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From the FasterSkier archive — posts syndicated from athletes’ and coaches’ own blogs between 2004 and 2012, kept online as published. Current coverage is at fasterskier.com.

Tag: 2017 NCAA Skiing Championships

  • Kristen Bourne on Recovering from Mono and Making NCAAs

    Kristen Bourne on Recovering from Mono and Making NCAAs

    Northern Michigan University’s Kristen Bourne (c) after the 5-kilometer classic race at the 2017 NCAAs in Jackson, New Hampshire. (Photo: Jackie Schneider)

    Two-and-half months into her summer training last year, Kristen Bourne woke up in a cold sweat. Her temperature read higher than normal and no amount of lozenges could soothe her sore throat. The Northern Michigan University (NMU) skier went to a doctor and received antibiotics to treat what was thought to be strep throat.

    But two weeks later, Bourne still didn’t feel like herself, and she wanted to know why.

    Behind her were 215 logged hours of summer training in Marquette, Mich., a 6 1/2 hour drive from her hometown of Lake Elmo near Stillwater, Minn.

    Ahead of her was a promising junior season at NMU, with plans to attend the university’s sports-science graduate program in the winter of 2018. She had redshirted the year before and gained an extra year of development under NMU Head Nordic Coach Sten Fjeldheim, as well as an extension on her National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) eligibility.

    The investment she had put in her season was nothing to scoff at; neither was her uncharacteristic exhaustion at practice. After finishing one session in late August feeling especially spent, Bourne returned to the doctor, and this time, was able to pinpoint the issue.  

    “I went to the doctor that day and they did a mono test,” Bourne explained on the phone.

    NMU junior Kristen Bourne racing to 19th in the 15 k skiathlon at the 2017 U.S. SuperTour Finals on March 27 in Fairbanks, Alaska. (Photo: Lance Parrish, Fairbanks)

    The results tested positive. With fall training just around the corner, and a sudden uncertainty about where she was headed, Bourne began to worry. What did this mean for her season? Was there any way out? Were all those hours of work and training for nothing?

    “I was so bummed,” Bourne, who turns 22 later this month, said. “It was the best I had felt training; when you put in all this work and then realize that you’re not going to do anything and for that long, it’s really concerning.”

    The mononucleosis put her out of training for two months, from the beginning of September until the end of October. These months are not dispensable as they often incorporate a new cycle of intensity sessions, hours and gym time.

    But for Bourne, it was the beginning of a learning process and careful track back to top form, thanks in part to Fjeldheim and his connection to the NMU sports-science department.

    The First: Fielding Mono with Fjeldheim

    What exactly is mono? How does it affect athletes? How might it affect athletes as they return to training?

    These were some of the questions Fjeldheim had when he encountered his first case of mono among his student athletes. While coaching NMU’s cross-country running team, one of his top runners came down with the illness at the end of the summer. (Fjeldheim coached for the NMU running program for more than 20 years, and now solely coaches nordic).

    With the cross-country running season only lasting about eight weeks, there was limited time before some of the more important scoring races, like regionals, appeared next on the calendar.

    Fjeldheim wasn’t deterred. He approached Dr. Phil Watts, NMU’s sports-science program coordinator and professor. Sitting in Watts’s office — a room Fjeldheim had visited when he was a Wildcat — the two discussed the costs and benefits of de-training to the body and ultimately developed a way to help the runner make a full recovery.

    “We laid out a plan with the team doctor on how to bring her back,” Fjeldheim said. “I think she got [mono] in early August and then by early November we ran our regionals and she got third. That’s after running only one other running race before the regionals. I think she ran a running race at the end of October and then second week in November, she’s third in our regionals.”

    NMU’s Kristen Bourne (c) topped the podium at the 2017 CCSA Distance Championships in early February in Houghton, Mich. (Photo: Jackie Schneider)

    After that, Fjeldheim worked with a few other athletes who came down with mono early in their season yet went on to become All-American athletes. Though Bourne would not earn this accolade, she came close.

    By the end of her season, Bourne won both races at the Central Collegiate Ski Association (CSSA) Distance Championships and also qualified for NCAA Skiing Championships. There in Jackson, N.H., she finished 17th in the 5 k classic and was the top NMU woman in the 15 k freestyle mass start two days later, placing 13th and within two seconds of All-American status (top 10).

    All after having mono. How?

    Bourne’s comeback was not without meticulous and methodical planning. Her return to training was slow and her situation was unique: not only did her coach, Fjeldheim, have experience working with athletes who had mono and successfully returned to racing, but Bourne was also the type of athlete who made the return more amenable.  

    Over the course of an entire summer, Bourne routinely checked her heart rate each morning, before getting out of bed. She wrote it down and kept track of fluctuations and differences. Every day.

    When she was diagnosed with mono, knowing her base heart rate was crucial. After two months off and having her spleen examined to ensure it was no longer enlarged, she started exercising again. Each week entailed meetings with coaches and every day, she assessed her resting heart rate and how far off it was from her previous one.

    “We used the morning heart rate as a guide,” Fjeldheim explained. “Once her morning heart rates were back to normal, within say two or three beats of what her base morning heart rate had been for months and possibly years, then we just started with getting back into moving again.”

    He emphasized that this came after making sure Bourne’s spleen was a normal size. Then she safely began training again while agreeing to listen to what her body was telling her via her heartbeat and lactate tests. And she had to keep it to a minimum.

    “When I started working out, it was 15-minute jogs,” Bourne said. “Then every week, I’d sit down with my coaches and re-evaluate how I felt, how that week went. Every two weeks I was doing some lactate tests to monitor my heart-rate zones … then every week adding a little bit if I was ready. Come November, I started actually doing more systematic training instead of just doing low distance.”

    Fjeldheim also monitored Bourne’s sleep patterns to make sure there weren’t disruptions and whether she was gaining or losing weight.

    If any of the numbers were off, she rested.

