3.16 - [RELEASE] USCSA 42nd Annual Collegiate National Championships Event Recap

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Alec Tandara-Kuhns

atandkuhns@uscsa.com 

UNITED STATES COLLEGIATE SKI AND SNOWBOARD ASSOCIATION HOSTS 42nd ANNUAL U.S. COLLEGIATE SKIING AND SNOWBOARDING NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS^TM

LAKE PLACID, New York. – MARCH 16th, 2020.  The U.S. Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association (USCSA) completed its annual Collegiate National Championships^TM Friday  with a men’s and women’s slalom and men’s and women’s snowboard Slopestyle. As a precautionary measure due to COVID-19, events on Saturday March 14th were canceled.

Nearly 500 collegiate athletes representing 71 colleges and universities are competing at the 2020 USCSA Collegiate National Championships^TM. This includes alpine, snowboard, freeski, and nordic teams which qualified through their regional championships. Events include Alpine Giant Slalom, Alpine Slalom, Dual Slalom, Nordic Sprints, Nordic Relays, Nordic Distance, Slopestyle, Skier Cross, Snowboard Cross, Rail Jam, Snowboard Slalom, and Snowboard Giant Slalom. As the events unfold over next week at Lake Placid, please join the USCSA athletes, families and friends in celebrating this pinnacle of collegiate competition by following athlete performance either in person or online at www.uscsa.com, where team and Individual results will be posted daily. Check in daily for live Video and Audio Feeds online at uscsa.com/broadcast.html.

"Making the call to shorten Nationals wasn't an easy call, especially with how strong the start of the week was,” said USCSA Executive Director Alec Tandara-Kuhns. “Opening ceremonies was an instant classic and the competition in Nordic and Alpine  was at an all time high. The freeskiers put down on the rail jam course and snowboarders got to round out the last competition of the 20-21 season celebrating the life and legacy of Jake Carpenter. But life comes quickly and we thank all participants, especially the seniors and the volunteers for making the most of a rollercoaster week." 

Due to the threat of rain Friday, both men’s and women’s alpine slalom races were held on Thursday. Combining these events made for an action packed day of racing, with over 400 starts. The men’s race was yet another extremely close contest, with only 1.19 seconds between the 1st and 3rd place teams. For the second time in the week, Rocky Mountain College came away with the win, with Castleton University in 2nd and Sierra Nevada University in 3rd to round out the podium. The women’s race was even closer; Castleton University won the slalom team National Championship by only two one hundredths over Sierra Nevada University. Brown University’s women’s team placed on the podium for the first time of the week, finishing in 3rd place. Individually, both Robby Kelley and Sixtine Pencce won their second men’s and women’s individual event championships of the week respectively. After his win, Robby Kelley from Castleton University said, “I broke my pole in the first run and had to ski with one pole, but had a good second run. Unfortunately it sounds like we just lost the team event and I’m bummed about that, but it was good skiing by all of our teammates today and everybody laid it all on the line.” 

With wins in both the Giant Slalom and Slalom, Sierra Nevada University won the women’s combined National Championship and Rocky Mountain College won the men’s National Championship. “The Rocky Bears did it, they finished it off with a win and the overall,” said Rocky Mountain College Head Coach Jerry Wolf. “Our men got-er-done, go Bears!”

Nordic skiing wrapped up on Friday with the 15k mass start at historic Mt Van Hoevenberg. In a close race separated by only 1 place point, Clarkson University’s men won the 15k team event title. Castleton University won the women’s team event for their second title of the week. For the team combined awards, Castleton University won the women’s National Championship, followed by the University of Wyoming in 2nd and Western Colorado University in 3rd. Although they only won one team even for the week, Castleton University’s men’s team also won the team combined National Championship due to their consistency in all three events. St Olaf College and Western Colorado University rounded out the podium in 2nd and 3rd respectively. After his win 15k men’s champion Eivind Roed said, “It was a beautiful day today! A lot of interesting track conditions but we prepared for this. This is what I was hoping for and I’m happy for it.”

