Colorado University Athletics
Buffs Ready To Compete For 21st National Title
March 08, 2022 | Skiing
PARK CITY & MIDWAY, Utah—The Colorado Buffaloes Ski Team had made it to Utah and is ready to compete for the program's 21st and school's 30th National Championship, which take place here at Park City Resort and Soldier Hollow Resort Wednesday through Saturday.
Coach Andy LeRoy and Nordic coach Jana Weinberger have put together a 12-skier team that include an Olympian in each team within the bigger team. Filip Forejtek (men's alpine) and Magnus Boee (men's Nordic) both 2018 Olympians, are joined by Magdalena Luczak (women's alpine) and Weronika Kaleta (women's Nordic) who both competed in Beijing last month.
The 69th NCAA Championships kick off Wednesday and will be available via a live stream by the NCAA and live timing with live team scoring on the RMISA website. Action gets underway Wednesday with GS races. A full schedule (times subject to change due to weather or other factors):
The NCAA Ski Championships enable a team to take a maximum of 12 skiers, three in each discipline/gender between men's alpine, women's alpine, men's Nordic and women's Nordic. The Buffs are one of five teams with a full 12-skier squad here in Utah.
WOMEN'S ALPINE
The Buffs are sending a strong team of three women's alpine skiers in Emma Hammergaard, Kaitlyn Harsch and Luczak. Hammergaard has been skiing the best of her career in February and is looking to continue that improvement. Harsch is making her first appearance at NCAAs as a senior and is skiing as best as she has her entire career. Luczak's collegiate career consists of all of three races, all taking place at Regionals last week after she competed in the Winter Olympics in Beijing, she had a fifth and seventh place finish in two of those three races last week.
MEN'S ALPINE
The Buffs have one of the best men's alpine contingents attending NCAAs with Jacob Dilling and Louis Fausa joining Forejtek. Forejtek, the men's GS MVP in the RMISA, comes to NCAAs as the No. 3 seed in both disciplines, and is one of just two west skiers in the top seed at the NCAA Championships, meaning he will start in the top 10 in both races. Forejtek has 17 career podium appearances, won two races this season and has finished second at the NCAA Championships in both disciplines. Dilling put together a consistent and solid freshman season, finishing all 12 races in the top 15 with 10 top 10 and one podium appearance in his rookie season. Fausa, a sophomore, is another top five threat in any race. He finished in the top 10 in all seven races he finished also picking up his first career podium appearance.
WOMEN'S NORDIC
The Buffs are bringing a solid contingent of three women's Nordic skiers as Hanna Abrahamsson and Anna-Maria Dietze join Kaleta. Abrahamsson, a freshman, has been the Buffs top women's Nordic skier this season and has finished in the top five eight times, tied for best on the team. She has also hit the podium three times. Dietze is a junior making her third NCAA Championship appearance. She missed a few races early in the season and she has skied stronger as the season has progressed, finishing five of her last six races in the top eight. Kaleta skied in four races early in the season before heading for Europe to compete in the Winter Olympics and the U23 World Championships. She had two top five and a podium appearance in those four races.
MEN'S NORDIC
The men's Nordic team also brings three solid skiers that could compete to be among the best teams at the NCAA Championships. Anchored by Boee, who is the defending NCAA Champion in both races, he has put together another stellar season with six podium appearances and eight top five finishes in seven races. He's joined by Will Koch and Fredrik Nilsen. Koch is making his second appearance at NCAAs and made a significant step up this season after earning All-America honors last year. He took part in seven races before heading to compete in the Junior World Championships, where he anchored the 4x5K relay team that won a bronze medal. In his seven races in college, he was in the top 10 in all seven races with his first two career podium appearances. Nilsen put together a solid freshman season in which he finished in the top 15 in eight of 10 races (top 20 in all 10) and in the top 10 twice.
FOREJTEK WINS SECOND STRAIGHT MVP
Forejtek was named the MVP of the RMISA for Men's GS in 2022, defending the award he picked up in 2021. This is the second season the RMISA has split MVPs down to the discipline level and given out eight awards as opposed to four, and Forejtek's is the Buffs fourth. Along with his GS win in 2021, Boee also won both MVPs last season.
NINE BUFFS EARN ALL-RMISA HONORS
Nine Buffs were named to the All-RMISA first, second or honorable mention teams, including three picking up first-team honors as the awards were released recently by the league. Abrahamsson, Boee and Forejtek all picked up first team honors as one of the top five skiers in the RMISA. Those picking up second team honors were Dilling, Karolina Kaleta, Koch and honorable mention honorees were Dietze, Hammergaard and Fausa. The honorable mention honor is new this season for the RMISA and encompasses all skiers in the top 10 in either discipline throughout the season that didn't make the first or second team, ensuring skiers that finish in the top 10 of either discipline earn the award and making it more consistent season to season.
FOUR BUFFS EARN SKIER OF THE MEET HONORS
Throughout the season, four Buffs earned RMISA Skier of the Meet awards as the top skier over the two races within a meet. Skiers can only win once a season. Abrahamsson (UAF Invite), Boee (RMISA Invite), Forejtek (Utah Invite) and Dilling (DU Invite) were the four Buffs honored.
Coach Andy LeRoy and Nordic coach Jana Weinberger have put together a 12-skier team that include an Olympian in each team within the bigger team. Filip Forejtek (men's alpine) and Magnus Boee (men's Nordic) both 2018 Olympians, are joined by Magdalena Luczak (women's alpine) and Weronika Kaleta (women's Nordic) who both competed in Beijing last month.
