Ski Team Celebrates Championship Season At Banquet

BOULDER – The Colorado Buffaloes Ski Team celebrated its 21st National Championship at the program's annual banquet, where both the team and individual accomplishments were honored.

Along with recognizing the team accomplishments, which culminated in the team coming back from the second-largest final day deficit in NCAA history while simultaneously winning by the smallest margin in history, coach Jana Weinberger also presented the team awards.

The Dick Schoenberger Memorial Award is the oldest and most traditional award given at CU's banquet. This year's recipient was Filip Wahlqvist, who capped his season with the individual NCAA Championship in the slalom race after winning four slalom races on the season, one off the school record while becoming the third men's alpine skier to win four-plus slalom races in a season.

The Buddy Werner Memorial Award was presented to Will Koch. Koch did not finish outside the top 10 in any of his 11 starts on the season, which included seven top five finishes and his first race win, which came as a US National Championship in the freestyle sprint race, which was part of the Westminster Invitational.

The Laura Sharpe Flood Award is given for spirit, dedication and enthusiasm. This year's recipients were Jacob Dilling and Katie Fleckenstein. Dilling lost his father in February at age 61 due to a heart attack during the season. His father's memorial was the same day the Buffs secured the national championship. Fleckenstein has battled injuries her entire career at CU and with a start in the final race of the regular season at the RMISA Championships in Bozeman, she successfully started a college race for the first time in 765 days, more than two years.

The Spencer Nelson Award given in honor of his no guts, no glory mantra, was given to Ryder Sarchett. Sarchett won the junior world championship in the GS and is believed to be the first active college skier to win a world junior championship. He finished seven of nine races on the season with two top fives and a race win, in the GS at the Utah Invitational.

The Lucie Hanusova Award is given to the skiers who overcome obstacles with a positive attitude. This year the award was given to both Hanna Abrahamsson and Denise Dingsleder. Abrahamsson rebounded after a tough fall semester during which she was unsure if she could ski collegiately this season. She ended up with five top five finishes including two podiums and a race win. She earned her fifth career All-America honor.

Dingsleder transferred to CU from Westminster College and after a DNF to start the year, she finished 12 of the 13 remaining seasons and finished with seven top 10 finishes including three podiums and a race win, when she took home the RMISA Individual Championship in the GS race.

Magdalena Luczak was given the Outstanding Alpine Woman Award after putting together one of the most dominant seasons in CU history. Despite only starting six races, she won four and was second in the other two, compiling a 176-2 record against collegiate competition in 2024. She swept the NCAA individual championships, joining Lucie Zikova as the only two to accomplish that feat.

Anna-Maria Dietze was presented with the Outstanding Nordic Woman award. She finished all eight of her races in the top 10 with six top 5 finishes including three podiums and one race win. She picked up two All-America honors, critical in the Buffs winning the national championship.

Magnus Boee was presented with the Outstanding Career Award after becoming just the 12th skier in CU history to win three NCAA Individual Championships. He finished all 58 of his career races, 57 in the top 20, 50 in the top 10, 40 top five with 30 podiums and 16 race wins. He became just the third skier in program history named first-team every season. He's also the 13th skier in program history to win first-team All-America honors five or more times.

Other awards earned throughout the season were also presented, including 29 skiers who earned a varsity letter, 19 All-Academic Ski Team members, 15 All-Americans including nine first-team honors, and 15 All-RMISA members, all setting or among the most CU has ever been awarded.

Colorado University Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Hanna Abrahamsson

Magnus Boee

Anna-Maria Dietze

Jacob Dilling

Denise Dingsleder

Katie Fleckenstein

Will Koch

Magdalena Luczak

Ryder Sarchett

Filip Wahlqvist

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