Colorado University Athletics
Buffs To Send A Full Team To NCAA Championships
March 01, 2022 | Skiing
INDIANAPOLIS—The Colorado Buffaloes Ski Team has qualified a full 12-skier team for the 69th Annual NCAA Ski Championships, set for March 9-12 in Utah, the association announced Tuesday.
Skiing for the Buffs in search of the program's 21 National Championship will be: Hanna Abrahamsson (women's Nordic), Magnus Boee (men's Nordic), Anna-Maria Dietze (women's Nordic), Jacob Dilling (men's alpine), Louis Fausa (men's alpine), Filip Forejtek (men's alpine), Emma Hammergaard (women's alpine), Kaitlyn Harsch (women's alpine), Weronika Kaleta (women's Nordic), Will Koch (men's Nordic), Magdalena Luczak (women's alpine) and Fredrik Nilsen (men's Nordic).
The 12 Buffs representing CU will be on the youthful side with four freshmen and three sophomores in the mix along with three juniors and two seniors. Seven of the 12 have skied for the Buffs at NCAAs previously with five, Abrahamsson, Dilling, Harsch, Luczak and Nilsen making their first appearance at the championship.
Abrahamsson, a freshman, will be making her first NCAA Championship appearance after a solid rookie season in which she finished in the top six of all nine races with three podium appearances. She took second at the 10K classical at U.S. National Championships as part of the Utah Invitational and second again in Alaska in a 5K freestyle race.
Boee, a junior making his third NCAA Championship appearance and the defending NCAA Individual Champion in both disciplines, has had another stellar season, finishing every race in the top seven with six podium appearances, one win and riding three straight runner-up performances. In 33 career races, he's finished 27 in the top five and has 22 podium appearances including 14 wins.
Dietze, a junior making her third NCAA Championship appearance, has finished in the top 14 of all seven races she's taken part in with four top 10 performances and one top five finish. She's finished in the top six three times and has 16 top 10 performances in her career.
Dilling, a freshman making his first NCAA Championship appearance, has had a stellar rookie season finishing all 12 races with 10 top 10 and three top five finishes with one podium appearance. Two of his three top five finishes are in slalom races and his podium appearance was a GS race. He's finished in the top 15 in every race his freshman season.
Fausa is a sophomore making his second NCAA Championship appearance who has taken a step forward in his second season. He's finished seven of 10 races, all in the top 10 with three top five finishes and one podium, taking third in the slalom race in Steamboat Springs after the RMISA Championships. He's now finished 16 of 22 races in his career with 12 top 10 and four top five performances.
Forejtek, a senior making his fourth appearance at the NCAA Championships, has put together another solid season. He took the final two races of the regular season off to rest up for the Championships and he finished eight of the other 10 races with six top five performances, four podiums and his first two college victories. Already a three-time All-American, he has finished 33 races in his career with 24 coming in the top five including 17 podiums and three race wins.
Hammergaard is a junior making her second NCAA Championship appearance. She has been a solid racer her entire career but come into her own the second half of this season becoming a podium threat. She has finished 10 of 12 races this season with seven top 10 and one top five finish, which was her first career podium in the GS race at the RMISA Championships. She had finished eighth a total of eight times as her career best finish until the week of Regionals when she finished sixth in a slalom race at the DU Invitational on Monday, Feb. 21, then second in the GS race on Wednesday, Feb. 23 and also taking a seventh in the slalom race on Friday, Feb. 25. To put a cap on the week, she won the parallel slalom exhibition event on Saturday, Feb. 26.
Harsch is a senior making her first NCAA Championship appearance and has been especially solid in slalom races in her senior season. She has finished eight of nine races this season with five in the top 20 and one top 10. In her four slalom races this season, she's finished between eighth and 13th in all of them.
Kaleta, a sophomore, is making her second NCAA Championship appearance. She has had a busy spring that has seen her race in just four college races, where she took third and fourth in the two freestyle races and finished all four in the top 20. She competed for Poland in the XXIV Winter Olympics and is coming to NCAAs after competing in the U23 World Championships in Norway. She earned second-team All-America honors last season in the freestyle race.
Koch, a sophomore, is making his second appearance at the NCAA Championships for the Buffs where he was an All-American in the classic race last year as a freshman. He has taken his skiing to another level as a sophomore, finishing all seven races in the top 10 with three top five finishes and two podiums, which came in his last two races of the year in Alaska. He then traveled to Norway for the Junior World Championships where he anchored the relay race bringing a bronze medal to the United States.
Luczak, a freshman making her first NCAA Championship appearance, has also had a busy spring. She returned home from representing Poland in the XXIV Winter Olympics to make her collegiate debut at the RMISA Championships, picking up a fifth place in her first GS race and after falling in her first slalom, she picked up a seventh place despite starting 32nd, in the extra qualifier. Her college debut was delayed due to COVID-19 and she was granted the ability to participate in the NCAA Championships by the NCAA Skiing Committee despite not having the required four starts necessary for qualification.
Nilsen, a freshman making his first NCAA Championship appearance, has had a solid rookie season in which he's finished in the top 20 in all 10 races with two top 10 performances, both coming in the two most recent freestyle races, taking seventh in Alaska in a 10K freestyle and eighth at the RMISA Championships in the 20K freestyle.
The NCAA Championships will start Wednesday, March 9 with the giant slalom races. The 5K women's and 10K men's classic interval start races will take place Thursday, March 10, with the slalom races closing out the alpine action on Friday, March 11 and the 15K women's and 20K men's freestyle mass start races closing the championship on Saturday, March 12.
