Buffs Announce Team for NCAA Championships

BOULDER — The University of Colorado qualified a full 12-skier squad for the 2018 NCAA Skiing Championships that the Buffaloes are hosting March 7-10 at Howelsen Hill and Mount Werner in Steamboat Springs, Colo.

The NCAA announced Monday the 74 men and 74 women from 23 schools that were selected to participate in the championships.

Colorado was one of eight schools that qualified a full 12-skier squad. Among them, six came out of the West (Alaska Anchorage, Denver, Montana State, New Mexico and Utah join Colorado) and two from the East (Dartmouth and Vermont).

CU's NCAA squad consists of nine skiers who have competed at the NCAA Championships before, making a combined 16 appearances with four individual national titles. CU also boosts the top NCAA qualifier out of the West region in Ola Johansen and Tonje Trulsrud, both alpine skiers. The Buffs also have one Olympian on their squad, as senior Petra Hyncicova has returned from PyeongChang and will make her fourth NCAA appearance.

The Buffaloes seek their 21st national championship in school history, having last won the title in 2015 when it was hosted in Lake Placid. The last national championship that Colorado won when it was hosted in the West was back in 2006 at Steamboat Springs.

This will be the eighth time Steamboat Springs will play host to the NCAA Championships. The championships were also held there in 1968, 1969, 1979, 1993, 2006, 2010 and 2016. This will mark the fifth time the Buffaloes will host the championships in Steamboat Springs (1993, 2006, 2010, 2016) and the Buffs won two of their 20 championships there in 1979 and 2006.

Among the squad CU will field, only one skier has been a part of a national championship team. That was Hyncicova, who as a freshman in 2015 finished sixth in the classic race and seventh in the freestyle to earn a pair of second-team All-America honors. She scored 52 points for the Buffs that season to help Colorado win the championship and edge the Denver Pioneers by 27 points for their 20th national title in program history.

Participants are selected on a regional basis from two designated regions for Alpine skiing (East and West Regions) and three designated regions for Nordic skiing (Central, East and West Regions). Bids are awarded to regions using a formula determined by the skiing committee. A maximum of 12 student-athletes (three per gender per discipline) may participate from an institution.

Alpine events will run Wednesday, March 7 (giant slalom at Mount Werner) and Friday, March 9 (night slalom at Howelsen Hill). Nordic events will be held Thursday, March 8 and Saturday, March 10 at Howelsen Hill.

A look at each of the 12 Buffs selected for the 2018 NCAA Skiing Championships:

Alvar Alev, Freshman, Men's Nordic
Making his first NCAA appearance … Ranked third in the West for NCAA qualification points in men's Nordic with 148, the highest point total among the three Buffs … Finished eighth or better in all 10 races this season with four podium appearances … Has two race victories under his belt, one in classic and one in freestyle … Was the RMISA Skier of the Week after the UNM Invite where he won both Nordic races.

Sondre Bollum, Freshman, Men's Nordic
Making his first NCAA appearance … Ranked 10th in the West for NCAA qualification points in men's Nordic with 108 … Finished in the top 10 in seven out of his eight races on the NCAA circuit … Top classic finish was a fourth-place showing in the MSU Invite in his first ever collegiate race … Best freestyle finish was sixth, which he accomplished twice.

Nora Christensen, Junior, Women's Alpine
This will be her third NCAA appearance … She finished fifth in the slalom at both the 2016 and 2017 NCAA Championships, earning first-team All-America honors both years … She scored the fourth-most points in the West on the RMISA MVP Points list with 222 … This year she has won a pair of slalom races, the first victories of her career, and has hit the podium (top three finish) in four out of her six slalom races … In the giant slalom, she is coming off her best performance of the season at last weekend's RMISA Championships where she finished eighth (was also a career-best finish in the GS) … In 20 career slalom races she has finished in the top five 12 times with six of those being on the podium.

Isabella Fidjeland, Sophomore, Women's Alpine
Making her second NCAA appearance … At the 2017 NCAA Championships she finished 17th in the giant slalom race and 21st in the slalom … In her GS race she moved up 15 spots from her bib seed of 21 and 11 spots from her 32-bib seed in the slalom to register impressive finishes given her low seeding that was a result of an injury causing her to miss most of her freshman season … This winter her best slalom finish was ninth in New Mexico an her best GS result was 18th at the RMISA Championships.

Petra Hyncicova, Senior, Women's Nordic
Making her fourth NCAA appearance … She competed in the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in women's cross country for her home country, the Czech Republic … She was the 2017 Women's Nordic National Skier of the Year (FasterSkier.com and USCSCA) ... At the 2017 NCAA Championships, she became the 15th woman to sweep the cross country races and the fourth CU skier … Has five earned five All-America honors in her career with three of those being first-team selections … Only competed in six Nordic races on the NCAA circuit because of her selection to the Czech Republic Olympic team, but of those six she finished first or second in five of them … Her 16 career podium finishes ranks in a tie for the 12th most in Colorado history … Four of her five career race victories have been in the classic discipline, the one that wasn't was the 2017 classic race at NCAAs.

