MIDWAY, Utah—What started as one of the closest day-three totals in NCAA Ski Championship history turned into a route by the Utah Utes, who won the program's third straight NCAA Championship.
In the end, Utah won with 578 points, by 76.5 points over second place Vermont (511.5) with Denver (436.5) beating out Colorado (435) by just 1.5 points for third place.
The RMISA dominated the final standings with Alaska Anchorage taking fifth and then Alaska Fairbanks finishing seventh, Westminster eighth and Montana State ninth, giving the RMISA seven of the top nine positions.
The Nanooks were the top team in the standings only competing in Nordic events and Westminster accomplished the feat with alpine-only teams.
Utah essentially held serve in the men's 20K freestyle race, scoring 73 points, second to Vermont's total of 78 and second-best in the field. Utah then had the top two and all three in the top eight of the women's 15K freestyle to ski away with the championship.
Vermont's Ben Ogden picked up his second win in as many races and took home the individual NCAA Championship. Utah's Sam Hendry took second, Alaska Anchorage's JC Schoonmaker third and Denver's Bernhard Flaschberger fourth as the RMISA's first-team All-Americans.
Utah's Sophia Laukli won the women's race while Novie McCabe took second, essentially switching places from Thursday's classic races where McCabe won and Laukli tied for second. Alaska Fairbanks also placed two in the top five as first-team All-Americans with Kendall Kramer in fourth and Mariel Pulles in fifth.
The Utes scored 100 points with UAF taking second with 73, New Hampshire 57 and Vermont 56.
The 2022 college season is now complete.
The traditional favorites at the NCAA Championships again held with Utah winning its 14th NCAA Championship. The RMISA has won 25 of the last 27 NCAA Championships and 33 of the 39 titles since skiing became coed in 1983.
The RMISA also comminated the All-America count, picking a combined 51 of 80 honors. The EISA claimed 25 and CCSA four. For first-team honors, the RMISA led with 30 of 41 honors (there was one fifth-place tie in men's slalom) with the EISA claiming 10 and CCSA one.
Utah led the way with 14 All-America honors with Vermont picking up 11, Colorado 10 and Denver nine, as those four schools atop the team standings combined for over half (46 of 80) top 10 finishes throughout the championship.
| Date | Race |
|---|---|
| Mar. 10 | Women's Giant Slalom |
| Mar. 10 | Women's 5K Classical |
| Mar. 10 | Men's Giant Slalom |
| Mar. 10 | Men's 10K Classical |
| Mar. 11 | Women's Slalom |
| Mar. 11 | Men's Slalom |
| Mar. 12 | Women's 15K Freestyle |
| Mar. 12 | Men's 20K Freestyle |