    “You don’t mess with mono,” Bourne emphasized. “If you don’t feel good, you do nothing. You can’t try and push it out of your system it just doesn’t work that way.”

    NMU junior Kristen Bourne racing the freestyle leg of the mixed relay at the 2017 U.S. Distance Nationals in late March in Fairbanks, Alaska. (Photo: Lance Parrish, Fairbanks)

    This perhaps was the hardest part. While Bourne rested in bed, her teammates were out training. When Bourne finally began training an hour and a half again, her teammates were out doing three. She missed out on more than three months of interval training. And when she did reincorporate hard efforts, she didn’t always feel good.

    “Mentally, it’s really tough,” Bourne said. “I just had to trust what my coaches said and trust myself and keep my fingers crossed and hope that my season would work out. We figured that I wouldn’t start doing well until February because I didn’t actually start doing intervals until the end of November. … I have to give so much credit to my coaches reassuring me all the time and my teammates being so supportive about it, being like, Kristen if anyone can do it, you can do it.”

    Rather than get caught up in what training she couldn’t do, Fjeldheim advised Bourne to focus on what she could do, like improving her technique. 

    “As I told her, hey you know, you’re going to come back from this. It’s not cancer, it’s not debilitating, you didn’t find out you’ve got some rare disease,” he said. “You have mono and we’re going to figure out a plan. You got to have a plan and then they got to buy into it.”

    The experience gave Bourne not only some of her best collegiate results, but also a new edge on her training. She plans to ski for NMU next winter and is considering continuing to race competitively after she graduates.

    “A lot can happen in a year and I can’t set any expectations for myself right now,” Bourne wrote in an email. “We’ll just have to wait and see!”

    ***

    Author’s note: This article is not intended to be a guide on how to train through mono, but rather track one athlete’s recovery from illness.

  • FasterSkier’s Collegiate Skiers of the Year: Martin Bergström and Petra Hynčicova

    FasterSkier’s Collegiate Skiers of the Year: Martin Bergström and Petra Hynčicova

    Martin Bergström and Petra Hyncicova are FasterSkier’s 2017 Collegiate of the Year. (Photos: FlyingPointRoad.com)

    With the 2016/2017 season officially in the rearview, FasterSkier is excited to unveil its annual award winners for this past winter. Votes stem from the FS staff, scattered across the U.S. and Canada, and while not scientific, they are intended to reflect a broader sense of the season in review. This set of honors goes to outstanding male and female skiers on the U.S. NCAA collegiate circuit.

    ***

    When you win both races at NCAA Championships, that makes you an easy pick for Collegiate Skier of the Year. Both Martin Bergström and Petra Hyncicova swept the two men’s and women’s nordic races, respectively, at this year’s NCAA Skiing Championships in Jackson, N.H., with Bergström winning the men’s 10-kilometer classic individual start by almost 27 seconds and Hyncicova topping the women’s 5 k classic by almost 19 seconds. It was the first NCAA title for both skiers, with Bergström new to the NCAA scene as a University of Utah freshman from Sweden, and Hyncicova a University of Colorado-Boulder junior from the Czech Republic.

    Martin Bergström, University of Utah

    The finishing stretch of the NCAA 20 k, with Utah’s Martin Bergström (c) skiing just ahead of CU’s Mads Ek Strøm (r) for first. (Photo: FlyingPointRoad.com)

    Two days later, Bergström, 25, won the men’s 20 k freestyle mass start on one of the coldest days of the year in the northeast. Rounding Jackson Ski Touring Center’s 5 k loop four times, he navigated the icy conditions and strong headwind in the stadium with the best of them, outlasting last year’s NCAA Champion Mads Strøm for the win by 0.5 seconds.

    “I just went for it,” Bergström told FasterSkier afterward. “… I was just happy too see that it was a high-tempo, pack finish, and with the wind and everything, I think it was smart to go a little before the final stretch.”

    In doing so, Bergström led the University of Utah to its first NCAA Skiing team title (nordic & alpine) since 2003.

    It was his first win and sixth podium of the season after competing on the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association (RMISA) circuit since January. Two years ago at U23 World Championships, the Swede finished seventh in the classic sprint in Almaty, Kazakhstan. He’s started four World Cups, posting a career-best 23rd in a 2014 freestyle sprint in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic. And two years ago, the former Swedish National Development Team member stopped skiing. He returned to it as a Utah Ute this season.

    “Two years ago, I quit skiing back in Sweden, and I took one year off just studying,” Bergström explained. “A friend of mine was on the [Utah] team and he said there were spots open and that I should try a different environment of skiing and studying. So I talked to the coaches and eventually went for this trip and have had so much fun and made many friends. I’m just so happy I came here.”

    After starting a civil engineering program in Sweden, he explained he has two years of eligibility left as a U.S. collegiate skier, but was unsure of his plans as of mid-March.

    “I took a chance and came here, but I haven’t decided if I’m going to stay or not, but we’ll see,” he said.

    Petra Hynčicova, University of Colorado-Boulder

    Petra Hyncicova (University of Colorado-Boulder), 2017 NCAA double champion. (Photo: FlyingPointRoad.com)

    Then there was Hynčicova, a 22-year-old from the Czech Republic, who won the 2017 NCAA Championships women’s 15 k freestyle mass start by 21 seconds over the University of Vermont’s Alayna Sonnesyn after breaking away on the last lap.

    “I’m so glad I went to the U.S. Every year I’m more and more glad,” Hynčicova said after. “This year was actually supposed to be my last year. I have one more year of NCAA eligibility so I applied for a master’s program [at CU] so I can be here next year also and I’m so excited.”

    Over the course of the 2017 RMISA season, Hynčicova notched five podiums, two of which were wins. She picked up two more victories — her first NCAA titles — to end her season in Jackson. And at this year’s U23 World Championships in Soldier Hollow, Utah, she finished 17th in the 10 k freestyle for her best result at her second U23’s. Three years ago at 2014 Junior World Championships, Hynčicova placed ninth in a freestyle sprint.

