Buffs Nordic Squad Ready To Get Season Underway Sunday

BOULDER—Last March, about 30 minutes after the first Nordic race at the NCAA Championships concluded, event official got the call from the national office that the event was canceled due to a the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now 10 months later, the 2021 season us upon us. Teams have navigated their entire off season through unforeseen obstacles and road bumps due to the pandemic, but after all that on the eve of the 2021 season, the Buffs are "ready to race; We're ready to get it underway," CU Nordic coach Jana Weingarder said. "We're just excited to have a season and be able to race. Get some of the normalcy back."

The 2021 Nordic team features 12 skiers, six women and six men. This year's version should be right in the thick of the competition both individually and as a team.

The women's team features one senior, Quinn Lehmkuhl, one junior, Ezra Smith, two sophomores, Anna-Maria Dietze and Bridget Donovan, and two freshmen, Ivy Eski and Weronkia Kaleta. The Buffs did lose two All-American-level skiers in Hedda Baangman and Anne Siri Lervik from last year's squad.

Captained by Smith, the women's team should be a strength for the Buffs. Smith herself has eight top 10 finishes and a pair of top fives in two years of racing and 20 career starts. She and Dietze, who enjoyed a stellar freshman season that included five top five finishes and one podium, a second place finish at the Utah Invitational classic race, should anchor the team.

Lehmkuhl is looking to have one of her best seasons and Weinberger hopes she can compete for top 15 placements. Donovan's off season training was going great until a back issue sidelined her in October. She will not race in the first meet of the season, but Weinberger hopes to have her back potentially in February.

Kaleta spent some time later in the fall in Europe competing in World Cup races. Those races can take their toll on college skiers, but she returned to Boulder to get some rest and continue traveling. She is expected to have an immediate impact for the Buffs and compete for high placements in her freshman season. She will return to Europe to ski in the Junior World Championships in February. Eski also left Boulder and went back to her home in Alaska to train, but looked good in training before she left and will help round out the 2021 women's team.

On the men's side, senior Tyler Terranova is the team captain and is joined in his final season with Ryan Jackson, who was afforded an extra season of eligibility for the Buffs. Jackson is returning from an injury in the off season and Weinberger said it may take a few starts for him to get back into his best shape. He showed last year he was one of the best classic skiers in the nation and overall had five top 10 and two top five finishes with one podium appearance. He was at his best late in the season, earning his top finish in both disciplines at the RMISA Championships.

Junior Wyatt Gebhardt has showed flashes of brilliance in his two seasons in Boulder. He's looking to return to the form he had his freshman season when he had four top 10 finishes out of the gate for the Buffs. He caught an illness late in the season but still managed six top 20 finishes for the Buffs as a sophomore.

Sophomore Magnus Boee had one of the best freshman seasons at CU, and if preseason training is any indication, he could take another step forward in his second season. A first-team All-RMISA selection last year, he had seven top five finishes with five podium appearances and three race victories. He should compete to podium and win races throughout the season.

CU's two newcomers on the men's side could both make immediate impacts on the college scene. Oyvind Haugan will not ski for the first meet in Utah due to NCAA rules, but will join the team for the DU Invitational the following week. Will Koch, one of the best junior skiers in the United States, could follow in the footsteps of Boee from last year and make an immediate push for high finishes in his freshman season. He will miss a portion of the college season competing at the World Junior Championships in February.

The Buffs Nordic season gets underway Sunday at Soldier Hollow in Utah, part of the RMSIA Invitational in Utah. There will be no rest for the weary early in the season as the first three meets take place in three weeks. The following week, teams will head to Maloit Park near Vail to finish the DU Invitational and then in early February head to Aspen to close out the CU Invitational.

Colorado University Athletics

Buffs Nordic Squad Ready To Get Season Underway Sunday

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Players Mentioned

Hedda Baangman

Magnus Boee

Anna-Maria Dietze

Bridget Donovan

Ivy Eski

Wyatt Gebhardt

Oyvind Haugan

Ryan Jackson

Will Koch

Quinn Lehmkuhl

Anne Siri Lervik

Ezra Smith

Tyler Terranova

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