The University of Denver won the 2014 NCAA Championships for the 22nd time this past weekend in Park City, Utah. Check out some amazing photos of the event taken by superstar photographer Bert Boyer. All proceeds from photo sales will be directly donated to NNF. Buy them here: http://bertboyer.zenfolio.com
2014 NCAA Championships: women’s 5 k classic report | men’s 10 k classic report | 15 k and 20 k freestyle mass start report
![Denver's Sylvia Nordskar leads Rosie Frankoski of Northern Michigan and Eva Severrus of New Mexcico in the second lap of the 15 k freestyle mass start at the NCAA Championship in Midway, Utah. Nordskar finished third, while Frankowski finished second and Severrus finished first.](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2014/03/Top-3-women-lap-2.jpg")
“It’s special but it’s also something that we really expected.”
That was the sentiment of the University of Denver’s nordic head coach Dave Stewart after his team not only claimed the overall NCAA title, but also the overall nordic title in Midway, Utah, on the final day of the national collegiate skiing championships.
The win marks the 22nd overall championship for Denver, the most any school has ever won. It is also the university’s eighth championship since 2000 and Stewart’s fourth title.
“It means a lot. The goal of our program is to win the NCCA championship. We have that expectation and that history,” he said in a post-race interview.
After handily winning both men’s and women’s nordic races on Thursday, the team did’t fare as well in the mass starts with two skiers making the top 10.
“We had an amazing day on Thursday and not so good of a day today, but we came out on top for nordic, and I’ve never done that for nordic in my eight years of coaching.”
The Denver nordic team has built off strong training and an excellent team atmosphere all year to claim the championship. After winning the regular-season RMISA title, the Pioneers were hungry for the NCAA crown.
The title will certainly mark a great end to the college careers of six graduating seniors. Makayla Cappel, Trygve Markset, Katie Gill, Elena Breed, Jessica Jortberg, and Connor Wallace will leave Denver this spring on the tails of another historic NCCA win.
Men’s 20 k: Colorado Break Away
University of Colorado’s Mads Strøm entered Saturday’s 20 k freestyle mass start with determination. Thursday’s 10 k classic, in which he had finished fourth, had not gone well for him and he was ready to gain redemption.
![Mads Strøm of Colorado leads the field in the men's 20 k freestyle mass start during the last day of the 2014 NCAA Championships. Strøm handily won after breaking away on the last lap.](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2014/03/Stroem.jpg")
From the shot of the gun he kept within the pack, biding his time until he could make his move at the opportune moment.
Roughly halfway into the race, the freshman from Norway looked back to gauge the competition. To his surprise the majority of the field was on his and his fellow teammate Rune Østegård’s tails.
“I tried to make a move on the third lap just to see if anyone was able to keep up and we were able to open up a gap. So I knew that I had to ski really fast on the last lap to make up a big enough gap because coming up from behind was such an advantage,” he said of his tactics in the second half of the race. “I used all the motivation from Thursday.”
And create a gap he did. Joined by Østegård, Strøm gave it his all as he climbed the hills of the Hollow, a gradual yet unforgiving kilometer of uphill leading out of the stadium. As the pair continued their attack around the course, the pack trailed farther and farther behind them.
Suddenly, he was alone. Østegård, Strøm’s “best friend and biggest competitor,” had fallen back halfway through the 5 k loop, thus leaving the top spot at the most esteemed college race of the season ripe for the taking.
Skiing into the final stretch, there was no one to see but Strøm. Barely looking tired, he elatedly crossed the finish line, knowing he had won his first NCAAs.
![University of Alaska Fairbanks' Max Olex races up the last hill of the men's 20 k mass start at the 2014 NCAA Championships. He passed seven people on the hill en route to his second place finish.](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2014/03/Olex.jpg")
“This was one of two goals. That was nationals in Norway in January, which I did really good,” the freshman said. “And then there was, of course, NCAAs. I really wanted to win both races, that was my goal.”
Behind Strøm in second was Max Olex, a senior at the University of Alaska Fairbanks who never made the podium in a collegiate race before Saturday. The German, who broke his shoulder blade in November, had a slow start to the season. Coming into NCAAs he decided to have an open mind.
“It’s always a goal at NCAAs to make the better half of the field, especially for me, looking at the season seeing how it went,” Olex said. “I came here this morning and I knew that these are my conditions and I had the matching skis. I knew what I was training the last two years. I trusted in what I did here and that was what I got today.”
“Definitely the best race of my life,” he added.
Coming in third was New Mexico’s Mats Resaland, a sophomore from Norway. After initially racing at the front of the pack, he soon realized there was no need to waste energy.
“It was kind of crowded out there. In the first lap I was in the front but then I dropped back because there was nothing to stress about,” he said. “It’s four laps, and I picked up seven spots on the last hill.”