    Notably, in 28 career races at CU, she has finished fifth or better in 20 of them and won five races. She is a six-time All-American and is the 15th CU Buff to sweep both women’s nordic races at NCAA Championships.

    “When the season started, I figured that I was in really good shape this year, so I was hoping that I could be on the podium again at NCAA’s and maybe hoping that I could win the skate race,” Hynčicova said. “But after winning the classic race and after the injury and everything I can’t believe it, it’s insane for me.”

    Since U23 Worlds, she had been nursing a painful bursa between her Achilles tendon and heel bone.

    “It’s better, but it hurts in every race so I’m glad I’m done because the season’s over,” Hynčicova said.

    Honorable Mention: Alayna Sonnesyn, University of Vermont

    Alayna Sonnesyn on the podium at 2017 NCAA Skiing Championships. (Photo: flyingpointroad.com)

    The only woman to share the podium with Hynčicova both days: Alayna Sonnesyn of UVM. Sonnesyn placed third in the 5 k classic and second in the 15 k skate, the best NCAA finishes of her career by far.

    “I am so happy with the way things went,” Sonnesyn said of the Championships. “I definitely had some high goals for this week. I haven’t had the best luck with my NCAA experiences in the past and so I knew I could be competitive this year, but I didn’t know how competitive I could be.”

    Sonnesyn, who is originally from Minnesota, was also the only American on the podium either day.

    And like Hynčicova, she had taken a break mid-season from college racing to represent her country at U23 Championships earlier in the season, finishing 33rd in the 10 k freestyle. Before that, at U.S. National Championships, she was the top collegiate athlete in the women’s 20 k classic, finishing 14th.

    “The best advice anyone ever gave me about racing was to have fun,” Sonnesyn wrote in her Under 23 Questions profile earlier this season.

    Honorable Mention: Fabián Štoček, Dartmouth College

    CU’s Petter Reistad (r) and Dartmouth’s Fabian Stocek racing toward the finish. (Photo: Karen Brown)

    You can see Fabián Štoček in the photo of Bergström enjoying his 20 k win. The Dartmouth College senior is right there, on the right, in it ’til the end but 1.3 seconds off the podium.

    Štoček landed fifth in that race, the top guy from the East, after finishing 12th in the 10 k classic. But his finishes at NCAA Championships didn’t tell the whole story of the season: Štoček thoroughly dominated the Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association circuit, winning seven races and landing as the overall leader in both the classic and freestyle disciplines. His performance in the 20 k also helped Dartmouth to fourth place at NCAA’s, their best finish in five years.

  • NCAAs Photos: Women’s 15 k Skate Mass Start

    NCAAs Photos: Women’s 15 k Skate Mass Start

    Photos from the final day of the 2017 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championships, with the women’s 15-kilometer freestyle mass start taking place on a 5 k loop at the Jackson Ski Touring Center in Jackson, N.H.

    Read more about the races and click here for professional photos by FlyingPointRoad.

    (Click each photo to enlarge)

  • NCAAs Photos: Men’s 20 k Skate Mass Start

    NCAAs Photos: Men’s 20 k Skate Mass Start

    Photos from the final day of the 2017 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championships, with the men’s 20-kilometer freestyle mass start taking place on a 5 k loop at the Jackson Ski Touring Center in Jackson, N.H.

    Read more about the races and click here for professional photos by FlyingPointRoad.

    (Click each photo to enlarge)

  • Utah Rallies for NCAA Title; Bergström, Hyncicova Double Champs

    Petra Hyncicova of the University of Colorado-Boulder leading the women’s 15 k freestyle mass start out of the start on Saturday, the last day of NCAA Skiing Championships in Jackson, N.H., with Northern Michigan’s Nicole Schneider (2) and UVM’s Alayna Sonnesyn (3) right there with her.

    JACKSON, N.H. — Two years ago, Martin Bergström quit skiing.

    A month ago, Petra Hyncicova took three weeks off skiing following U23 World Championships due to a painful bursa between her Achilles tendon and heel bone.

    Less than a week after resuming training, Hyncicova, a 22-year-old Czech Republic native and University of Colorado-Boulder (CU) junior, raced to two National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Skiing Championships titles — the first of her career — in Jackson, N.H.

    The University of Utah ski team celebrates its first NCAA title since 2003 on Saturday, March 11 at 2017 NCAA Skiing Championships in Jackson, N.H. (Photo: Flyingpointroad.com)

    Bergström, a 25-year-old Swedish freshman at the University of Utah, did the same, winning both nordic races at 2017 NCAA Championships and leading the Utah Ski Team to its first team title since 2003.

    Both started off with decisive victories in the women’s 5-kilometer and men’s 10 k classic individual starts last Thursday, with Hyncicova topping the former by 18.7 seconds and Bergström winning the latter by 26.8 seconds.

    Then on Saturday, with temperatures hovering just above the legal racing limit of -20 degrees Celsius (-4 Fahrenheit) and winds ripping across the field that served as the stadium, the two international skiers completed their championships sweep with wins in the women’s 15 k and men’s 20 k freestyle mass starts.

    “When the season started, I figured that I was in really good shape this year,” said Hyncicova, whose previous best NCAA Championships result was second in the skate race last year in Steamboat Springs, Colo. “I was hoping that I could be on the podium again at NCAA’s and maybe hoping that I could win the skate race, but after winning the classic race and after the injury and everything I can’t believe it. It’s insane for me.”

    “Two years ago, I quit skiing back in Sweden and I took one year of just studying,” Bergström said. “And then a friend of mine was on the [Utah] team, and he said there were spots open and that I should try a different environment of skiing and studying and that I could come over here. So I talked to the coaches, and eventually went for this trip and have had so much fun and made many friends. I’m just so happy I came here.”

