men’s Giant Slalom and an individual National Championship title from senior Amelia Smart (Invermere, British Columbia) in the women’s slalom race.
The NCAA National Championships began on Wednesday with the giant slalom. Kogler led Denver in this event with 37 points and barely missed out on back-to-back individual National Championship titles with his second-place finish. Kogler also received a first-team All America title, marking his third of his collegiate career.
Juniors Simon Fournier (Montreal, Quebec) and Tristan Lane (Aspen, Colo.) also placed 14th and 24th respectively to round out the men’s giant slalom performance.
Sophomore Reece Bell (Eagle, Colo.) led the women’s team in this event with a 15th place overall finish but was closely followed by Amelia Smart who took 17th. Sophomore Eleri Smart (Invermere, British Columbia) ended the event in the 25th spot to round out the women’s performance.
At the conclusion of Wednesday’s races, Denver was in fifth with 97 total team points. The second day of competition included the men’s 10K classic, the women’s 5K classic and three more All-American titles for Denver skiers.
Sophomore Bernhard Flaschberger (St. Veit, Pongau, Austria) led DU with a 6th place finish and 27 points, earning him second-team All-American honors. Senior Borgar Norrud (Oslo, Norway) and junior Ole Marius Kirkeng (Oslo, Norway) rounded out the men’s race with their 16th and 20th rankings.
In the women’s 5K race, DU earned two more All-America honors. Freshman Hanna Ray (Esse, Finland) recorded a 9th place finish in her first-ever NCAA Championship appearance. This led the team to earn a Second Team All-America title. Ray was directly followed by teammate Vera Norli (Jar, Norway) who took 10th and earned Denver’s third All-America honor of the day.
Denver once again finished at fifth overall with 193 team points. However, on the third day of the competition, DU upped their game and earned the highest team score of the day to move to third place.
Amelia Smart was the star of Friday’s races with her first-place finish in the women’s slalom. Smart took home her third career NCAA Champion title and added 40 points to the team’s score. Bell also had an impressive slalom finish, earning fifth overall and 29 points, while Eleri Smart finished 12th to help the women’s side earn the top team score in this event.
Fournier led Denver on the men’s side and took third place to earn his first All-America selection. He was then followed by Lane and Kogler, who finished 12th and 19th respectively to push the Denver team to third overall.
As the team moved on to the fourth and final day of the championships, both Flaschberger and Norrud earned top-ten finishes in the men’s 20K Freestyle. Standing at eighth and ninth, the two were also named Second Team All-Americans. Kirken crossed the line at 16th to round out the men’s performance.
Ray was once again Denver’s top finisher on the women’s side and took 14th in the 15K Freestyle Race. Norli and sophomore Emma Larsson (Borlange, Sweden) contributed to the team’s final score with 16th and 27th place finishes.
With a team total of 442 points, DU took home the third-place trophy at this year’s NCAA Championships. After last year’s abrupt cancellation of all winter and spring NCAA sports on the second day of the 2020 championships, Denver proved itself to still be a powerhouse program. The team will return to action next year in 2022.
