Patrick Neel

Position:
Nordic
Height:
5-11
Weight:
null
Class:
Senior
Hometown:
Breckenridge, Colo. (Summit/Western State/Team Summit)

Top Career Classical Finish: Sixth (2011 Utah Invitational)
Top Career Freestyle Finish: Third (2009 Denver Invitational)

Career at Colorado—Neel closed out his CU career with a solid senior season helping the Buffs to win the NCAA Championship. He finished his CU career racing in three seasons with 29 races to his credit, including 18 finishes in the top 20 and six in the top 10 with one podium appearance. Always a top 10 threat in freestyle races, by the end of his career he had become formidable in classical races, evidenced by his first top 10 finish with a sixth place at the Utah Invitational early in his senior season.

2011 (Senior)—Neel finished off his career by competing in nine races for the Buffaloes in 2011, helping the squad to a team national championship. He finished in the top 20 in all nine races, doubling his career total to that point at CU and he brought home two top 10 performances, one each in classical and freestyle races. His sixth place in the Utah Invitational in the classical race was the first top 10 classical performance of his career while his seventh place in the freestyle race at the Denver Invitational was the fifth top 10 slalom finish of his career at CU. He finished 14th in the classical race at the RMISA Championships, the second best finish of his career and the third finisher for CU in that race, counting toward team scoring as the Buffs won the regional championship.

2010 (Junior)—Neel started off his junior campaign in impressive fashion with three straight top 10 performances in freestyle races and three straight top 20 performances in classic races in the first three invitational’s of the season at Montana State, Utah and New Mexico. Those were his three best performances in both disciplines for the season. He took home seventh place at the Utah Invitational in freestyle action and followed that up at New Mexico with his career best classical performance, taking 17th at the high elevation course at Red River, N.M.

2009 (Redshirt Sophomore)—After having to redshirt, Neel wasted no time once he put on a Colorado uniform, taking ninth place in the first race of the season, the 10K classical at the Alaska Invitational. He proved to be the most dominant in the freestyle discipline for the remainder of the year, closing out with a third and fourth place individual finish at the Denver and Colorado Invitational’s, respectively. Though Neel qualified for the NCAA’s, he was the Buffs’ third alternate on the nation’s strongest Nordic unit.

2008 (Sophomore)—After transferring from Western State without an official release from the Mountaineers, Neel was unable to officially ski for the Buffs in 2008. However, Neel was able to show his potential as an independent skier at the CU Invitational in Steamboat, where he posted a fifth place finish in the 10K freestyle, which would have led all Buffs in the race had he been eligible to compete for Colorado.

2007 (Freshman at Western State)—Neel spent his first year of collegiate skiing at Western State, a member of the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association along with Colorado. He finished 16th last year in the NCAA Championship 10K freestyle race in New Hampshire.

High School—Neel was a member of the Summit high school Nordic ski team.

In the Classroom—Neel graduated with a degree in environmental studies at Colorado.

Personal—Patrick Neel, born August 20, 1987, is the son of Joe and Kathy Neel of Breckenridge, Colo. He has two sisters, Emily and Rosemary. Neel’s cousin, Laura, is married to former U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team and Everton F.C. goalkeeper, Tim Howard.

SEASON BY SEASON RESULTS