    On Saturday, Bergström led three Utah men in the top 10, with Martin Mikkelsen placing eighth and Kevin Bolger 10th. The three scored 84 points and their women’s team emerged as the second-highest scorers in the second race of the day to give the Utes a 16.5-point win over Colorado (CU) to end the championships.

    Reflecting on his win on Saturday, before the women’s 15 k, Bergström anticipated it would be a tall order to win the team title.

    “It’s been amazing, and it’s an amazing team,” he said of his season with Utah. “All the training we’ve done and the work we’ve put in this fall and winter. I’m just so happy. Hopefully there’s a slim chance the girls can pull off an amazing race. We’ll see.”

    Utah Director of Skiing Kevin Sweeney later explained just how difficult it was to come from second place on Friday to take the win over CU and Denver University (with Denver finishing third, just one point behind Colorado). In the last decade of NCAAs, Colorado has placed first or second seven times, according to a press release. Denver is next in line with six top-two finishes (including five titles) since 2008.

    “We’ve been crunching numbers and have been able to beat Denver and Colorado by about 30 points on a really good showing during the RMISA [Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Skiing Association] season, but didn’t know if we could do it in the championships,” Sweeney said, according to a Utah press release. “Bergström was skiing at a whole new level this week, and Mikkelsen had stepped it up, and I knew Kevin Bolger could get top 10. I was also confident in the women, who have been skiing awesome, so I felt good there. It’s awesome to be able to take this new trophy back to our new ski building.”

    Bergström’s Late Move

    The men’s 20 k came down to a five-way sprint to the line, with Bergström taking the win by 0.5 seconds over Mads Ek Strøm, CU senior and two-time 2016 NCAA champion.

    Utah’s Martin Bergström (9) leading CU’s Mads Ek Strøm (35) and Petter Reistad (7) and DU’s Moritz Madlener (behind Bergström) down the finishing stretch of the men’s 20 k freestyle mass start at 2017 NCAA Skiing Championships on Saturday in Jackson, N.H. (Photo: Karen Brown)

    After Denver’s Moritz Madlener led most of the race, Bergström moved to the front on the start of the fourth and final lap. With 5 k remaining, six men remained together: Bergström, Madlener, Strøm, Adam Martin of Northern Michigan University (NMU), Fabian Stocek of Dartmouth College, and Petter Reistad (CU). On the final lap, the group began to string out and Bergström opened up the narrow lead he needed to win at the finish, crossing in 46:02.8 minutes.

    “I just went for it,” Bergström said. “Tried to check who still had power in the legs. Moritz just answered when I upped the tempo, and he continued my push in the second lap, and I knew I was faster in the finish than Moritz, so he had to make his move before the sprint. As an old sprinter, I feel pretty comfortable making a pass. I can maneuver pretty efficiently. I was just happy too see that it was a high-tempo, pack finish, and with the wind and everything, I think it was smart to go a little before the final stretch.”

    On the final lap, Strøm, the defending champion who won both races at last year’s NCAAs, tried to position himself near the lead going into the first climb out of the stadium, just in case someone attacked.

    “They went kind of fast up there, but not too fast, and I was in fourth and I felt pretty good,” Strøm, a 25-year-old Norwegian, said. “Adam Martin caught me sleeping, and gave a gap, so I had to pass him.”

    With about 2 k to go, Strøm said about four men remained in the front group before his teammate, Reistad, pushed to latch back on.

    “Petter came back up, and I was like, ‘Come on dude, just use the speed and try to move up and take the lead,’ and he did,” Strøm said.

    On the pivotal last A-climb at the top of the course, Strøm found himself in third and unsure of his next move.

    “I wasn’t sure how strong the people in front of me were,” he said. “I should have done something sooner, over the last hill of the race. It’s kind of short, the last stretch of the race. I felt pretty good so I’m a little disappointed in second.”

    Saturday stood as Strøm’s second skate race of the season. He had appendix surgery in January.

    “I hadn’t raced much this year,” he said. “At first, I felt pretty good, actually.”

    He started Thursday’s 10 k classic in bib 1 and double poled to eighth place.

    “We decided on double poling and I started bib 1, and I got pretty screwed by that because I had to plow all the snow out of the way,” Strøm said. “I knew the shape was good, and today I was just… I mean second place is OK, but I wanted to win.”

    Just 0.1 seconds behind Strøm on Saturday, Madlener, a 23-year-old German senior who placed second and third at NCAA’s last year, achieved his first podium of the week, 0.6 seconds out of first.

    Reistad finished fourth (+1.2), Stocek fifth (+1.9) and Martin, who was in podium contention until the final lap, sixth (+18.7).

    Asked what his skiing plans are now, Bergström wasn’t sure.

    “I started a civil engineering program back home, and I have two years of eligibility here, but I don’t know,” he said. “I took a chance, and came here, but I haven’t decided if I’m going to stay or not, but we’ll see.”

    Hyncicova Goes For It

    Petra Hyncicova (University of Colorado-Boulder) celebrates her second-straight 2017 NCAA Skiing Championships title on Saturday after winning the women’s 15 k freestyle mass start at the Jackson Ski Touring Center in Jackson, N.H. (Photo: Flyingpointroad.com)

    Two-time 2017 women’s champion Hyncicova, who broke away from the pack with the University of Vermont’s (UVM) Alayna Sonnesyn halfway though the women’s 15 k, said coming to the U.S. was one of her best decisions.

    “I’m so glad I went to the U.S. Every year I’m more and more glad,” she said. “This year was actually supposed to be my last year. I have one more year of NCAA eligibility so I applied for a master’s program so I can be here next year also and I’m so excited.”

    She raced to a 21.1-second victory over Sonnesyn on Saturday in 39:21.6. The next-closest finisher, Hyncicova’s CU teammate Christina Rolandsen, crossed 17.8 seconds later in third (+38.9).

