Utah Wins 2022 RMISA Championships

Saturday, February 26

Steamboat Springs, Colo.

All Day

University of Utah

15/20K Freestyle

2/26/2022 3:28 PM | Skiing

Nordic Freestyle Results Parallel Slalom Exhibition Results

Jager and McCabe earn Nordic freestyle wins on final day of racing

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. - The Utah ski team clinched the 2022 RMISA Championships on Saturday as racing concluded with 15/20K Nordic freestyle events at Howelsen Hill. Utah had individual wins in both the women's 15K and men's 20K events, going to Novie McCabe and Luke Jager, respectively, with Jager's triumph the first of his collegiate career.

McCabe picked up a win for the second straight day, having also taken the top spot in yesterday's classical competition. It was the second time in her career that McCabe had wins in both Nordic disciplines in the same meet—the last coming during the 2021 RMISA Invitational.

Two more Utes hit the podium Saturday, including Sophia Laukli (silver in 15K) and Bjørn Riksaasen (bronze in 20K).

In the team standings Utah amassed 690 points throughout the championships, finishing 120 points ahead of Denver which tabbed second.

"It was an awesome race by the entire group today," said director of skiing Fredrik Landstedt. "Novie and Sophia are just in a class of their own. Julia had her best long skate race of her collegiate career and Ezra Smith had her best race as a Ute. Karianne Dengerud also came back well after feeling a little down yesterday. Luke and Bjørn both skied really smart, and had their best collegiate races."

It was another particularly impressive race day for the trio of Jager, Laukli and McCabe, all of whom have recently returned from competing at the Winter Olympics.

A day after Utah swept the women's podium in classical racing, the Utes took the top two spots in McCabe and Laukli, then had three more skiers in the top-10, including Julia Richter (fifth), Ezra Smith (ninth) and Karianne Dengerud (10^th).

Said Jager of the championships, "This weekend was really fun. Just getting back from China, I didn't really know what to expect from my body. Thankfully, the altitude over there prepared us well for this weekend and we had super good skis. I was super happy to ski onto the podium yesterday and really happy to finally get a college win today! It was awesome to have all of our great alpine teammates and coaches out there cheering too. Thanks to our coaches for working so hard for us. GO UTES!"

It was the fifth career podium for Riksaasen and first of this season, his last coming during the 2021 RMISA Invitational.

All four of Laukli's finishes at Utah have seen her ski to the podium. Richter was top-five for the fifth time this season, Smith had her best finish as a Ute and Dengerud had her sixth-straight top-10.

Also taking place today was an alpine parallel slalom competition, which was held as an exhibition outside of the RMISA Championships. Jeremy Mathers powered through the exhibition to victory on the men's side, and Sona Moravcikova was the leading Ute with a fourth-place finish in the women's parallel slalom.

Gustav Vøllo battled through to the small final before finishing fourth on the men's side. Michelle Kervén also competed in the women's parallel slalom and finished ninth.

Utah now zeroes in on the 2022 NCAA Championships, which will be hosted by the Utes. Giant slalom racing begins the championship slate at Park City Mountain Resort on Wednesday, March 9, and continues with slalom on Friday, March 11. Nordic races will take place at Soldier Hollow on Thursday, March 10 (5/10K classical) and Saturday, March 12 (15/20K freestyle).

Selections for the NCAA Championships will be announced in the coming days.

Follow the Utah ski team on social media (@utahskiteam).