Weronika Kaleta

Photo by: Getty Images

Photo by: NCAA Photos via Getty Images

Position:
Nordic
Height:
5-7
Class:
Senior
Hometown:
Kasina Wielka, Poland
High School:
Szkola Mistrozostwa Sportowego w Zakopanem
Prev School:
Polish National Team

Olympian (2022 Beijing)
World Univeristy Games Participant (2023 Lake Placid)
Five-Time Second-Team All-American (2021 FS, 2022 CL, 2023 FS, 2023 CL, 2024 CL)
Two-Time Second-Team All-RMISA (2023, '24)
Four-Time NCAA Championship Qualifier (2021, ‘22, ‘23, '24)
Four-Time CU Athlete of the Week (Jan. 2, 2022, Jan. 8, 2023; Jan. 7, 2024; March 11, 2024)
Outstanding Nordic Woman Award (2021)
Lucie Hanusova Award (2023)
Four-Time Letterwinner (2021, ‘22, ‘23, '24)

At Colorado: Career—Kaleta put together a solid career during which she finished 35 of the 37 races she started in her four-year career and finished in the top 20 all but two times, 33 in total. She also had 28 career top 10 finishes and 10 career top five finishes that included four podium appearances. She picked up five All-America honors, at least one in each of her four appearances at the NCAA Championships, her final race being among the most important as her final All-America honor helped the Buffs come back from the second-largest final day deficit in NCAA history to win the team championship by the closest margin under the current scoring system.

2024 (Senior)—Kaleta put a solid cap to her career by finishing all 12 races she started out of a possible 13 throughout the season and placing in the top 10 in all but one race throughout the season. She had four top 5 finishes that included one podium appearance, which came in the classic sprint race with results taken from the US National Championships as an RMISA Qualifier race. She had a steady season with 10 straight top 10 finishes leading up to the NCAA Championships. After a disappointing first race there for the entire Nordic team, the Buffs began a stampede toward a comeback championship and her ninth place finish in her final college race, the 20K classic race at Howelsen Hill, was integral in the Buffs coming back from the second-largest final-day deficit in NCAA history to win by the closest margin under the current scoring format. She picked up second-team All-America honors for that ninth place finish and she was also named second-team All-RMISA and picked up CU Athlete of the Week honors multiple times.

2023 (Junior)—Kaleta had another busy season mixing college skiing with skiing in internationally for Poland, but she successfully navigated both and had another solid season. She took part in the US National Championships which were extra qualifiers for RMISA Skiers to open the season and then had her best performance at the CU Invitational, taking third in the 20K classic races and fourth in the 5K freestyle race. She then was sick for the DU Invitational and missed the two meets in Alaska before returning for the NCAA Championships, where she put together a pair of ninth place finishes to earn her third and fourth All-America honors for the Buffaloes. She was named second-team All-RMISA and CU Athlete of the Week for her performance at the US Nationals in January. She won the team’s Lucie Hanusova Award and also participated in the World University Games in Lake Placid in January.

2022 (Sophomore)—Kaleta had an extremely busy season in which she skied in World Cup races in December before reporting back to the Buffs in Boulder, skied in four races to qualify for the NCAA Championships, then went back to Europe to prepare and compete in the Winter Olympic Games. She remained in Europe to take part in the U23 World Championships, returned to the US to compete at the NCAA Championships and had one final trip to compete in the Canadian National Championships in late March. In her collegiate races, she got off to a solid start by finishing fourth in the freestyle sprint races among collegians at the U.S. National Championships, which doubled as the Utah Invitational. She was 11th in the 10K classic race and then third in the classic sprints. She traveled with the Buffs to Montana to take part in the 5K freestyle race, taking 19th, before immediately boarding a flight to Europe to meet up with her Polish National Team. She returned after the Olympics and U23 World Championships to ski at the NCAA Championships, where she took 10th in the freestyle race to earn second-team All-America honors, and 22nd in the classic race. Prior to the college season, she was in Europe taking part in World Cup races in Davos, Switzerland and Dresden, Germany. At the Winter Olympics, she finished 50th in the freestyle sprints and her 4x5K relay team finished 14th. At the U23 World Championships, she finished 18th in the freestyle sprints and 21st in the 10K Classic race. To close out her season, she finished 14th at the Canadian National Championships in the 42K freestyle race.

2021 (Freshman)—Kaleta earned second-team All-America honors and was named CU’s Outstanding Nordic Woman after a solid freshman season during which she quickly established herself as a podium candidate and consistent top 10 threat on the college racing scene. She finished 11 of 12 races all in the top 16 with seven top 10 finishes and one top five, which was a podium appearance in third place at the the freestyle sprint race at the CU’s Spencer James Nelson Memorial Invitational, a race she was favored to win and likely would have if not for a fall at the start of the finals heat. Of her eight top 10s, five were freestyle races and three classic. She opened her career with a ninth place freestyle and 12th place classic finish at the RMISA Invitational at Utah, and then improved to ninth place in the freestyle and 10th in the classic at the DU Invitational. That trend continued at the CU Invitational where she took third in the freestyle sprints and ninth in the classic race. She didn’t finish the freestyle race at the RMISA Invitational at Soldier Hollow, and then took 16th in the classic and 10th in the freestyle race at the RMISA Championships. At the NCAA Championships, her All-America honor was in the freestyle race where she took seventh place, and she was also 13th in the classic race, just missing out on another All-America honor.

Prior To CU—Kaleta has skied for LKS Markam Wisniowa-Osieczany for the past six years and is a member of the Polish National Team. Since 2016, she has 71 total top 30 finishes in FIS sanctioned races, with 31 top 10 and 10 podiums to her credit, which include eight third place finishes with one win and one runner-up performance. Her win was at Strbske Pleso in a 1.4K freestyle sprint qualifier in a Slavic Cup race. She has five World Cup starts to her credit and six Stage World Cup starts. In 2020, she finished 49th in the sprint freestyle final at Dresden and at Nove Mesto, she was 55th in the 10K freestyle. She skied at the 2019 World Championships, taking 46th in the freestyle sprint final, 49th in the skiathlon and 57th in the 10K classic. She took third place in the classic sprint at the 2019 Austrian National Championships in Seefeld. At the U23 World Championships in 2020, she was 11th in the sprint freestyle, 32nd in the 15K freestyle and 42nd in the 10K classic. She also skied in at World University Games in 2019, taking seventh in the freestyle sprint, 15th in the 15K freestyle and 20th in the 5K classic races. She has skied in the Slavic Cup since 2016 in her only appearance in 2020, she was third in both the freestyle sprint and 10K classic races.

High School—She graduated from SMS Zakopane in Zakopane, Malopolskie, Poland, in 2018.

In The Classroom—She graduated from Colorado in 2024 with a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology.

Personal—Weronika Kaleta was born June 21, 1999, in Limanowa, Poland. Her parents are Dorota and Zbigniew Kaleta. She has five siblings, three brothers, Pawel, Maciek and Poitr, and two sisters, Karolina and Agnieszka. Karolina is also on the Polish National Team and a member of the CU Ski Team. She considers cross country skiing her main hobby and lifestyle.

Why Colorado?—”I chose the University of Colorado because they have great conditions for both sport and scientific development.”