    “Starting with bib 1, it’s easy to be first out of the start,” Hyncicova said of leading out of the start.

    After setting the pace for the first 5 k, she tucked behind Rolandsen, a Norwegian sophomore, to start the the second lap.

    “I was trying on each lap to make a little bit smaller group, and I saw my teammate Christina so I was trying to get her in the group [so] we could go together,” Hyncicova added.

    When she noticed Rolandsen tiring on the second lap, she surged back to the front.

    “Then I took off a little bit,” Hyncicova said. “It wasn’t intentional, but Alayna stuck with me, so I was like, ‘OK, we can do it together. It will be nice to go just in two.’ ”

    Sonnesyn, a junior from Minnesota, led the two-woman breakaway for roughly four kilometers, up until the final A-climb of the race.

    “Coming through this field, it’s so windy, no one wanted to be up front,” Sonnesyn reflected. “I knew that she didn’t want to take the lead, I could tell, but I thought that if I sat back and didn’t take the lead either, the other girls were gonna come back and catch us and I didn’t want that to happen.

    “I kind of knew what was going to happen,” she added of Hyncicova’s game-changing move on the last hill. “She made a really great move up one of the hardest hills up to the high point and I was so impressed with how fast she could ski. I wanted to stay with her, but I just couldn’t. … I mean, she just took off. It was impressive.”

    While the women’s race included several downhill crashes on a hard-packed course, including a close one from Sonnesyn while she was leading on the second lap, Hyncicova said she wasn’t afraid to send it.

    “I love downhill skiing on nordic skis, so for me, it was really fun,” Hyncicova said. “I’m not scared and I enjoyed it.”

    For Sonnesyn, second place marked her second podium of 2017 NCAAs after placing third last Thursday. In two NCAA appearances before that, she had yet to crack the top 20.

    “I am so happy with the way things went,” Sonnesyn said on Saturday. “I definitely had some high goals for this week. I haven’t had the best luck with my NCAA experiences in the past and so I knew I could be competitive this year, but I didn’t know how competitive I could be.”

    She made a point to focus on how she was feeling and not worry about anyone else, both in Thursday’s individual start and Saturday’s mass start.

    “It’s tough to break away on this course, so I knew that if someone was going to break away I didn’t want to be the one to do it, but I wanted to be with them,” she added. “And that’s kind of exactly how it happened. I’m just so happy with the way things went this whole week. … I feel like I’ve improved so much over these last few years with Patrick Weaver as a coach. He’s helped me so much just to become a better skier. I love the sport and I’m just so excited for next year.”

    After Anika Miller of Montana State University (MSU) placed fourth (+44.0), Utah took fifth and sixth with Merete Myrseth (+1:01.5) and Guro Jordheim (+1:16.1), and was the only women’s team with all three in the top 14 with Natalia Müller in 14th (+1:32.1). In all, the Utah women scored 73 points (behind Colorado with 77) to help their program notch its 11th NCAA Skiing title.

    “The turning point of today is when Guro broke a pole, and she was back in the 20’s, and she and Natalia were skiing together,” Sweeney said, according to the press release. “We told them that they had to go and they busted out and made a big move. The men’s results were tremendous, but whether or not we were going to win was based on those guys making the move. It was exceptional athleticism and gutsy performances.”

    Behind Utah with 541.5 points, CU (525) and DU (524) in the top three, Dartmouth placed fourth (400), UVM fifth (355), and MSU sixth (320) in the four-day alpine-nordic, season-ending series.

    Saturday’s results: Men | Women | Team

  • Saturday Rundown: Holmenkollen, Kontiolahti, Jackson, and Lake Placid (Updated x4)

    Saturday Rundown: Holmenkollen, Kontiolahti, Jackson, and Lake Placid (Updated x4)

    The University of Utah ski team celebrating its first NCAA title since 2003 on Saturday at 2017 NCAA Skiing Championships in Jackson, N.H. (Photo: Jason Clay/Colorado)

    NCAA Skiing Championships (Jackson, N.H.): 15/20 k freestyle mass starts

    On the final day of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Skiing Championships in northern New Hampshire, the University of Utah pulled out a 16.5-point victory over the University of Colorado-Boulder (and finished 17.5 points ahead of the University of Denver) in the team standings, and the two previous NCAA champions from Thursday’s 5/10 k classic races, Martin Bergström and Petra Hyncicova, achieved their second-straight titles in as many nordic races this week.

    On a frigid Saturday morning in Jackson, N.H., with temperatures just below zero Fahrenheit for the start of the men’s 20 k freestyle mass start, Bergström, a Utah freshman from Sweden, outlasted the University of Colorado’s (CU) Mads Ek Strøm, a Norwegian senior and two-time 2016 NCAA champion, by 0.5 seconds to win his second-straight race in 46:02.8 minutes. Moritz Madlener, a German senior at Denver University (DU), placed third (+0.6). Just behind him CU’s Petter Reistad, of Norway, finished fourth (+1.2), and Dartmouth College’s Fabian Stocek, of the Czech Republic, placed fifth (+1.9).

    While temperatures warmed up to about 1 degree for the women’s 15 k freestyle mass start and the wind picked up to about 15-20 miles per hour, the women raced three laps around the Jackson Ski Touring Center’s race loop and navigated even faster downhills that caused a few crashes.

    Hyncicova used her love for downhills and skate races to capture her second consecutive NCAA title, breaking away with University of Vermont (UVM) junior Alayna Sonnesyn on the second lap. The Czech Republic native and CU junior attacked on the A-climb at the top of the course and won by 21.1 seconds in 39:21.6. Sonnesyn, of Minnesota, bested her third place from Thursday’s 5 k with a second-place finish on Saturday. CU’s Christina Rolandsen, of Norway, finished third (+38.9), ahead of Idaho native Anika Miller of Montana State University (MSU) in fourth (+44.0).

