Sophie Spalding

Position:
Nordic
Height:
5-6
Class:
Junior
Hometown:
Boulder, Colo.
High School:
Niwot
Prev School:
Boulder Junior Nordic

Honors

CU Academic Student-Athlete of the Month (October 2024)
Byron R. White Leadership & Initiative Award (2025)

At Colorado: Career—In two seasons, Spalding has finished all 21 races she’s started, out of a possible 23, and brought home five top 20 finishes, including four in classic races and one in freestyle action.

2025 (Sophomore)—Spalding showed steady improvement in her sophomore season after she missed the season opening races in Alaska, she finished the other 10 races leading up to the NCAA Championships with three top 20 performances, including her first in freestyle action. Returning from illness, she was at her best at the DU Invitational mid season when she picked up her career best finish in both disciplines, taking 12th in the 7.5K classic race and then 14th in the freestyle pursuit race the following day. She also had a strong showing at the RMISA Championships for the second straight season with an 18th place finish in the 7.5K Classic race there. She was named the CU Academic Student-Athlete of the Month and given the school’s Byron R. White Leadership and Initiative Award, as well.

2024 (Freshman)—Spalding had a solid freshman campaign during which she finished all 11 races leading up to the NCAA Championships and picked up two top 20 performances along the way. She cracked the top 20 for the first time in the final classic race of the regular season taking 19th at the DU Invitational, and then bettered that by five spots at the RMISA Championships, taking 14th place there in the 20K classic race. Her top freestyle race took place at the Colorado Invitational when she was 23rd in the 7.5K freestyle race at Howelsen Hill.

Prior To CU—Spalding skied for the Boulder Nordic Junior Racing Team for five years. She has skied in USSA sanctioned races since 2017 and has 32 top 20 performances in those races, which include the US Junior Championships, RMISA races as an individual competitor and other junior national qualifier races. She also compiled 18 top 10 and eight top five finishes including four podium appearances. Her podiums all came in the past two seasons, first taking a pair of second places at Snow Mountain Ranch and then Maloit Park in a JNQ races in 2022. In 2023, she took third at the CU Invitational in February 2023 and later in the month also took third at the Raoul Willie Memorial in Aspen. She also took 11th at the US National Championships at Michigan Tech in 2023 in the juniors race.

High School—Spalding graduated from Niwot High School in Niwot, Colo., in 2023.