Karolina Kaleta

Position:
Nordic
Height:
6-0
Class:
Sophomore
Hometown:
Kasina Wielka, Poland
High School:
SMS Zakopane
Prev School:
Polish National Team

Second-Team All-RMISA (2022)
Two-Time NCAA Championship Qualifier (2022, ‘23)
Two-Time Letterwinner (2022, ‘23)

At Colorado: Career—Kaleta opens her junior season with two years of solid experience during which she lettered and qualified for the NCAA Championships both times and earning second-team All-RMISA honors as a freshman. She has finished all 16 races she’s started for the Buffaloes all in the top 20 with seven top 10 and two top five performances, two in classic and one in freestyle.

2023 (Sophomore)—Kaleta had a solid season during which she raced eight times for the Buffaloes, finishing all eight in the top 20 with a pair of top 10 performances and one top five finish. She started her season with a bang, taking that fifth place in the 15K classic race at the MSU Invitational and then also had an impressive sixth-place showing in the freestyle sprint race in Alaska as part of the UAA Invitational. The other six races she consistently finished between 12th and 19th places and earned team points in six of her eight races. She lettered for the second time and qualified for NCAA Championships, as well.

2022 (Freshman)—Kaleta put together a solid freshman season that saw her at her best over a three-race stretch in Fairbanks, Alaska. She took part in the first eight races of the season, finishing her season with top 20 finishes in all eight races including five top 10 and two top five performances. She opened her career with a top 5, taking fifth at the freestyle sprint races at the U.S. National Championships, which doubled as the Utah Invitational. She was 12th in the 10K classic and then eighth in a classic sprint extra qualifier there at Soldier Hollow. She was 17th in the freestyle and 18th in the classical race at the Montana State Invitational, she then excelled at the UAF Nanook Invitational, finishing fifth in a 5K classic race and sixth in a 10K freestyle race before finishing seventh in another 5K freestyle race as part of the RMISA Invitational. She then missed the RMISA Championships while competing for Poland at the Junior World Championships. At the World Junior Championships, she took aprt in three races, the 4x3.3K relay, the 5K classic and the freestyle sprints. She finished 11th with her teammates in the relay race, 41st in the sprint and 48th in the classic race. She did well enough in Alaska to earn second-team All-RMISA honors and qualified but did not participate at the NCAA Championships for the Buffs while also earning a letter.

Prior To CU—Kaleta has skied for LKJ Markam Wisniowa Osieczany under coach Anna Bubula and is also a member of the Polish National Team under coach Martin Bajciciak. Since 2018, she has skied in 57 FIS-sanctioned races ranging from junior races to the World Ski Championships. She participated in those World Championships in Oberstdorf, Germany, in 2021 and finished 47th in the skiathlon, 48th in the sprint classic and 12th in the 4x5K relay. She skied in the Junior World Championships in both 2020 in Oberwisenthal, Germany and in 2021 in Voukatti, Finland. In 2021, she finished third in the classic sprint final, seventh in the 5K freestyle and 17th in the 15K classic races while also taking sixth in the 4x3.3K relay. In 2020, she was 24th in the freestyle sprint and 46th in the 5k classic race. In 2020, she also participated in the Youth Olympic Winter Games in Lausanne and Valle de Joux, Switzerland, where she finished eighth in the freestyle sprint final, 20th in the 5K classic race and 25th in the cross country cross final. She also has 21 starts on the Slavic Cup with six top 20 finishes including one podium appearance in the 7.5K classic race in Strbske Pleso, Slovakia, in 2018. In all, she has 10 total podium appearances which include one win, seven second place and two third place finishes. Her win came in 2020 in a classic sprint qualifier in Seefeld, Austria.

High School—She graduated from SMS Zakopane in Zakopane, Malopolskie, Poland, in 2021.

In The Classroom—She is undecided on a major at Colorado.

Personal—Karolina Kaleta was born Nov. 10, 2002, in Limanowa, Poland. Her parents are Dorota and Zbigniew Kaleta. She has five siblings, three brothers, Pawel, Maciek and Poitr, and two sisters, Weronika and Agnieszka. Weronika is also a member of the Polish National Team and a member of the CU Ski Team.