Alexa Turzian

Position:
Nordic
Height:
5-4
Class:
Senior
Hometown:
Sun Valley, Idaho (Wood River/Middlebury/Sun Valley Ski Team)

Top Career Classical Finish: 1st (2009 Alaska Invitational)
Top Career Freestyle Finish: 2nd (three times, last at 2010 NCAA Championships)

Honors

2011 Second Team All-American (Freestyle)
2011 Second-Team All-RMISA
2011 First-Team Academic All-Big 12 (3.2 GPA)
2010 First-Team All-American (Freestyle)
2010 Second-Team All-RMISA
2009 First-Team All-American (Freestyle)
2009 Second-Team All-American (Classical)
2009 Second-Team All-RMISA
2008 First-Team All-American (Freestyle at Middlebury)
2008 Second-Team All-American (Classical at Middlebury)

Career at Colorado—Turzian finished out her career at Colorado having participated in 45 collegiate races with 35 of those coming at Colorado after she spent her freshman season at Middlebury. She finished her career with six All-America honors out of eight possible, with four of those coming at Colorado. She earned four All-America honors in freestyle action with three on the first team. In 23 career freestyle races, she finished outside the top 10 just once with 12 podium appearances. In 22 classical races she had 10 top 10 finishes with two podium appearances. She is a stronger freestyle racer but ironically her only collegiate victory at CU came in classical action at the 2009 Alaska Invitational. She won one classical and one freestyle race at Middlebury her freshman season.

2011 (Senior)—Turzian concluded her stellar career with a great senior season in which she was a integral part of a team that won the NCAA Championship. In 12 races, she finished the season with seven top 10 finishes and one podium appearances. In six slalom races, she finished in the top 10 all six times with five top five finishes and one podium, a third place finish in the freestyle race at the Utah Invitational, where she also claimed her season best classical performance, finishing just off the podium in fourth place. She earned a second-team All-America honor at the NCAA Championships with a ninth place finish in the freestyle race. She also earned second-team mention on the All-RMISA squad. In the classroom, she earned first team mention on the inaugural Academic All-Big 12 team.

2010 (Junior)—Turzian continued her impressive career at Colorado her junior season, seeing action in all 12 races including NCAA Championships and was firmly established as the Buffs second-strongest women’s Nordic skier in the results throughout the season. Especially strong in the freestyle races, her lowest finish in freestyle was an 11th place showing her first race out at Montana State, and after that she finished in the top six every other race with four podium appearances including runner-up performance at NCAA Championships, a race she was leading for a majority of the time, earning first-team All-America honors in the discipline for the third straight season and finishing closely behind Denver’s Antje Mempel for the second straight season. She also took the podium in the freestyle races at the Utah Invitational, Nevada Invitational and RMISA Championships, earning third place in those three races. No slouch in classical races, she earned a fifth place finish at the Utah Invitational and had three other performances in the top 13. She earned second-team All-RMISA honors, as well.

2009 (Sophomore)—Turzian immediately stepped into the role of CU’s second-strongest women’s Nordic skier in her first year as a Buff and raced to nine top 10 finishes. She came out tough in her first race of the season, winning the 15K classical race in Alaska. Her top freestyle marks were a pair of runner-up finishes which she claimed in the Colorado Invitational and then again in the NCAA Championships. A second team All-RMISA selection and finished the season strong, racing to first- and second-team All-American honors. After a seventh place finish in the 5K classical race on day one of NCAA’s, Turzian wrapped up the season taking second place in the 15K freestyle, just a half-second behind Antje Maempel of Denver.

2008 (Freshman at Middlebury)—Turzian skied for the Middlebury program as a freshman where she earned two All-American honors after taking fourth in the 10K freestyle and eighth in the 15K classic. Leading up to NCAAs, she claimed seven top-five finishes including two wins, one in each discipline, a classical win in her first collegiate race at the Bates Winter Carnival and a freestyle victory at the Dartmouth Winter Carnival.

Club—Prior to joining the U.S. Ski Team in 2007, Turzian’s most impressive accomplishment came when she captured the 10K freestyle national title at Senior Nationals in Houghton, Mich., in 2007. She also owned a fifth place team relay finish at the World Junior Cross Country Championships in 2006. She was the recipient of the Dave Quinn Award in 2006, presented to the outstanding Nordic skier at the Junior Olympics by the United States Ski and Snowboard Association committee members.

High School—Aside from skiing, Turzian lettered two years in varsity soccer at Wood River High School in Sun Valley, Idaho, and earned the Gladiator Award as a sophomore. While in high school, she received the David Nalen Scholarship, awarding her for demonstrating strength in character, athletics and cross country skiing, academics, leadership, and community service.

In the Classroom—Turzian graduated in December 2011 with a degree in environmental studies. A lifetime National Honor Society member, Turzian was the recipient of an AP U.S. History award as a sophomore in high school.

Personal—Alexa Turzian was born on August 13, 1988 and is the daughter of Michael and Jan Turzian of Hailey, Idaho. She has one older brother, Bryce. In her spare time, she enjoys photography, reading and art. She was also recruited by Utah, Montana State and Denver, but she chose Colorado because Boulder is a great place to be and it reminds her of home.

SEASON BY SEASON RESULTS

2008 (at Middlebury)	CL	FS
Bates Winter Carnival	1	2
St. Lawrence W.C.	4	3
Vermont W.C.	4	7
Dartmouth W.C.	3	1
at NCAA Championships	8	4

2009	CL	FS
at Alaska Invitational	1	7
at Seawolf Invitational	--	5
COLORADO INVITATIONAL	11	2
Denver Invitational	8	3
at RMISA Championships	12	4
at NCAA Championships	7	2

2010	CL	FS
Montana State Invitational	13	11
Utah Invitational	5	3
New Mexico Invitational	12	6
Nevada Invitational	19	3
RMISA Championships	12	3
NCAA Championships	19	2

2011	CL	FS
Montana State Invitational	16	5
Utah Invitational	4	3
New Mexico Invitational	15	2
Denver Invitational	30	4
RMISA Championships	11	4
NCAA Championships	14	9