Maja Solbakken

Position:
Nordic
Height:
5-7
Class:
Sophomore
Hometown:
Engerdal, Norway
High School:
NTG Lilehammer/Enderdal

Top Career Classical Finish: First (Six Times, last 2013 NCAA Championships)
Top Career Freestyle Finish: First (Three Times, last 2013 CU Invitational)

Honors

2014 National Collegiate All-Academic Ski Team (3.5 GPA, participation in regionals)
2014 4.0 Club

Career at Colorado—Solbakken last year came in as one of four newcomers trying to replace the top women’s Nordic team in the nation and she responded with three top 10 finishes and an eyelash away from an All-American honor. Now as a sophomore, she is one of the veterans of the very young team that has three sophomores and three freshmen.

2014 (Freshman)—Solbakken was immediately thrown into the mix as a true freshman in 2014, attempting to replace one of the top women’s Nordic teams in CU and NCAA history from 2013. A rarity she was named captain for her freshman season on a team that included four true freshmen. Solbakken fell ill and after not finishing the first race of the season, she did not race in the next three races. For all intents, she made her collegiate debut at the CU invitational and still not 100 percent, she finished 20th and 25th. She then started to get her bearings, earning her first top 10 at New Mexico, finishing seventh in the classic race there. Her best meet was at the RMISA Championships, where she took fifth in the freestyle race and sixth in the classic race, greatly improving her NCAA qualification seeding and finishing a stretch of three top seven finishes in four races. Along with Camilla Bratuaset, who finished 11th, she took 12th in the freestyle race at the NCAA Championships, just missing being named All-American by a few seconds. An outstanding student, she posted a perfect 4.0 GPA in her first semester in Boulder and was named to the National Collegiate All-Academic Ski team, as well.

Club—Solbakken skied for Enderdal SPK for 17 years, NTG Lillehammer for two years and Team Hedmark Skikrets for two years. Her Enderdal teams won the Norwegian Championship every year from 2009 to 2013. She finished third in the Norwegian National Championships in the relay, forth in the 5K Classical race. She also has three other top 12 finishes at the Norwegian Championships.

High School—Solbakken graduated from NTG Lillehammer in 2012, and was the team’s captain her senior year. She also ran the 800-m, 1,500-m and 3,000-m until she was 16 and has a bronze medal from the Norwegian Championships in the 3,000-m for J16-17.

In the Classroom—Solbakken is planning to major in Sociology at Colorado and is also interested in International Affairs.

Personal—Maja Solbakken was born October 18, 1993, in Elverum, Norway, to Roald Andersen and May Britt Solbakken. She likes to sing and play the guitar and after college would like to have a good career, settle down and have a family. She has also bungee jumped from 160 meters. She loves to climb, has a passion for back country skiing and her ideal spring would be in a tent in the mountains. She loves to travel and is always looking for new adventures and challenges.