Denver Wins 2018 NCAA Championship

Saturday, March 10, 2018 • by Brooke Frederickson, RMISA

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo.—Denver won its 24th all-time NCAA Ski Championship on Saturday, March 10, extending its lead after a strong day in the men’s and women’s freestyle races.

Denver’s 24 titles rank first all-time in NCAA ski competition.

The Pioneers took over the lead after the slalom races and extended the lead with a race-high 90 points in the men’s 20-km freestyle and scoring 77 points in the women’s 15-km freestyle, which was second among teams.

Colorado finished second with 563 points with Utah fourth with 385.5 points. Montana State finished sixth (293), New Mexico seventh (277), Alaska Anchorage ninth (194) and Alaska Fairbanks 14th (58). UAF was second overall among the teams that just have Nordic skiing.

Men’s 20-km Freestyle
1. Ian Torchia, Northern Michigan
2. Alvar Alev, Colorado
3. Eivind Kvaale, Denver
4. Dag Trolleboe, Denver
5. Callan DeLine, Dartmouth
6. Zane Fields, Colby
7. Lars Hannah, Denver
8. Martin Bergstroem, Utah
9. Petter Reistad, Colorado
10. Sondre Bollum, Colorado
12. Sindre Tungesvik, New Mexico
19. Haakon Hjelstuen, Utah
21. Karsten Hokanson, Montana State
23. Toomas Kollo, Alaska Anchorage
24. Bjorn Riksaasen, Utah
26. Seiji Takagi, Alaska Fairbanks
27. Erik Axelsson, Montana State
28. Marcus Dueling, Alaska Anchorage
29. Max Donaldson, Alaska Fairbanks
32. Nick Lovett, Alaska Fairbanks
34. Eli Jensen, Montana State
36. Ricardo Izquierdo-Bernier, New Mexico
38. Erlend Nydal, New Mexico
40. Zackarias Toresson, Alaska Anchorage
Italics: Non-RMISA skier.

• Denver was the top-scoring team in the race with 90 points followed by Colorado (80).
• Colorado’s Alvar Alev and Denver’s Eivind Kvaale and Dag Trolleboe all earned first-team All-America honors.
• Denver’s Lars Hannah, Utah’s Martin Bergstroem and Colorado’s Petter Reistad and Sondre Bollum all earned second-team All-America honors.
• Bergstroem, Trolleboe, Kvaale, Reistad and Bollum earned All-America honors in both classic and freestyle.
• Alev earned his first career All-America honor and fifth podium of the season.
• Kvaale earned his sixth podium of the season and second career All-America honor.
• Trolleboe, who has been in the top five 12 times this season, is a five-time All-American.
• Hannah has been in the top 10 three times this year and is a three-time All-American.
• Bergstroem is one of just two skiers to be in the top 10 in all 14 races this year. He is a four-time All-American.
• Reistad, a six-time All-American, has been in the top 10 13 times this year.
• Bollum, a two-time All-American, has nine top 10 finishes this year.

Women’s 15-km Freestyle
1. Katharine Ogden, Dartmouth
2. Hailey Swirbul, Alaska Anchorage
3. Linn Eriksen, Denver
4. Guro Jordheim, Utah
5. Emma Tarbath, Montana State
6. Petra Hyncicova, Colorado
7. Christina Rolandsen, Colorado
8. Lauren Jortberg, Dartmouth
9. Jasmi Joensuu, Denver
10. Taeler McCrerey, Denver
11. Anne Siri Lervik, Colorado
12. Andrea Klementova, New Mexico
14. Johanna Taliharm, Montana State
16. Natalie Hynes, Alaska Anchorage
17. Anna Fake, Montana State
18. Anna Darnell, Alaska Fairbanks
19. Mariah Bredal, Utah
21. Leah Lange, Utah
25. Kati Roivas, Alaska Fairbanks
32. Ann-Cathrin Uhl, Alaska Fairbanks
35. Carolyn Lucca, New Mexico
36. Brenna Egan, New Mexico
38. Sadie Fox, Alaska Anchorage 
Italics: Non-RMISA skier.

• Denver was the top scoring RMISA team with 77 points, trailing race-leader Dartmouth (79) with Colorado third (72).
• Alaska Anchorage’s Hailey Swirbul, Denver’s Linn Eriksen, Utah’s Guro Jordheim and Montana State’s Emma Tarbath all earned first-team All-America honors.
• Colorado’s Petra Hyncicova and Christina Rolandsen and Denver’s Jasmi Joensuu and Taeler McCrerey all earned second-team All-America honors.
• Swirbul, Jordheim, Hyncicova and Joensuu earned All-America honors in both the classic and freestyle races.
• Swirbul, a two-time All-American, has five podium finishes this season.
• Eriksen is a three-time All-American, has five podium finishes this year.
• Jordheim is a four-time All-American and finished in the top four 12 times this year.
• Tarbath earned her first career All-America honor with her fifth top-five finish of the year.
• Hyncicova has seven top 10 finishes this year and is a seven-time All-American.
• Rolandsen has 12 top 10 finishes on the season and is a three-time All-American.
• Joensuu has 10 top 10 finishes in 2018 and a two-time All-American. 
• McCrerey has been in the top 10 seven times this year and is a three-time All-American.