    Utah took fifth and sixth with Merete Myrseth (+1:01.5) and Guro Jordheim (+1:16.1), and had two other men in the top 10 (Martin Mikkelsen in 8th and Kevin Bolger in 10th) to achieve the alpine-nordic team title.

    In the women’s race, the Utes were the only team with all three women in the top 14, with Natalia Müller in 14th (+1:32.1).

    “The turning point of today is when Guro broke a pole, and she was back in the 20’s, and she and Natalia were skiing together,” Utah Director of Skiing Kevin Sweeney said, according to a team press release. “We told them that they had to go and they busted out and made a big move. The men’s results were tremendous, but whether or not we were going to win was based on those guys making the move. It was exceptional athleticism and gutsy performances.”

    The NCAA team title was the 11th for Utah and its first since 2003.

    “I am stunned with the win today,” Sweeney added. “In all my years of coaching, it was one of the most challenging four days of competition. I say that because the weather was incredibly cold and windy, and challenging from both a waxing perspective, as well as visibility and conditions. I know all the teams had to deal with it, but it really beat us up. It took a lot of perseverance and gutsy performances for us to win. We struggled a little bit in the slalom, but they were going for it and came up short.

    “We’ve been crunching numbers and have been able to beat Denver and Colorado by about 30 points on a really good showing during the RMISA season, but didn’t know if we could do it in the championships,” he continued. “Bergström was skiing at a whole new level this week, and Mikkelsen had stepped it up, and I knew Kevin Bolger could get top 10. I was also confident in the women, who have been skiing awesome, so I felt good there. It’s awesome to be able to take this new trophy back to our new ski building.”

    As for those earning All-American status on Saturday with a top-10 finish, Utah had five (Bergström 1st, Myrseth 5th, Jordheim 6th, Mikkelsen 8th, Bolger 10th), Colorado had four (Hyncincova 1st, Strøm 2nd, Rolandsen 3rd, Reistad 4th), Denver had two (Madlener, Dag Frode Trollebø 7th), MSU had two (Miller 4th, Johanna Talihärm 7th), Dartmouth had two (Stocek 5th, Luke Brown 9th), UVM had one (Sonnesyn 2nd), Northern Michigan University (NMU) had one (Adam Martin 5th), the University of Alaska-Fairbanks (UAF) had one (Sarissa Lammers 8th), UNH had one (Lizzie Gill 9th), and Bowdoin had one (Hannah Miller 10th).

    Stay tuned for a more in-depth report with quotes and photos from Saturday’s skate mass starts.

    Results: Men | Women | Team

    ***

    USSA Cross Country Junior Championships (Lake Placid, N.Y.): Freestyle team relays

    The 2017 U.S. Junior Nationals Alaska Cup winners, New England, at the awards ceremony on Saturday in Lake Placid, N.Y. (Photo: XCJuniorNationals2017/Facebook)

    [UPDATED] For the final day of 2017 U.S. Junior Nationals in Lake Placid, N.Y., regional divisions formed three-racer teams for the U16, U18 and U20 freestyle relays.

    Intermountain swept the U16 team events with Lane Myshrall, Skylar Patten and Johnny Hagenbuch winning the U16 boys’ relay by 3.6 seconds over the Midwest’s James Schneider, Alexander Nameth and Peter Moore in 23:00.4 minutes. Another 1.1 seconds back, Alaska reached the podium in third (+4.7) with Eli Hermann, Zander McMullen and George Cvancara.

    Intermountain’s U16 girls’ team of Sarah Morgan, Annabel Hagen and Sydney Palmer-Leger posted a 53.7-second victory over New England’s Charlotte Ogden, Anna Lehmann and Abigail Streinz, winning in 26:21.4. The Pacific Northwest finished 18.1 seconds later in third place (+1:29.9) with Fiona Max, Gretta Scholz and Annie McColgan.

    Alaska won the U18 boys’ relay with Luke Jager, Canyon Tobin and Gus Schumacher finishing in 21:42.9, 7.5 seconds ahead of New England’s Elliot Ketchel, Adam Glueck and Ben Ogden in second. The Midwest’s Anders Sonnesyn, Patrick Acton and Luc Golin rounded out the podium in third (+22.2).

    Rocky Mountain topped the U18 girls’ relay with Katja Freeburn, Ezra Smith and Maddie Donovan crossing first in 25:47.3. Just 5.8 seconds back, Intermountain’s Brooke Dunnagan, Anna Gibson and Sofia Schomento placed second, and the Midwest secured third (+16.7) with Margaret McCollor, Luci Anderson and Anja Maijala.

    The U20 men’s relay title went to New England, with Kam Husain, Koby Gordon and Daniel Streinz pulling out a 1.3-second win over Alaska’s Tracen Knopp, Logan Mowrey and Hunter Wonders in 21:53.1. Intermountain followed in third (+8.8) with Eli Jensen, Peter Wolter and Nathan Wells.

    The Midwest came up big in the U20 women’s relay, with Abby Jarzin, Hannah Rudd and Margie Freed finishing 10.1 seconds ahead of New England’s Alexandra Lawson, Mary Kretchmer and Mackenzie Rizio in 25:41.4. Another 1.1 seconds back, Intermountain’s Leah Lange, Maddie Morgan and Marin Coletta placed third (+11.2).

    New England won the Alaska Cup with 325 points, the same point total as Intermountain in second. Alaska placed third in the overall team competition with 295 points, just five points ahead of the Midwest in fourth.

    Results: U16 boys | U16 girls | U18 boys | U18 girls | U20 men | U20 women | Alaska Cup

    ***

    FIS Cross-Country World Cup (Oslo, Norway): Holmenkollen 50 k classic mass start

    (Race report)

    Left to right: Finland’s Iivo Niskanen, Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby and Russia’s Alexander Bessmertnykh after placing second, first and third, respectively, in the Holmenkollen World Cup men’s 50 k classic mass start on Saturday in Oslo, Norway. (Photo: FIS Cross-Country/Twitter)

    In a historic Holmenkollen, Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby took his second 50 k win in a row, claiming this year’s title in a time of 2:02:59.7 (he won last year’s Holmenkollen in a time of 2:08:41.9). Sundby is now the only male skier to win two consecutive World Cup Holmenkollen 50 k competitions. 

