Buffs Finish Fourth At NCAA Championships

MIDWAY, Utah—The Colorado Buffaloes ski team closed out the 2022 season Saturday and finished the NCAA Ski Championships in fourth place after a rough day of skiing here at Soldier Hollow.

Entering the day in fourth, the Nordic teams swung for the fences, not looking to move up one or two spots but aiming for a national championship. Sometimes when you swing for the fences, you miss, and that's essentially what happened to the Buffs Saturday.

The men's team of Magnus Boee, Will Koch and Fredrik Nilsen were among the best teams, and at the lap check points, Boee was fourth after the first lap, Koch was third after the second lap and Nilsen was in 11th at the midpoint of the race. Boee was feeling ill (he tested negative for COVID) and Nilsen was involved in an unfortunate situation where a skier next to him broke his pole and was reaching for a new one from his coach and the two collided, and he took a knee to the head.

In the end, Boee finished 17th, Koch 23rd and Nilsen 35th and out of scoring position. The Buffs as a team scored 22 points, but had they held their top positions would've scored 85 points and won the race.

The women's team was led by freshman Hanna Abrahamsson who finished seventh and picked up her second All-America honor in as many days. Junior Anna-Maria Dietze finished 20th and sophomore Weronika Kaleta 22nd for the Buffaloes.

"I'm disappointed by the overall placement, but absolutely encouraged ty the athletes and how they've gone about it, how they've grown and where the program is headed." CU coach Andy LeRoy said. "For sure it stings a little bit to hoist the fourth-place trophy on our way out of town."

Utah ended up winning the championship with 578 points, scoring 100 points in the women's race on the strength of a 1-2 finish from Sophia Laukli and Novie McCabe. Vermont finished second with 511.5 points and in the end, Denver edged the Buffs by just 1.5 points, 436.5-435.

"Having seen enough NCAA championships in my time you hope for good performances, you prepare the athletes for those performances, but when it turns out the way it did today, it's just part of the sport," LeRoy said. "We had some things happen this week, Louie Fausa's ski falls off, the first time all season something like that happened, Fredrik collides with another skier, Magnus was sick. Things like that happen and they're part of our sport, unfortunately they do affect the results and as much as you prepare to try and shield your athletes from this type of thing, it happens."

WHAT IT MEANS: The Buffs ski to win national championships, so anything less on some level is a disappointment. But you can't be disappointed with the effort the 2022 team put forth. You have to take the chances when they come, and if you fall short giving 100 percent, that's just something that happens in ski racing. The bottom line is the Buffs showed improvement throughout the season and from all accounts, the program is going in the right direction.

UP NEXT: The 2022 season is now complete. For some, off season training begins immediately. For others, there are still some non-collegiate races left as we get into late March and early April.

NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM SCORES: 1. Utah 578; 2. Vermont 511.5; 3. Denver 436.5; 4. Colorado 435; 5. Alaska Anchorage 269; 6. New Hampshire 241; 7. Alaska Fairbanks 239; 8. Westminster 231; 9. Montana State 213; 10. Middlebury 209.5; 11. Dartmouth 142; 12. Michigan Tech 141; 13. St. Michael's 108.5; 14. Northern Michigan 64; 15. Colby 56; 16. Bowdoin, 28; 17. St. Lawrence 26; 18. St. Scholastica 23; 19. Plymouth State 19; 20. Harvard 14; 21. Boston College 4; 22. Green Bay 1.

MEN'S 20K FREESTYLE (40 finishers): 1. Ben Ogden, UVM, 43:00.5; 2. Sam Hendry, UU, 43:07.9; 3. J.C. Schoonmaker, UAA 43:13.9; 4. Bernhard Flaschberger, DU, 43:14.8; 5. Peter Wolter, MID, 43:15.8; 6. Joe Davies, UAF, 43:23.2; 7. Kjetil Baanerud, NMU, 43:34.2; 8. Espen Persen, UAA, 43:35.6; 9. Jacob Nystedt, UVM, 43:38.5; 10. Skyla Patten, MTU, 43:39.1. CU Finishers: 17. Magnus Boee, 44:17.2; 23. Will Koch, 44:57.6; 35. Fredrik Nilsen, 46:08.8.

WOMEN'S 15K FREESTYLE (39 finishers): 1. Sophia Laukli, UU, 36:35.7; 2. Novie McCabe, UU, 37:09.5; 3. Jasmine Lyons, UNH, 38:05.0.; 4. Kendall Kramer, UAF, 38:21.7; 5. Mariel Pulles, UAF, 38:41.4; 6. Anna Bizyukova, UVM, 38:47.7; 7. Hanna Abrahamsson, CU, 38:53.3; 8. Sydney Palmer-Leger, UU, 38:53.8; 9. Astrid Stav, UAA, 38:58.8; 10. Ranae Anderson, BOW, 39:39.0. Other CU Finishers: 20. Anna-Maria Dietze, 40:41.6; 22. Weronika Kaleta, 40:54.0.

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Hanna Abrahamsson

Magnus Boee

Anna-Maria Dietze

Weronika Kaleta

Will Koch

Fredrik Nilsen

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