The 69th NCAA Championships kick off Wednesday and will be available via a live stream by the NCAA and live timing with live team scoring on the RMISA website. Action gets underway Wednesday with GS races. A full schedule (times subject to change due to weather or other factors):
- Wednesday, 9 AM – Women's GS First Run
- Wednesday, 10:15 AM – Men's GS First Run
- Wednesday, 12:45 PM – Women's GS Second Run
- Wednesday, 2 PM – Men's GS Second Run
- Thursday, 10 AM – Women's 5K Classic
- Thursday, 12 PM – Men's 10K Classic
- Friday, 9 AM – Men's Slalom First Run
- Friday, 10 AM – Women's Slalom First Run
- Friday, 12 PM – Men's Slalom Second Run
- Friday, 1 PM – Women's Slalom Second Run
- Saturday, 9:30 AM – Men's 20 Freestyle
- Saturday, 11:30 AM – Women's 15K Freestyle
The NCAA Ski Championships enable a team to take a maximum of 12 skiers, three in each discipline/gender between men's alpine, women's alpine, men's Nordic and women's Nordic. The Buffs are one of five teams with a full 12-skier squad here in Utah.
WOMEN'S ALPINE
The Buffs are sending a strong team of three women's alpine skiers in Emma Hammergaard, Kaitlyn Harsch and Luczak. Hammergaard has been skiing the best of her career in February and is looking to continue that improvement. Harsch is making her first appearance at NCAAs as a senior and is skiing as best as she has her entire career. Luczak's collegiate career consists of all of three races, all taking place at Regionals last week after she competed in the Winter Olympics in Beijing, she had a fifth and seventh place finish in two of those three races last week.
MEN'S ALPINE
The Buffs have one of the best men's alpine contingents attending NCAAs with Jacob Dilling and Louis Fausa joining Forejtek. Forejtek, the men's GS MVP in the RMISA, comes to NCAAs as the No. 3 seed in both disciplines, and is one of just two west skiers in the top seed at the NCAA Championships, meaning he will start in the top 10 in both races. Forejtek has 17 career podium appearances, won two races this season and has finished second at the NCAA Championships in both disciplines. Dilling put together a consistent and solid freshman season, finishing all 12 races in the top 15 with 10 top 10 and one podium appearance in his rookie season. Fausa, a sophomore, is another top five threat in any race. He finished in the top 10 in all seven races he finished also picking up his first career podium appearance.
WOMEN'S NORDIC
The Buffs are bringing a solid contingent of three women's Nordic skiers as Hanna Abrahamsson and Anna-Maria Dietze join Kaleta. Abrahamsson, a freshman, has been the Buffs top women's Nordic skier this season and has finished in the top five eight times, tied for best on the team. She has also hit the podium three times. Dietze is a junior making her third NCAA Championship appearance. She missed a few races early in the season and she has skied stronger as the season has progressed, finishing five of her last six races in the top eight. Kaleta skied in four races early in the season before heading for Europe to compete in the Winter Olympics and the U23 World Championships. She had two top five and a podium appearance in those four races.
MEN'S NORDIC
The men's Nordic team also brings three solid skiers that could compete to be among the best teams at the NCAA Championships. Anchored by Boee, who is the defending NCAA Champion in both races, he has put together another stellar season with six podium appearances and eight top five finishes in seven races. He's joined by Will Koch and Fredrik Nilsen. Koch is making his second appearance at NCAAs and made a significant step up this season after earning All-America honors last year. He took part in seven races before heading to compete in the Junior World Championships, where he anchored the 4x5K relay team that won a bronze medal. In his seven races in college, he was in the top 10 in all seven races with his first two career podium appearances. Nilsen put together a solid freshman season in which he finished in the top 15 in eight of 10 races (top 20 in all 10) and in the top 10 twice.
FOREJTEK WINS SECOND STRAIGHT MVP
Forejtek was named the MVP of the RMISA for Men's GS in 2022, defending the award he picked up in 2021. This is the second season the RMISA has split MVPs down to the discipline level and given out eight awards as opposed to four, and Forejtek's is the Buffs fourth. Along with his GS win in 2021, Boee also won both MVPs last season.
NINE BUFFS EARN ALL-RMISA HONORS
Nine Buffs were named to the All-RMISA first, second or honorable mention teams, including three picking up first-team honors as the awards were released recently by the league. Abrahamsson, Boee and Forejtek all picked up first team honors as one of the top five skiers in the RMISA. Those picking up second team honors were Dilling, Karolina Kaleta, Koch and honorable mention honorees were Dietze, Hammergaard and Fausa. The honorable mention honor is new this season for the RMISA and encompasses all skiers in the top 10 in either discipline throughout the season that didn't make the first or second team, ensuring skiers that finish in the top 10 of either discipline earn the award and making it more consistent season to season.
FOUR BUFFS EARN SKIER OF THE MEET HONORS
Throughout the season, four Buffs earned RMISA Skier of the Meet awards as the top skier over the two races within a meet. Skiers can only win once a season. Abrahamsson (UAF Invite), Boee (RMISA Invite), Forejtek (Utah Invite) and Dilling (DU Invite) were the four Buffs honored.
Players Mentioned
NORDIC
/ Skiing
NORDIC
/ Skiing
NORDIC
/ Skiing
ALPINE
/ Skiing
ALPINE
/ Skiing
ALPINE
/ Skiing
ALPINE
/ Skiing
ALPINE
/ Skiing
NORDIC
/ Skiing
NORDIC
/ Skiing
NORDIC
/ Skiing
ALPINE
/ Skiing
NORDIC
/ SkiingColorado Ski: Why CU?
Friday, June 27
Colorado Ski: 2025 Facility Tour
Tuesday, June 10
Colorado Ski: 2024-25 Banquet
Tuesday, April 22
2024 Ski Team Season Recap
Tuesday, April 30