Colorado University Athletics
Stroem Earns Multiple National Skier of the Year Awards
April 29, 2016 | Skiing
BOULDER – Junior Mads Stroem, fresh of one of the best seasons in University of Colorado skiing history, is reaping the benefits since the end of the season in March having earned several conference and national awards.
He was awarded the Men's Nordic National Skier of the Year by both FasterSkier and the United States Collegiate Ski Coaches Association (USCSCA). He was also named the Men's Nordic Skier of the Year by the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association (RMISA). The USCSCA and RMISA award are both voted on by ski coaches within those organizations.
Stroem capped off his historic season by claiming both individual NCAA Championships in March, winning both the 10K freestyle and 20K classic races at Steamboat Springs, helping the Buffs to a second-place finish.
He became the first men's Nordic skier in CU history to accomplish an NCAA sweep and just the sixth in CU history in all disciplines to do so. He is also the first men's Nordic skier in 11 years and just the sixth in NCAA history from any school to pull off the feat. He now has three individual NCAA Championships after taking the freestyle race as a freshman in 2014 at Soldier Hollow.
He also won both of the individual RMISA Championships for the second straight season and now has four career RMISA Individual Championships. In all, he won eight races on the season, another CU record for a men's Nordic skier, including the final six races of the season, setting yet another mark for consecutive races won by a men's Nordic skier in CU history. He was also second in two other races, meaning he was first or second in 10 of the 12 races on the season.
In his career, in 32 career races he has 14 wins and 26 podium (top 3) finishes. He has finished lower than fourth just three times in those 32 races. His 14 wins ranks fifth all-time for wins at CU and second among men's Nordic skiers, five behind former teammate Rune Oedegaard's total of 19.
Already awarded the RMISA Men's Nordic MVP based on his regular season results in conference races, Stroem was also the RMISA Skier of the Week for the Utah Invitational (skiers can only win that award once a year) and was named CU's Athlete of the Week four times.