Women’s 15 k: And Then There Were Three
The women’s 15 k freestyle mass start wasn’t as cut-and-dry as the men’s race. From the beginning of the distance race, Denver’s shining star, Sylvia Nordskar led the pack with the hopes of dropping most of the competition.
![Eva Severrus of the University of New Mexico leads Rosie Frankowski of Northern Michigan up Hermod's Hill at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah. Severrus won the NCAA Championship by outlasting Frankowski in the final stretches of the 15 k.](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2014/03/Severrus-and-Frankowski.jpg")
“I was going in the lead to try and split up the group. We did, so that was good, but I got very tired after that,” she explained.
Rosie Frankowski of Northern Michigan University started in the front and did her best to stay at a relaxed pace as the Norwegian led.
“We went up the first hill and everyone was together the first lap and it was a pretty relaxed pace. It was smart because it’s at altitude,” she said.
“Then on the downhill I did not do it well and I snowplowed a bunch and so I lost a lot of places and then in the stadium I knew that I had an uphill and that I needed to try and work it back. In the second lap it started separating a little bit. I was in the front pack.”
While Nordskar led and Frankowski navigated the downhills, Eva Severrus, a Slovenian from the University of New Mexico, was waiting to make her move.
“I just tried to stay with the girls in the front,” she said. “Then I took over the lead one kilometer before the [stadium] in the second lap.”
From there it was a three-way race between Severrus, Frankowski and Nordskar as all the other competitors struggled to stay in striking distance. Exhausted from leading in the increasingly choppy conditions, Nordskar started to lose ground and the other two started to pull away.
“Then we were three at the last loop and I just had to fight so hard to keep up with them. It got so soft and that’s not my favorite conditions,” she said.
Up ahead, Severrus and Frankowski were battling for the top position. On the hills, Frankoski would use her climbing strength to challenge the Slovenian, while on the downhills Severrus would pull away.
Finally Severrus glided away, leaving Frankowski behind on one of the long downhills of the course. Despite the gap, Severrus was still nervous.
![Sylvia Nordskar of the University of Denver skied her way to third place in the 15 k mass start at the 2014 NCAA Championships.](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2014/03/Nordskar-1.jpg")
“I was so scared that she would catch me because I’m dying,” she said of her final meters.
It seemed that Severrus’ fears were justified as the two skiers made their way up Hermod’s Hill, the last climb before the finish. After skiing aggressively, Frankowski inched closer and closer. Near the top of the hill Frankowki made contact with the University of New Mexico skier.
However, the final downhill would prove to be Frankowski’s weakness as Severrus pulled away once again. This time there was no hill for Frankowski to make up time.
“I tried to catch her at the top of Hermod’s and then just tried to hang on and tried to make it into the finish without falling,” said Frankowski of her competitor.
Frankowski crossed the finish line in second, the only American to make the podium in a nordic race throughout this year’s NCAAs.
Coming in after Frankowski, was Nordskar who ended her day in third, her second podium of NCAAs.
“I’m so excited. That was the goal this season,” she said of her finish and her team’s overall win.
— Audrey Mangan contributed reporting
Results: Men’s 20 k | Women’s 15 k
RIPTON, Vt. — Cross-country action at the 2013 NCAA Championships kicked off on Thursday at the Rikert Touring Center with the men’s 10 k individual classic. Rune Ødegård (University of Colorado) helped move his team into second overall at the halfway point of the championships by winning the event in 26:00.2, five seconds ahead of University of New Mexico’s Mats Resaland. Our photos from the race:
(Results)
![The men's 10 k classic individual start podium on Thursday at the 2013 NCAA Skiing Championships in Ripton, Vt. Colorado University's Rune Oedegaard in first (c), Mats Resaland of UNM in second (r), and Viktor Brannmark of UAA in third.](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/03/Mens-Podium.jpg")
RIPTON, Vt. – For Colorado University sophomore Rune Ødegård, two laps around the Rikert Nordic Center’s five-kilometer course on Thursday didn’t seem too threatening.
Conditions were tricky for the 10 k classic individual start at the NCAA Skiing Championships with most teams opting for some combination of klister and hard wax. Ødegård reasoned if he started fast and refused to let off, he had as good a chance of anyone at winning.
![Colorado University-Boulder junior Rune Ødegård racing to an NCAA title in Thursday's 10 k classic individual start at Rikert Nordic Center in Ripton, Vt.](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/03/Mens-OEDEGAARD.jpg")
Compared to training in Boulder, coming down more than 5,000 feet in elevation would definitely help. The 23-year-old Norwegian had raced at sea level a few months ago in late December, returning back to Europe for some tune-up FIS races in Östersund, Sweden. There, he placed 19th in the 15 k freestyle individual start and 23rd in the 15 k classic.
