3.8 - [RELEASE] USCSA 45rd Annual Collegiate National Championships Day 4 Recap

Apr 18
3 min read

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

LAKE PLACID, New York. – MARCH 8th, 2024. The U.S. Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association (USCSA) completed the 4th day of its 5-day long annual Collegiate National Championships^TM with a men’s and women’s Snowboard Slopestyle, men’s Alpine Ski Slalom, and a men’s and women’s Nordic 15k Classic Mass Start race in another day of warm sunny skies.

A record breaking 621 Collegiate athletes representing 71 colleges and universities are competing at the 2024 U.S. Collegiate Ski and Snowboard National Championships^TM, presented by Celsius. 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 feeds online at uscsa.org/broadcast.html.

Snowboard athletes got their chance to compete in the Bear Run terrain park for a Slopestyle competition. After an exciting day, Liberty University’s men’s and women’s teams both took home team National Championships. On the men’s side, the University of Maine at Farmington’s team took home second and Lees-McRae College placed third to round out the podium. In the women’s competition, Westminster University’s team came in second place followed by the Claremont Colleges in third.

After only having one run of Giant Slalom ski competition due to weather, the men got a chance to take two runs down the Drapers Drop trail for their Slalom race. Taking home their second team National Championship of the week, Vermont State University Castleton placed first for the day. The University of Northern Michigan (NMU)’s men’s team came in second place to earn their first podium of the week, followed by Clarkson University in third.

After their podium finish, NMU team captain Reed Heathman said, “As a team we knew we could lay it down and compete today in the slalom. Even with my mishap and Connor’s stop and go we were sitting good after the first run but there was still work to do. Even with just three solid times on the board I told the boys to lay it on the line, we got nothing to lose and everything to gain, and they took it to heart as they laid it down. I am so proud of this team boys and girls included, the coaches prepared us well. The high fives and hugs in the finish confirmed that our hard work has paid off. We are definitely ready to have a lot of fun and compete tomorrow. PAWS UP!”

“All the hard work had already been done, today was the fun part,” added NMU coaches Erik Lundteigen and Garrett Lundteigen.

After a day off, Nordic athletes competed in their longest race of the week, a 15k Classic Mass Start. Clarkson took home their second team National Championship of the week with a victory for the men. St. Olaf College continued their sweep of the women’s team events, winning their third out of three team National Championships awarded for the week. Rounding out the women’s team podium was the

University of Wisconsin at Madison in second and the University of Wyoming in third. Paul Smith's College and Western Colorado University placed second and third respectively for the men. After their third win, St. Olaf Head Coach Kevin Brochman said, “Our women had another great day winning the 15km classic race. Lots of smiles, fun, sun and great memories from Lake Placid 2024.”

All this week the USCSA Broadcast Network will bring audiences over 22 hours of LIVE, multi-camera HD video coverage from all three competition venues. Scott "Boss" Hogg returns to lead the USCSA Broadcast Team at alpine, with ESPN broadcaster Casey Ditzel alongside USCSA nordic legend John Henry Paluszek bringing live daily coverage from the nordic venue at Mt. Van Hoevenberg Olympic Sports Complex. Additionally, each day’s Awards Ceremonies and the final night’s Champions Banquet and Awards Show will be broadcast on the USCSA X-TRA Channel. To enjoy these online broadcasts, visit www.uscsa.org/broadcast.

Teams began their quest to qualify for the U.S. Collegiate Ski and Snowboard 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 213 colleges from coast to coast, fielding 4,765 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