Elena Grissom

Photo by: Matan Coll, CU Athletics

Racers compete in the Montana State Invitational nordic 7.5K event Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025, at Crosscut Mountain Sports Center near Bozeman, Mont.
MSU photo by Colter Peterson

Photo by: Montana State University

Position:
Nordic
Height:
5-4
Class:
Senior
Hometown:
Park City, Utah
High School:
Park City
Prev School:
Park City

Three-Time National All-Academic Ski Team (2023, '24, '25)
NCAA Qualifer (2023, '24, '25)
Finalist CU Freshman of the Year (2023)
Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll (2024)
CU 4.0 Club (2024)
Three-Time Letterwinner (2023, '24, '25)

At Colorado: Career—Entering her senior season, she has finished all 34 races in her career and finished in the top 20 more than half the time, 18 times total in those 34 races. She has one top 10 finish, a classic race in her freshman season. Nothing if not consistent, she has exactly nine top 20 finishes out of exactly 17 races in each discipline.

2025 (Junior)—Elena had a solid junior season during which she more than doubled the number of top 20 finishes from her previous season. She finished all 12 races she competed in during the season and was in the top 20 in seven of those 12 races, including four of six classic races and three of six freestyle. She had a run of six straight top 20s in the middle of the season, spanning the Montana State, Denver, and Alaska Fairbanks Invitationals. Her best freestyle finish was 13th at the Denver Invitational, and she followed that up a week later in Fairbanks by taking home 11th place in the classic sprint race. She was also named to the National All-Academic Ski Team.

2024 (Sophomore)—Grissom finished all 11 races she competed in during her sophomore campaign and finished three times in the top 20, twice in classic races and once in freestyle. All three of her top 20s came in consecutive races spanning the Denver and Colorado Invitationals when she took 19th in the 20K classic race at the CU Invitational and used that momentum to pick up an 18th-place classic and 17th-place freestyle finish at the DU Invitational the following weekend. Her honors included CU 4.0 Club, National All-Academic Ski Team, and Pac-12 Winter Honor Roll.

2023 (Freshman)—Grissom had an impressive freshman season for the Buffaloes, taking part in all 11 races leading into the NCAA Championships and bringing home eight top 20 finishes with one top 10 performance. Her 10th place was at the 10K classic race at the DU Invitaitonal. She had a stretch of five straight top 15 races from the end of the MSU Invitational through the DU Invitational in the span of a couple weeks, and then recorded a pair of top 20 finishes in Alaska in four races to close out the regular season and the RMISA Championships. She lettered and qualified for the NCAA Champsionships and was a finalist for CU Freshman of the Year at the CUSPY awards. She also got it done in the classroom being named to the National All-Academic Ski Team.

Prior To CU—She skied for the Park City Ski and Snowboard Club from 2011-22. At Junior Nationals in 2022, she finished fourth in the 10K classic, fifth in the freestyle relay and 12th in the classic sprint races for U18. At the Western Club Championships in 2021, she was third in the 10K freestyle and fourth in the 5K classic races. She is also a member of the U.S. National Training Group in 2022 and Western Regional Elite group in both 2021 and ‘22.

High School—Grissom graduated from Park City High School in 2022. She didn’t ski for Park City High School but competed on the cross country running team and made the all-state team all four years and she was the MVP of her team for three of her four years in high school.

In The Classroom—She is undecided on a major at Colorado. She achieved high honor roll honors all four years of high school and was part of National Honors Society three of her four years. She also has a Utah state seal of bilaterally for spanish and English. She was Academic All-State for cross country running her senior year at Park City High School.

Personal—Elena Martha Grissom was born August 20, 2004, in Salt Lake City, Utah. Her parents are Colin and Abigail Grissom. Her dad is a physician and mother is an attorney. She has two older siblings, sister Hilary and brother Grady. Sister Hilary was a professional mountain biker. After college she wants to attend graduate school and possibly ski for a professional team. She enjoys pottery, reading, climbing and backpacking in her free time. She volunteered for Recycle Utah for most of her high school career. She is fluent in Spanish.
Why Colorado?—”I grew up in the mountains in Utah and have always wanted to stay near them so CU seemed like the perfect place. I was also very impressed by the wide range of academic options they offer and the great ski program they have.”