Hailing from the small coastal town of Molde, Norway, Ødegård wasn’t exactly familiar with Vermont’s Green Mountains, but he had a sense of what the air would feel like on his lungs. So he decided to go hard from the get-go.
“I felt like this course is pretty fast,” he said. “You get some rest in the downhills and when you have strong guys behind you, you want to give them a little tough back splits that they’re behind. It makes it tougher for them. That was definitely part of the plan to go out hard and try to get myself a little bit of respect.”
Fifth in the 10 k freestyle individual start at last year’s NCAA Championships and seventh in the 20 k classic mass start, Ødegård was also out to get a little redemption. He did so winning Thursday’s individual classic race, the first of two at the 2013 nordic championships, with a time of 26:00.2.
Fellow Norwegian Mats Resaland of the University of New Mexico was second, 5.2 seconds back, and Sweden’s Viktor Brännmark (University of Alaska-Anchorage) placed third (+28.3).
![Mats Resaland of the University of New Mexico en route to placing second in Thursday's 10 k classic individual start at the 2013 NCAA Championships in Ripton, Vt.](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/03/Mens-RESALAND.jpg")
“I had a dream about winning,” Ødegård said. “I felt like podium would be realistic, and that was what I was aiming for. I definitely wanted to get one win on the week so now I have that one and I can relax for Saturday and do my very best in that race.”
But for now, he’ll soak up the victory. The brother of Unni Ødegård, a six-time All-American who skied for CU (and made the first team five times) from 1998-2000, he said this result was exactly what he was shooting for ever since the 2012 championships in Bozeman, Mont.
“Last year I really screwed up at NCAAs so this is what I’ve been focusing on, getting back in shape to really peak now,” Ødegård said. “It seems like it it’s working.”
The 35th of 40 starters, Ødegård knew some of the best skiers were behind him, including the University of Vermont’s Scott Patterson and Miles Havlik of the University of Utah. Havlik ended up crashing on a technical downhill with variable conditions and tied Patterson for sixth (+46.0).
“When they all fell on the downhills it makes it a little bit easier for me,” Ødegård said.
Even so, he said he faded late in the race. “I was gaining a little bit on the second lap compared to the first one,” he said. “But I lost a little bit at the end, I was super tired going into the finish.”
![Viktor Brännmark of the University of Alaska-Anchorage racing to third at the 2013 NCAA Championships 10 k classic individual start on Thursday in Ripton, Vt.](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/03/Mens-BRANNMARK-2.jpg")
Relying on a similar tactic, Brännmark, a 20-year-old Swede who moved to Alaska to ski for UAA this season, surpassed his goal of a top 10 at NCAAs and made the podium.
“My coach told me to open relaxed but I just hammered in the start,” he said.
About 1 ½ kilometers in, Brännmark heard he was leading by 10 seconds. But he had to keep in mind that he started ninth.
“I caught a lot of guys, but I didn’t know how good I was actually skiing because all the best guys started last,” he said. “We’ve been racing at altitude the whole season, [which] I’d never done before until I came here to the U.S. so I knew that if you get tired here you can keep pushing it, you don’t die. I knew I could do something like this down here.”
For him, third in that particular race was about all he could ask for, except for getting beat by two Norwegians. Resaland, an UNM sophomore who won the 15 k classic mass start at the Bozeman SuperTour in early December, has consistently made the top 10 on the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association (RMISA) circuit this year.
Brännmark led three UAA skiers in the top nine (including Lasse Molgaard-Nielsen in eighth and Lukas Ebner in ninth) to help the Seawolves post the highest score of in the event with 108 points.
“I’ve never really done a good classic individual start before so this is unbelievable,” Brännmark said. “I’m so happy right now. … It’s been a crazy experience.”
Middlebury College captain Ben Lustgarten, a junior from Burlington, Vt., was the top American in fourth (+32.4). Silas Talbot, a sophomore at Dartmouth College, also made first-team All-American honors in fifth (+36.6).
“Home-course advantage definitely helped,” Lustgarten said of his NCAA debut. “The cheering was unbelievable. It got me up those climbs.”
Starting 30th, Lustgarten said he was getting ranging splits, some about being the top 10 and others saying he was in contention for second.
“I didn’t really know which one to believe, like ninth place, second place, but I was just trying to go as hard as I can,” he said. “I wasn’t thinking out there too much.”
He learned at the Middlebury Carnival that going out too hard on Rikert’s new 5 k course could backfire. “I went out a little easier to try to save it and just hit the last lap about as hard as I could,” he said. “It worked. … I’m ready for Saturday. I can’t settle; I gotta go for it again.”
Rounding out the top 10, Erik Soderman of Northern Michigan University – last year’s NCAA champion in the 10 k freestyle individual start – was 10th (+56.3).
Racing resumes Saturday with the women’s 15 k and men’s 20 k freestyle mass starts.
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See also: Women’s 5 k report | Story behind Rikert’s recent upgrades