Completed Event: Skiing versus 20K Freestyle (M) on March 8, 2025 , , 1st
Final Score
Skiing
1st
vs 20K Freestyle (M)
Skiing
Sweeney, Kevin
Kevin Sweeney
- Title:
- Director of Skiing
- Email:
- ksweeney@huntsman.utah.edu
- Phone:
- 801-581-3524
Kevin Sweeney is in his 14th season as Director of Skiing at Utah. In 13 seasons under Sweeney's direction, the Utes have experienced a great deal of national success, including two NCAA Championships.
Sweeney led the school to NCAA Championships in 2017 and 2003, and Utah has finished second at the NCAA meet four times under his leadership. Utah has won 19 individual national titles and 62 athletes have earned All-America honors. Martin Bergström (20-km freestyle and 10-km classical), Miles Havlick (20-km classical and 20-km freestyle), Maria Graefnings (5-km freestyle), Henning Dynendel (10-km free and 20-km classic) Katrin Smigun (5-km freestyle and 15-km classic) and Ben Thornhill (giant slalom) were all two-time national champions.
Utah won the NCAA West Regional/Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Skiing Association championship in 2016, 2014 and 2012 and finished as the runners up in 2011, 2013 and 2015. The Utes were awarded the RMISA regular-season title in 2011, 2012 and 2016.
Sweeney coached Olympians Torin Koos (2002, '06, '10, '14), Kristina Joder (2002), Rowena Bright (2002) and Luke Bodensteiner (1992, '94) during their time at Utah. In 2014, alpine skier Mark Engel became one of a handful of athletes to go from the collegiate ranks to the U.S. Ski Team after winning the 2014 NCAA men's giant slalom championship.
Sweeney spearheaded the completion of the Spence Eccles Ski Team Building, which opened in the spring of 2017. He was involved in all aspects of the project from concept to completion, including fundraising.
As the leader of a program that is so rich in tradition and vying for the NCAA title each year, Sweeney also emphasizes excellence in the classroom. The ski team is annually has one of the top grade point averages among all Utah teams. Endre Bjertness earned Academic All-America honors in 2016. Kristiina Rove was a 2015 Academic All-American and earned a Pac-12 Postgraduate Scholarship. The ski team won the athletic department's 2011-12 Utes Cup, an annual team-by-team competition that awards points for academic and athletic performance, personal development (including attending Life Skills events), community service, attendance at Crimson Games and SAAC/SAM participation.
Sweeney is in his eighth season of his second stint leading the program. His first stretch as the Director of Skiing ran from 2000-05. He is in his 23rd year overall at Utah after first being hired as an assistant Nordic coach in 1991. Sweeney was promoted to head Nordic coach in 1992 and helped lead Utah to NCAA Championships in 1993, 1996 and 1997, while Utah skiers won eight individual Nordic titles.
Sweeney is a four-time recipient of Utah’s prestigious Don Reddish Award (2003, 2011, 2013, 2017), which is presented annually to the coach of a sport other than football, men's and women's basketball and gymnastics who is deemed to have had the most successful season the previous year. Sweeney has chaired the NCAA Skiing Rules Committee and was a member of the United States Ski and Snowboard Association's Cross Country Skiing Committee. He was also an assistant on the U.S. Ski Team coaching staff at the World Championships in Ramsau, Austria.
Sweeney served as the National Director of Competition for Swix Sport USA from 2005 until returning to the U in 2010.
Sweeney skied collegiately at New Hampshire and represented the U.S. Ski Team in World Cup competition at Mountain Dell, Utah, and Biwabik, Minn. He graduated from UNH cum laude in 1985. Sweeney is married to Barbro Hatlevik and they have two daughters, Selma Simone and Leona Lee.
Sweeney led the school to NCAA Championships in 2017 and 2003, and Utah has finished second at the NCAA meet four times under his leadership. Utah has won 19 individual national titles and 62 athletes have earned All-America honors. Martin Bergström (20-km freestyle and 10-km classical), Miles Havlick (20-km classical and 20-km freestyle), Maria Graefnings (5-km freestyle), Henning Dynendel (10-km free and 20-km classic) Katrin Smigun (5-km freestyle and 15-km classic) and Ben Thornhill (giant slalom) were all two-time national champions.
Utah won the NCAA West Regional/Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Skiing Association championship in 2016, 2014 and 2012 and finished as the runners up in 2011, 2013 and 2015. The Utes were awarded the RMISA regular-season title in 2011, 2012 and 2016.
Sweeney coached Olympians Torin Koos (2002, '06, '10, '14), Kristina Joder (2002), Rowena Bright (2002) and Luke Bodensteiner (1992, '94) during their time at Utah. In 2014, alpine skier Mark Engel became one of a handful of athletes to go from the collegiate ranks to the U.S. Ski Team after winning the 2014 NCAA men's giant slalom championship.
Sweeney spearheaded the completion of the Spence Eccles Ski Team Building, which opened in the spring of 2017. He was involved in all aspects of the project from concept to completion, including fundraising.
As the leader of a program that is so rich in tradition and vying for the NCAA title each year, Sweeney also emphasizes excellence in the classroom. The ski team is annually has one of the top grade point averages among all Utah teams. Endre Bjertness earned Academic All-America honors in 2016. Kristiina Rove was a 2015 Academic All-American and earned a Pac-12 Postgraduate Scholarship. The ski team won the athletic department's 2011-12 Utes Cup, an annual team-by-team competition that awards points for academic and athletic performance, personal development (including attending Life Skills events), community service, attendance at Crimson Games and SAAC/SAM participation.
Sweeney is in his eighth season of his second stint leading the program. His first stretch as the Director of Skiing ran from 2000-05. He is in his 23rd year overall at Utah after first being hired as an assistant Nordic coach in 1991. Sweeney was promoted to head Nordic coach in 1992 and helped lead Utah to NCAA Championships in 1993, 1996 and 1997, while Utah skiers won eight individual Nordic titles.
Sweeney is a four-time recipient of Utah’s prestigious Don Reddish Award (2003, 2011, 2013, 2017), which is presented annually to the coach of a sport other than football, men's and women's basketball and gymnastics who is deemed to have had the most successful season the previous year. Sweeney has chaired the NCAA Skiing Rules Committee and was a member of the United States Ski and Snowboard Association's Cross Country Skiing Committee. He was also an assistant on the U.S. Ski Team coaching staff at the World Championships in Ramsau, Austria.
Sweeney served as the National Director of Competition for Swix Sport USA from 2005 until returning to the U in 2010.
Sweeney skied collegiately at New Hampshire and represented the U.S. Ski Team in World Cup competition at Mountain Dell, Utah, and Biwabik, Minn. He graduated from UNH cum laude in 1985. Sweeney is married to Barbro Hatlevik and they have two daughters, Selma Simone and Leona Lee.
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