Skiing for the Buffs in search of the program's 21 National Championship will be: Hanna Abrahamsson (women's Nordic), Magnus Boee (men's Nordic), Anna-Maria Dietze (women's Nordic), Jacob Dilling (men's alpine), Louis Fausa (men's alpine), Filip Forejtek (men's alpine), Emma Hammergaard (women's alpine), Kaitlyn Harsch (women's alpine), Weronika Kaleta (women's Nordic), Will Koch (men's Nordic), Magdalena Luczak (women's alpine) and Fredrik Nilsen (men's Nordic).
The 12 Buffs representing CU will be on the youthful side with four freshmen and three sophomores in the mix along with three juniors and two seniors. Seven of the 12 have skied for the Buffs at NCAAs previously with five, Abrahamsson, Dilling, Harsch, Luczak and Nilsen making their first appearance at the championship.
Abrahamsson, a freshman, will be making her first NCAA Championship appearance after a solid rookie season in which she finished in the top six of all nine races with three podium appearances. She took second at the 10K classical at U.S. National Championships as part of the Utah Invitational and second again in Alaska in a 5K freestyle race.
Boee, a junior making his third NCAA Championship appearance and the defending NCAA Individual Champion in both disciplines, has had another stellar season, finishing every race in the top seven with six podium appearances, one win and riding three straight runner-up performances. In 33 career races, he's finished 27 in the top five and has 22 podium appearances including 14 wins.
Dietze, a junior making her third NCAA Championship appearance, has finished in the top 14 of all seven races she's taken part in with four top 10 performances and one top five finish. She's finished in the top six three times and has 16 top 10 performances in her career.
Dilling, a freshman making his first NCAA Championship appearance, has had a stellar rookie season finishing all 12 races with 10 top 10 and three top five finishes with one podium appearance. Two of his three top five finishes are in slalom races and his podium appearance was a GS race. He's finished in the top 15 in every race his freshman season.
Fausa is a sophomore making his second NCAA Championship appearance who has taken a step forward in his second season. He's finished seven of 10 races, all in the top 10 with three top five finishes and one podium, taking third in the slalom race in Steamboat Springs after the RMISA Championships. He's now finished 16 of 22 races in his career with 12 top 10 and four top five performances.
Forejtek, a senior making his fourth appearance at the NCAA Championships, has put together another solid season. He took the final two races of the regular season off to rest up for the Championships and he finished eight of the other 10 races with six top five performances, four podiums and his first two college victories. Already a three-time All-American, he has finished 33 races in his career with 24 coming in the top five including 17 podiums and three race wins.
Hammergaard is a junior making her second NCAA Championship appearance. She has been a solid racer her entire career but come into her own the second half of this season becoming a podium threat. She has finished 10 of 12 races this season with seven top 10 and one top five finish, which was her first career podium in the GS race at the RMISA Championships. She had finished eighth a total of eight times as her career best finish until the week of Regionals when she finished sixth in a slalom race at the DU Invitational on Monday, Feb. 21, then second in the GS race on Wednesday, Feb. 23 and also taking a seventh in the slalom race on Friday, Feb. 25. To put a cap on the week, she won the parallel slalom exhibition event on Saturday, Feb. 26.
Harsch is a senior making her first NCAA Championship appearance and has been especially solid in slalom races in her senior season. She has finished eight of nine races this season with five in the top 20 and one top 10. In her four slalom races this season, she's finished between eighth and 13th in all of them.
Kaleta, a sophomore, is making her second NCAA Championship appearance. She has had a busy spring that has seen her race in just four college races, where she took third and fourth in the two freestyle races and finished all four in the top 20. She competed for Poland in the XXIV Winter Olympics and is coming to NCAAs after competing in the U23 World Championships in Norway. She earned second-team All-America honors last season in the freestyle race.
Koch, a sophomore, is making his second appearance at the NCAA Championships for the Buffs where he was an All-American in the classic race last year as a freshman. He has taken his skiing to another level as a sophomore, finishing all seven races in the top 10 with three top five finishes and two podiums, which came in his last two races of the year in Alaska. He then traveled to Norway for the Junior World Championships where he anchored the relay race bringing a bronze medal to the United States.
Luczak, a freshman making her first NCAA Championship appearance, has also had a busy spring. She returned home from representing Poland in the XXIV Winter Olympics to make her collegiate debut at the RMISA Championships, picking up a fifth place in her first GS race and after falling in her first slalom, she picked up a seventh place despite starting 32nd, in the extra qualifier. Her college debut was delayed due to COVID-19 and she was granted the ability to participate in the NCAA Championships by the NCAA Skiing Committee despite not having the required four starts necessary for qualification.
Nilsen, a freshman making his first NCAA Championship appearance, has had a solid rookie season in which he's finished in the top 20 in all 10 races with two top 10 performances, both coming in the two most recent freestyle races, taking seventh in Alaska in a 10K freestyle and eighth at the RMISA Championships in the 20K freestyle.
The NCAA Championships will start Wednesday, March 9 with the giant slalom races. The 5K women's and 10K men's classic interval start races will take place Thursday, March 10, with the slalom races closing out the alpine action on Friday, March 11 and the 15K women's and 20K men's freestyle mass start races closing the championship on Saturday, March 12.
Players Mentioned
NORDIC
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NORDIC
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NORDIC
/ Skiing
ALPINE
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ALPINE
/ Skiing
ALPINE
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ALPINE
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ALPINE
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NORDIC
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NORDIC
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ALPINE
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NORDIC
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