Colorado University Athletics
SkiTeam Building Renamed In Memory Of Bryan Sax
March 04, 2011 | Skiing
BOULDER -Â The University of Colorado ski team building on CU's east campus has been renamed the Bryan Benjamin Sax Ski Team Building in memory of the former alpine skier who was killed December 6, 2008, a mid-air collision between two small planes in the Florida Everglades at the age of 37.
The building has been home to Colorado Skiing since 1990 and is currently undergoing renovation. The first phase is complete and includes a new locker room, a trophy wall and a team lounge. The next phase will focus on the other side of the building and will add additional office for coaches and staff, an area to review video and an update to the waxing and equipment room. A significant gift from the Sax family got the project moving forward.
"Bryan was always fun to be around," CU head coach Richard Rokos said. "He was a dream student-athlete for any team sport. Bryan's family hosted our whole team anytime we competed in Aspen and his family has always been a big supporter of our team. I am thrilled they made the decision to financially support our program. I can't express enough how much this renovation was needed and will help our program for its extended future."
The trophy wall eloquently displays CU's rich ski tradition that includes 17 national championships, 25 RMISA championships, including this season, and countless individual awards including 396 All-America citations from 172 athletes and 81 individual NCAA Championships from 61 athletes.
Sax himself counts in both all of those numbers, winning the individual NCAA Championship in the giant slalom at the 1995 NCAA Championships, helping the Buffs to a team victory and earning first-team All-America honors. He was a team captain, a four year letterwinner and recipient of the team's Buddy Werner Award. He is the most recent national champion in the men's giant slalom at CU.
Sax's collegiate career was a storybook one, starting on CU's development team, a squad put together in hopes of one day making the varsity team, and ending five years later as an individual and national champion. He posted seven top 10 finishes and graduated with degrees in business administration, finance and small business management. He had the special opportunity of sharing his CU skiing experience with his sister Rachael, who was also on the team.
Bryan's wife Christy, daughter Zaya and stepson Dante still live in Aspen where Bryan was born on February 4, 1971. His daughter Hannah attends the Whiteman Academy in Steamboat Springs where she is pursuing her own ski-racing career.
