SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, March 9, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — The University of Utah fell just short in its bid for a fifth consecutive NCAA skiing championship, finishing two points behind Colorado on Saturday.
The Utes wrapped up the four-day NCAA Ski Championships in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, with 567.5 points, just behind the host Buffaloes’ 569.5 team total. Denver was a distant third with 491 points.
“It happens this way in sport sometimes,” said Fredrik Landstedt, Utah’s director of skiing. “We did our best, and everyone skied great. … Today, [Colorado] was just crushing it. They had probably their best day ever, but we still had an amazing day and came up just a little short. That happens sometimes.”
Utah senior Sydney Palmer-Leger finished third (1:02:41.8) in the women’s 20K classic Saturday to reach the podium for the second time during the championship meet. The Park City native won the women’s 7.5K freestyle (22:08.2) on Thursday.
Palmer-Ledger now has seven All-American nods in her collegiate career, including five first-team honors.
“As a team, we were really strong this week,” she said. “I’m really proud of the effort that our team put out there. Of course, we would have loved to win, but it was only two points.”
In the men’s classic Saturday, Utah sophomore Tom Mancini (56:21:1) and juniors Joe Davies (56:21.5) and Brian Bushey (56:22.9) finished sixth, seventh and eighth, respectively, to collect All-American second-team honors. It was the fifth All-American finish for Davies, second for Mancini and first for Bushey.
Utah held a 51-point advantage over Colorado entering Saturday’s races, but the Buffaloes placed all three of its skiers in the top nine of the women’s classic and took first and third in the men’s race to take over the team lead.
Utah grad student Mikkel Solbakken (1:44.78) and freshman Sindre Myklebust (1:44.85) finished first and second, respectively, in the men’s giant slalom, while senior Madison Hoffman (1:44.69) tied for second on the women’s side as the meet got underway Wednesday. Hoffman (1:25.56) also placed second Friday in the women’s slalom.
Davies (19:20.2) and Mancini (19:35.9) finished second and third, respectively, in the men’s freestyle Thursday, and Solbakken (1:19.92) was third in the men’s slalom Friday.
Utah finished the NCAA Championships with 13 All-American awards — third-most of all teams at the meet.