    Crossing behind Sundby in second was Finland’s Iivo Niskanen, 9.9 seconds back from the race winner’s time. In a three-way photo finish, Russian Alexander Bessmertnykh bested Norwegians Niklas Dryhaug, and Sjur Røthe in the lunge to the line, with Bessmertnykh taking third (+1:15.2), Røthe fourth (+1:15.2) and Dryhaug fifth (+1:15.2).

    Canada’s Alex Harvey was just two tenths of a second behind the three-way lunge, finishing in sixth (+1:15.4). Norway’s Christer Hans Holund crossed 2.2 seconds later in seventh (+1:17.2). Three more Russians rounded out the top ten, with Sergey Ustiugov finishing in eighth (+2:35.0), Andrey Larkov two tenths of a second behind in ninth (+2:35.2) and Sergey Turyshev in tenth (+2:42.2).

    The top U.S. skier for the day was Scott Patterson (Alaska Pacific University), earning World Cup points in 28th (+7:18.8). Canada’s Devon Kershaw crossed 33rd (+2:11:59.1) and American David Norris (Alaska Pacific University) finished 35th (+9:56.4).

    Two more Americans competed in Saturday’s Holmenkollen, with Noah Hoffman finishing in 38th (+11:02.6) and Ben Lustgarten 46th (+18:44.7). Canadian Russell Kennedy was the final North American to finish in 47th (+20:16.3).

    Results

    ***

    IBU World Cup Biathlon (Kontiolahti, Finland): Men’s & women’s pursuits

    (Race report)

    The IBU World Cup men's podium after the 12.5 k pursuit in Kontiolahti, Finland, where Arnd Peiffer of Germany outsprinted Simon Eder of Austria for the win. (Photo: IBU/Twitter)
    The IBU World Cup men’s podium after the 12.5 k pursuit in Kontiolahti, Finland, where Arnd Peiffer of Germany outsprinted Simon Eder of Austria for the win. (Photo: IBU/Twitter)

    After one day knocked down to the second spot of the podium, it was back to the usual winning ways for Germany’s Laura Dahlmeier in the 10 k pursuit. Dahlmeier caught Norway’s Tiril Eckhoff, who won Friday’s sprint, early in the race after Eckhoff had one penalty in the first prone and second-starter Dahlmeier cleaned. While Eckhoff picked up five more penalties as the race went on, finishing 15th (+1:12.0), Dahlmeier had just one – and cleaned when it counted, on the final shoot with France’s Marie Dorin Habert and the Czech Republic’s Gabriela Koukalova right there with her. Dorin Habert missed one shot and held on to second place (+16.5) despite the penalty loop, while Italy’s Lisa Vittozi picked up her first individual podium in third (+19.9).

    The win secured the overall World Cup title for Dahlmeier, her first. “That makes me really speechless,” she told Germany’s ARD broadcaster. “This is an amazing moment.”

    Susan Dunklee collected four penalties and dropped from fifth place to 14th (+1:02.8) for the United States. Teammates Clare Egan and Joanne Reid finished 45th (+3:24.7) and 52nd (+4:07.0), respectively.

    For Canada, Julia Ransom finished 53rd with three penalties (+4:14.0) and Emma Lunder 58th with four missed shots (+6:20.7).

    Results

    Earlier in the day, Martin Fourcade had started the men’s race in bib one and set out to win the men’s 12.5 k pursuit, but was undone by four errors on the shooting range. No matter: the French biathlete still picked up the World Cup crystal globe for the pursuit discipline after finishing fifth (+25.5 seconds) and now he’s skipping tomorrow’s mixed relays to go be with his wife, who is about to have their second child.

    Capitalizing on Fourcade’s errors were a group of chasers, among whom Arnd Peiffer of Germany managed to shoot 20-for-20. The race came down to a sprint finish between him and Simon Eder  of Austria; Peiffer took a 0.3-second win for his eighth career victory. Emil Hegle Svendsen of Norway finished third, +2.3 seconds, and Andrej Moravec of the Czech Republic fourth, +9.8.

    Besides Peiffer, the only other man in the field to shoot clean was Sean Doherty of the United States. That allowed Doherty to jump from 44th at the start to a season-best 18th (+1:19.5) at the finish, the top result for the American team. Lowell Bailey finished 27th (+1:57.2) and Leif Nordgren 43rd (+3:24.4) with three and four penalties, respectively.

    Christian Gow led Canada with just one penalty and a 37th-place finish (+2:36.0), a big improvement from his 50th-place starting position. Brendan Green placed 50th with three penalties (+4:47.3).

    Results

  • Thursday Rundown: Bergström, Hyncicova Take NCAA Titles on Day 1 in Jackson

    The men’s 10 k classic podium and award winners at 2017 NCAA Skiing Championships on Thursday at the Jackson Ski Touring Center in Jackson, N.H., including Martin Bergström (Utah) in first, Dag Frode Trollebø (DU) in second, and Martin Mikkelsen (Utah) in third. (Photo: FlyingPointRoad.com)

    NCAA Skiing Championships (Jackson, N.H.): 5/10 k classic

    The universities of Utah, Colorado and Denver occupied five of six of the podium spots between the men’s and women’s races on the first day of nordic racing at the 2017 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Skiing Championships on Thursday in Jackson, N.H. University of Utah freshman Martin Bergström won the men’s 10-kilometer classic individual start and Petra Hyncicova, a junior at the University of Colorado-Boulder (CU), took the title in the women’s 5 k classic.

