Ski & Snowboard Club Vail hosts collegiate Alpine and Nordic Events

This past Friday and Saturday, Ski & Snowboard Club Vail hosted the University of Denver NCAA Western Regional Championships in Nordic skiing and alpine racing. Division 1 collegiate athletes vied throughout the two days to qualify for the NCAA National Championships to be held in Steamboat Springs in early March. Alpine and Nordic teams from the University of Alaska Anchorage, University of Utah, University of New Mexico, Montana State University, University of Colorado Boulder, University of Denver and the University of Wyoming were invited to this event.

Maloit Park in Minturn proved a fantastic venue for the Nordic racers, with a skate race on Friday and a classic mass start event on Saturday. Not only was it an exciting event for the collegiate competitors, but Friday’s event served as an important competition for fourteen through seventeen-year-old athletes to get a taste of NCAA Division 1 Nordic racing, competing side by side with their collegiate counterparts. In addition, Nordic skiers ages sixteen and seventeen were able to receive International Ski Federation points based on their performance in the event, providing them the opportunity to improve their competitor profile to help them qualify for other higher level events.

Head of the SSCV Nordic Program Dan Weiland commented on the higher caliber of competition: “Our older athletes performed well during this event, but of course it’s a completely different ball game racing against college skiers. It’s a different level of racing: smaller field, more compact – and we were simply going against more seasoned and stronger racers than we’re used to. Overall, though, it was great to see our athletes on Friday step up in a field that strong.”

On the alpine side of things, men and women competed on a Giant Slalom course on February 26 and a Slalom course on February 27. Ski & Snowboard Club Vail Alpine Program Director Karen Ghent remarked on the event: “It is an honor to partner with DU in hosting the Regional Championships.  It is an exciting event leading into the NCAA Championships that requires a high caliber venue.  The athletes enjoyed the experience on the World Championship course at Beaver Creek and brought their “A Game” to battle it out for their spot on their team.”

Ski & Snowboard Club Vail’s Alpine Race Coordinator PJ Jenick commented, “This is the first time NCAA athletes have set foot on the Birds of Prey course for competition and the first time they have seen the likes of this type of venue. The degree of difficulty right out of the start is perhaps one of toughest start arenas they have ever been in. These men and women had a great time!”

Having Ski & Snowboard Club Vail alumni competing in the Regional Championships added to the excitement of the event for the club-Alex Barounos, Katharine Irwin, Alex Leever, Conor McDonald, Taylor Shiffrin and Cameron Smith on the alpine side and Ian Boucher, Anna Martin, Max Scrimgeour and Christian Shanley on the Nordic side.

Top three results and all SSCV athlete and alumni results are listed below.

Nordic-February 26, 2016

Women’s Skate

1 Veronika Mayerhofer University of Utah

2 Linn Eriksen University of Denver

3 Sloan Storey University of Utah

35 Elizabeth Harding SSCV

37 Anna Martin University of Denver & SSCV Alumna

38 Inge Vandenberg SSCV

39 Sophia Grewal SSCV

Men’s Skate

1 Mads Stroem University of Colorado Boulder

2 Nick Hendrickson University of Utah

3 Moritz Madlener University of Denver

20 Christian Shanley University of Denver & SSCV Alumnus

28 Maxfield Scrimgeour University of Colorado Boulder & SSCV Alumnus

33 Ian Boucher University of Colorado Boulder & SSCV Alumnus

36 Tyler Willoughby SSCV

37 Christian Wilson SSCV

Men’s U16 Skate

1 Colin Wilson SSCV

2 Bentley Walker-Broose SSCV

3 Andrew Rogers SSCV

4 Christopher Seabury SSCV

5 Marcus Gore SSCV

Alpine-February 26, 2016

Men’s Giant Slalom

1 Sean Alexander University of Alaska Anchorage

2 Henrik Gunnarsson University of Colorado Boulder

3 Max Luukko University of Colorado Boulder

13 Alex Leever University of Denver & SSCV Alumnus

14 Taylor Shiffrin University of Denver & SSCV Alumnus

18 Cameron Smith University of Colorado Boulder & SSCV Alumnus

27 Conor McDonald University of Alaska Anchorage & SSCV alumnus

Women’s Giant Slalom

1 Benedicte Oseid Lyche Montana State University

2 Kristine Gjelsten Haugen University of Denver

3 Roni Remme Univeristy of Utah

12 Katharine Irwin University of New Mexico & SSCV alumna

Nordic-February 27, 2016

Men’s Classic Mass Start

1 Mads Stroem University of Colorado Boulder

2 Petter Reistad University of Colorado Boulder

3 Niklas Persson University of Utah

23 Ian Boucher University of Colorado Boulder & SSCV Alumnus

25 Maxfield Scrimgeour University of Colorado Boulder & SSCV Alumnus

29 Christian Shanley University of Denver & SSCV Alumnus

Women’s Class Mass Start

1 Veronika Mayerhofer University of Utah

2 Sloan Storey University of Utah

3 Kati Roivas University of New Mexico

Alpine-February 27, 2016

Men’s Slalom

1 Max Luukko University of Colorado Boulder

2 Taylor Shiffrin University of Denver & SSCV Alumnus

3 Adam Zika University of Colorado Boulder

14 Alex Leever University of Denver & SSCV Alumnus

17 Cameron Smith University of Colorado Boulder & SSCV Alumnus

21 Conor McDonald University of Alaska Anchorage & SSCV Alumnus

Women’s Slalom

1 Monica Huebner University of Denver

2 Maria Gudmundsdottir University of Alaska Anchorage

3 Kristine Gjelsten Haugen University of Denver

13 Katharine Irwin University of New Mexico & SSCV Alumna