Ola Johansen, Junior, Men's Alpine
Making his third NCAA appearance in what will be his final season skiing for the Buffs … The 2016 and 2018 RMISA MVP for men's alpine and the top NCAA qualifier out of the West region both seasons … Has 16 career podium finishes (eight apiece for both slalom and giant slalom races), ranking in a tie for the 12th most podium finishes in Colorado history … Has won six races in his career, three apiece in slalom and giant slalom … This season he has finished first or second in seven out of the 12 races.

David Ketterer, Sophomore, Men's Alpine
Making his second NCAA appearance … He was the 2017 USCSCA Men's Alpine National Skier of the Year … Became just the fifth skier in NCAA history (and third Buff) to sweep the giant slalom and slalom national titles in the same year, doing so last winter as a freshman … His five career slalom race victories ranks as the second most in school history and his seven overall wins are tied for second at CU by a men's alpine skier ... Is currently the 31st-ranked men's slalom skier in the world on the FIS points list … Made eight World Cup slalom starts this winter and had a high finish of 26th at Val d'Isere on Dec. 10, 2017 … Was the 2017 NorAm Cup champion in the slalom, winning the circuit title by a 275-point margin that was the second largest winning margin in the cup int he last 20 years.

Anne Siri Lervik, Sophomore, Women's Nordic
Making her first NCAA appearance … Scored the fifth-most NCAA qualification points of any skier in the West … Ended the season finishing fifth or better in eight consecutive races, including three straight on the podium … At last weekend's RMISA Championship/NCAA Western Regional meet she finished third in both the classic and freestyle races to become the first CU women's Nordic skier to hit the podium in both regional races since 2013 – a year that saw the Buffs sweep the podium in both races.

Max Luukko, Junior, Men's Alpine
Making his third NCAA appearance … Was a 2017 second-team All-American in the slalom and giant slalom … Earned first-team All-America honors as a freshman in 2016 by finishing fifth at the NCAA Championships in the slalom … Was the 2016 RMISA slalom champion at regionals … Has eight career podium finishes – six in giant slalom and two in the slalom.

Petter Reistad, Junior, Men's Nordic
Making his third NCAA appearance in what will be his last season with the Buffs (will be graduating and foregoing his final season of eligibility) … He has four All-America honors to his name – earned two second-team accolades in 2016 and two first-team honors last year after finishing fourth in both Nordic races … Has 13 career podium finishes with nine of those being in the classic discipline and four in the freestyle.

Christina Rolandsen, Junior, Women's Nordic
Making her second NCAA appearance … In her first national championship last season she finished third in the freestyle race and fourth in the classic to earn two first-team All-America honors … This year she ranked sixth in the West in NCAA qualification points … Her consistency this season is shown by the fact that she has finished eighth or better in all 11 of her races and she has been on the podium twice … She has six total podium finishes in her career.

Tonje Trulsrud, Junior, Women's Alpine
Making her third NCAA appearance … She is the 2018 RMISA MVP for scoring the NCAA qualification points this winter … In her best season yet as a Buff, she recorded seven podium finishes this winter and won three races, all slalom events … In her career she has 16 podium finishes, ranking in a tie for the 12th most in Colorado history (11 in the giant slalom and five in the slalom) … She has five career race victories under her belt (three in the slalom and two in the giant slalom) … She was a first-team All-American in the giant slalom after finishing third in the event at the NCAA Championship that were also hosted in Steamboat Springs.

THE NCAA'S IN COLORADO
The state of Colorado has hosted 13 NCAA Championship events, dating back to the first at Winter Park in 1956; Steamboat Springs has hosted seven times in all, including the last five times that Colorado has been the host state (with CU the host school all five times). Crested Butte and Durango are the only other two areas to host the affair. The previous 13 gatherings in the Centennial State have bode well for state schools, as CU has won six of its titles within the state and Denver five of its crowns. The other two were claimed by neighboring state schools, Wyoming and Utah; eastern schools have cracked the top two just four times (Dartmouth in 1956 and 1969, Vermont in 1975 and 1993).

Players Mentioned

Alvar Alev

Sondre Bollum

Nora Christensen

Isabelle Fidjeland

Petra Hyncicova

Ola Johansen

David Ketterer

Anne Siri Lervik

Max Luukko

Petter Reistad

Christina Rolandsen

Tonje Trulsrud

Colorado University Athletics