3.8 - [RELEASE] USCSA 43rd Annual Collegiate National Championships Day 1 Recap

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Jay Moyer

jmoyer@uscsa.org 

UNITED STATES COLLEGIATE SKI AND SNOWBOARD ASSOCIATION HOSTS 43rd ANNUAL U.S. COLLEGIATE SKIING AND SNOWBOARDING NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS^TM

LAKE PLACID, New York. – MARCH 8th, 2022.  The U.S. Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association (USCSA) kicked off its 5-day long annual Collegiate National Championships^TM today with a women’s Snowboard and Freeski Rail Jam, men’s Skier and Snowboard Cross, women’s Alpine Giant Slalom, and a 7.5k Classic Nordic race under cloudy skies. 

552 Collegiate athletes representing 57 colleges and universities are competing at the 2022 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 your favorite athletes either in person or online at www.uscsa.org, where team and Individual results will be posted daily. Check in daily for live Video and Audio feeds online at uscsa.org/broadcast.html.

The breezy weather and icy conditions was no match for Sierra Nevada University, which took home their first team Championship of the event by winning the Women’s Alpine Giant Slalom race. Rocky Mountain College and Babson College’s teams rounded out the podium, taking second and third place respectively. After the race Sierra Nevada Head Coach Mihaela Kosi said, “it was great to have all of the girls ski so consistently well. They were on top of their game, and a step closer to bringing home the team overall victory!" On the individual side, Hilde Sato from Rocky Mountain College took home the individual championship followed by Misel Marovt and Honor Clissold, both from Sierra Nevada University, taking home second and third. “I had so much fun racing today on such amazing conditions,” said Sato after her win. “Already looking forward to Thursday’s slalom race!”

Following a renovation, USCSA Nordic racing returned to the legendary Mt. Van Hoevenberg and the week of championship events kicked off with a 7.5km freestyle race. Taking home their first ever men’s team National Championship was Paul Smith’s College. “I'm really thrilled for our skiers,” said Paul Smith’s College Coach Mathew Dougherty. “It's a lot of hard work to win a championship, we are so excited to bring a national championship trophy back to Paul Smiths. They have worked so hard as a team supporting and encouraging each other. I'm really proud of all of them.” St. Olaf College’s men’s team placed second followed by Western Colorado University in third. On the women’s side, St Olaf College won the team National Championship, followed by University of Wyoming in second and Paul Smith’s College in third. Following the race, St Olaf College’s head coach Kevin Brochman said, “the women thought the course was pretty tough but were able to hang on, on the fast downhills. We like the new venue as it has world class climbs. Our men felt the same but were a little jet lagged from the travel. Looking forward to some fun sprints tomorrow.”

At the Snowboard and Freeski venues, Liberty University won team Collegiate National Championships^TM in both the women’s Freeski and Snowboard Rail Jams. At the Cross venue, Rocky Mountain College won the Ski Cross while Sierra Nevada University won the Snowboard Cross. “The Rocky boys love defending National Titles,” said Rocky Mountain College Head Coach Jerry Wolf. “Last time we were here it started with the Skierx title, then the Alpine GS title, then the Alpine SL  and overall titles. Hoping for the same results this go around, maybe even add a duel? But seriously Skier Cross is a great event, everyone wants to enter, the Bears basically draw straws to pick the five competitors. Head to head competition - emotions run high!”

“It was awesome to finally be back on snow competing in person and seeing friends old and new,” said USCSA Managing Director Meegan Moszynski. “Everyone is psyched for the rest of the week and really happy to be back in Lake Placid!”

All this week 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: uscsa.org/broadcast.htm. 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 uscsa.org/broadcast.htm 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 January. 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 184 colleges from coast to coast, fielding 5,146 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 jmoyer@uscsa.org 

Attached Pictures: 

Honor Clissold, Sierra Nevada University. Photo Credit: John DiGiacomo.

Tiia Nurminen, Sierra Nevada University. Photo Credit: John DiGiacomo.