NCAA Championships Preview

With the season starting to wind down we're only a few days out from the pinnacle event of collegiate skiing: NCAA Championships. A victim of a low-snow year, the competition was originally set to be held at the Crosscut Mountain Sports Center near Bozeman, MT, but has since been moved to the Soldier Hollow Nordic Center outside Midway, UT. The event is slated to start on March 11th, running through March 14th, with the cross-country races scheduled for March 12th and March 14th for an interval-start 7.5K classic race and a mass-start 20K freestyle race respectively.

As far as the favorites go, the men's and women's odds-ons, and their direct competition, are somewhat of polar opposites. For the men's field, John Steel Hagenbuch is closing out his senior year at Dartmouth University with a serious pedigree behind him, winning the interval-start race the last two years running and finishing second his freshman year as well, plus he has finished second in the mass-start race twice—last year and two years prior. On the other hand, Erica Lavén, a Swede racing for the University of Utah, is undoubtedly the favorite of the women's field, but is just a sophomore with one previous season of collegiate skiing to draw from. However, that season ended in a first place finish in the interval-start event and a second place finish in the mass-start event, and her results this season suggest there should be little reason to doubt her success thus far.

Considering the competition, the veteran Hagenbuch has a pair of freshmen to contend with, Mons Melbye, another Norwegian racing for the University of Utah, and Jakob Elias Moch, a German racing for the University of Colorado who also completed at the Olympic Winter Games just a few weeks ago. The two have had stellar results all season, and come into the collegiate competition as serious contenders. Also worthy of consideration is Zachary Jayne, a senior from the University of Utah who is probably the American most able to compete with his fellow countryman, having had some solid results this season which were capped off with third place finishes in both of the Regional Championship races.

Chief competition for the up-and-comer Lavén appear to be a trio of veterans: Ava Thurston, a senior from Dartmouth University, Tilde Baangman, a senior and Swede from the University of Colorado, and Haley Brewster, a graduate student from the University of Vermont. The first two are, as far as this season's results are concerned, the top contenders remaining from last season's Championships, excluding Lavén, but Brewster is a little more unique in that she chose to redshirt her senior year, opting to run it back as a graduate student instead. Before her break from the collegiate circuit, she had finished as the runner-up in both races at the 2024 NCAA Championships, so of the three she may have the most serious shot at giving Lavén a run for her money.

As for one's to watch, if you're tuning in from the Midwest you'll have a slew of names to cheer for, some homegrown and some making the region their second home. For the men's field, the qualified athletes are as follows:

• Wes Campbell (Michigan Tech University)
• Jonathan Clarke (Northern Michigan University)
• Luke Fricker (Northern Michigan University)
• Markus Grøethe (Michigan Tech University)
• Adrik Kraftson (Northern Michigan University)
• Noa Kam-Magruder (Michigan Tech University)
• Cooper Camp (Dartmouth College)
• Andrew Defor (Colby College)
• Ben Lewis (Colby College)
• Oliver Miatke (St. Michael’s College)
• Ben Dohlby (University of Alaska Fairbanks)

And for the women's field:

• Della Bettendorf (College of St. Scholastica)
• Bridget Burns (Michigan Tech University)
• Greta Hansen (Michigan Tech University)
• Julia Junkkala (Michigan Tech University)
• Greta Leitheiser (Northern Michigan University)
• Henriette Nilssen (Northern Michigan University)

You can also review a full list of qualifiers from the Central, East, and West Regions.

Schedule

• Thursday, March 12: Classic Individual Start
• Men's 7.5K (10:00 am CDT)
• Women's 7.5K (11:30 am CDT)
• Saturday, March 14: Freestyle Mass Start
• Women's 20K (10:00 am CDT)
• Men's 20K (11:30 am CDT)

Courses

Coverage

As in years past, NCAA will be broadcasting races live on their website throughout NCAA Championships. Live results will also be available, courtesy of Muddy Dog Sports on my.raceresult.com, and we will be sure to post updates on Skinnyski.com shortly after each race has concluded.

Event Website
Livestream
Results - Day 1
Results - Day 2

There is no bigger stage for collegiate athletes, and as such, be prepared for some exciting days of racing ahead as they put it all on the line for the final competition of the season. Favorites are only favorites on paper, and anything can happen when the pressure is on.