Snowboard athletes ended their week with a slopestyle on Thursday and slalom race on Friday. Westminster College’s men’s and women’s teams continued their impressive performance for the week, with both genders winning the team National Championships in both events. With these wins, Westminster College swept all freestyle and alpine snowboard events for the week long championship, and took home the team combined national titles in freestyle and alpine for both genders. For freeski, the University of Vermont won the women’s team combined National Championship and the University of Colorado took home the men’s team combined National Championship title.

Beginning March 10th, the USCSA Broadcast Network will bring audiences over 60 hours of LIVE, multi-camera HD video coverage from all three competition venues at its web portal: http://www.uscsa.com/broadcast. Scott "Boss" Hogg returns to lead the USCSA Broadcast Team at alpine, joined by legendary snowboard announcer Mark Oliver aka “The Beav” at snowboard/freestyle, as well as Bob “Coach” Underwood and Jared Newell at nordic. Visit http://www.uscsa.com/broadcast for more information, including live-timing, daily schedules, and on-demand archived broadcasts.

Teams began their quest to qualify for the U.S. Collegiate Skiing and Snowboarding National Championships^TM in their local conference competitions, held across 11 conferences spanning the nation, this December. Top teams from each conference attend one of 6 regional championships, which decide who ultimately qualifies to participate in events at the Collegiate National Championship. 

The USCSA is the sports federation for collegiate team ski racing and snowboarding in America. The USCSA believes that student-athletes of all levels and abilities should have access to quality and exciting venues of competition. USCSA athletes agree that our team orientation fosters a collaborative approach across their collegiate athletic and academic careers, and often this mentality proves indispensable in their adult lives and careers. The organization includes 162 colleges from coast to coast, fielding 4,954 male and female, alpine, freestyle, cross-country, snowboarding and nordic ski jumping athletes in over 300 events annually.

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For more information or to schedule an interview, please contact atandkuhns@uscsa.com 

Attached Pictures: 

Robby Kelley, Castleton University. Photo Credit: Bob Story.

Alexander Sehlberg, Rocky Mountain College. Photo Credit: Ian Pouliot

Nordic Sprint Skiers 1. Photo Credit: Ian Pouliot

Nordic Sprint Skiers 2. Photo Credit: Ian Pouliot

Snowboard Rail Jam. Photo Credit: RT Wright

Additional Quotes:

Kylie Mackie, Castleton University Alpine Women’s Team: “My four years of USCSA nationals have been unreal. My freshman year I did not place where I wanted, regardless I had the time of my life. My sophomore year in lake placid I finally achieved all American certificates. My junior year in Jackson Hole was so unbelievable. But my senior year in Lake Placid was one I’ll never forget. The week started off with me having two Giant Slalom runs of my life. I was able to pull off a 2nd place GS race. Following that on Thursday I was able to come in 6th place. But that is not what made my day. Castleton ladies were able to achieve the National slalom title. But most importantly my now fiancé proposed to me in the finish and made my day the best day of my life. On Tuesday I kept saying “wow this is the best day of my life”, but Thursday was so much better. The past four years have been a dream, USCSA is the best place to complete a collegiate ski career. Everyone makes me feel so welcomed and makes me feel special. I have enjoyed every single moment the last four years. Thank you for creating this experience.” 

Joshua Jones, Western Colorado University Men’s Nordic Team: “Competing at USCSA Nationals is one of the highlights of my year. It's amazing seeing skiers and snowboarders from various backgrounds and disciplines come together to celebrate winter racing. The energy and inclusivity of this event really makes me proud to be part of such a great community of athletes. I hope this event continues to grow and that other young people see this event and want to be a part of it.”

Michael Salo, Clarkson University Men’s Nordic Team: “Competing at the USCSA Nationals has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my nordic skiing career. The incredible comradery and competition between all of these athletes is unlike anything else. This event has created memories and friends that will last a lifetime. Thank you swix for sponsoring this awesome event.”

Erica Meyers, St Olaf College Women’s Nordic Team: “Ella Dewolf was super fun to race with today, we kept skiing and talking back and forth from the 3 laps we skied together, it was a great way to pass the time and continue the fun!  All of the girls I got to met this week were really inviting and fun to talk to, and our chats before and after the races were a wonderful way to get the nerves out and relate with the other girls! Especially with Megan Greene, Madison Tinker, and Bridget Wangler, I got to talk to and race with them more and it was a blast! Thanks for a great three days!”