    Originally from Sweden, Bergström captured his first NCAA title in 25:33.1 minutes, 26.8 seconds ahead of Dag Frode Trollebø, a University of Denver (DU) junior from Norway, in second. Utah had two on the men’s podium with Martin Mikkelsen, a Norwegian freshman, in third (+52.6).

    The women’s 5 k classic podium and award winners at 2017 NCAA Skiing Championships on Thursday at the Jackson Ski Touring Center in Jackson, N.H., including Petra Hyncicova (CU) in first, Merete Myrseth (Utah) in second, and Alayna Sonnesyn (UVM) in third. (Photo: FlyingPointRoad.com)

    In the women’s 5 k, Hyncicova, of the Czech Republic, notched her first NCAA victory (after placing second last year) in 14:55.5, 18.7 seconds ahead of Utah freshman Merete Myrseth, of Norway, in second place. University of Vermont (UVM) freshman Alayna Sonnesyn placed third (+19.8) and was the top skier outside of the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association (RMISA) on the first of two days of nordic racing at NCAA Championships.

    In terms of All-Americans (top 10), CU have five on Thursday (Hyncicova 1st, Christina Rolandsen 4th, Petter Reistad 4th, Jesse Knori 8th, Mads Ek Strøm 8th) Utah had four (Bergström 1st, Myrseth 2nd, Mikkelsen 3rd, Guro Jordheim 5th), Denver three (Trollebø 2nd, Moritz Madlener 5th, Lars Hannah 10th), Northern Michigan University three (Vivian Hett 6th, Fredrik Schwencke 6th, Adam Martin 7th), UVM two (Sonnesyn 3rd, Ian Moore 9th), the University of New Mexico one (Krista Niiranen 7th), UNH one (Lizzie Gill 9th), and Dartmouth one (Lauren Jortberg 10th).

    After Day 2 of the NCAA Championships (with the first day of alpine races taking place on Wednesday), Utah leads the team standings with 301.5 points, followed by Denver in second (265) and Colorado in third (240). Montana State dropped from first to fourth with 177 points and Dartmouth ranks fifth (170).

    Results: Men | Women 

  • The Road to Jackson: Dartmouth

    The Road to Jackson: Dartmouth

    In the fifth and final part of “The Road to Jackson” series on Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association (EISA) teams competing at NCAA Skiing Championships, we hear from five out of the six Dartmouth College skiers (Abigail Drach, Lydia Blanchet, Lauren Jortberg, Fabián Štoček, Luke Brown, and Cal DeLine) that qualified for the season-ending championships in Jackson, N.H.

    “I’m really happy with my individual results, but it’s just so much better when your whole team is also sharing the same happiness.”

    See also: EISA season in review | Part I: Williams | Part II: UNH | Part III: Colby | Part VI: UVM

  • The Road to Jackson: Colby

    The Road to Jackson: Colby

    In Part III of “The Road to Jackson”, we hear from Colby College’s Olivia Amber, Amy Bianco, Silas Eastman, and Zane Fields, all of whom qualified for NCAA Skiing Championships, which open Thursday at the Jackson Ski Touring Center in Jackson, N.H.

    “NCAA’s to me, is just kind of that icing on the cake, one last time to give it your all, just do it for all the years that we put so much work into this sport and just enjoy it.”

    See also: EISA season in review | Part I: Williams | Part II: UNH

  • The Road to Jackson: UVM

    The Road to Jackson: UVM

    In Part IV of “The Road to Jackson”, three of the six University of Vermont (UVM) nordic skiers that qualified for 2017 NCAA Skiing Championships — Alayna Sonnesyn, Iris Pessey and Cully Brown — tell us about their seasons and how skiing has impacted their lives. Jana Klaiber, Ian Moore and Juri Miosga are also headed to NCAA’s, which will be held Thursday and Saturday at the Jackson Ski Touring Center in Jackson, N.H.

    “Time just flies so fast and I’m gonna be done soon, but I have so many good memories that I have no regrets.” — Iris Pessey

    See also: EISA season in review | Part I: Williams | Part II: UNH | Part III: Colby

  • The Road to Jackson (A Video Series)

    The Road to Jackson (A Video Series)

    Video screenshot from “The Road to Jackson/EISA 2017: Season Review” video by India Harvey.

    From Thursday to Saturday, March 8-11, the 2017 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Skiing Championships will be held in Franconia and Jackson, N.H., with two days of cross-country racing taking place Thursday and Saturday at the Jackson Ski Touring Center.

    The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is hosting the championships, which scores both alpine and cross-country together to determine team standings at the end of the week.

    India Harvey of St. Lawrence University filmed and edited a series about “The Road to Jackson” for Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association (EISA) nordic skiers. Here’s the preview, and throughout the week, we’ll release individual videos highlighting teams from Williams, UNH, Colby, the University of Vermont, and Dartmouth.

    And here is a complete roster of who will be racing from colleges and universities across the U.S.

    Complete schedule

    From the following video: “[Ski racing] made me a little type ‘A’ at moments, but it’s also created work ethic I’ll have for the rest of my life.”

  • The Road to Jackson: Williams

    In Part I of “The Road to Jackson” series, three Williams College skiers — Eli Hoenig, Braden Becker and Jordan Fields, who qualified for this week’s NCAA Skiing Championships — reflect on their team and their season.

    “I am so excited for NCAA’s. … This is the first time Williams has sent a full team quite a few years. Probably one of the strongest teams we’ve ever sent.” — Jordan Fields

  • The Road to Jackson: UNH

    The Road to Jackson: UNH

    In Part II of “The Road to Jackson” series, we hear from University of New Hampshire (UNH) nordic skiers Lizzie Gill, Silje Wilson, Katrin Larusson, and Peter Holmes, all of whom qualified for 2017 NCAA Skiing Championships. UNH is hosting the championships March 8-11 in Jackson and Franconia, N.H.

    “To represent UNH, we’re hosting, so let’s hope we can keep it up and have some fun, and also represent the EISA.”