Completed Event: Skiing versus 20K Freestyle (M) on March 14, 2026 , , 1st
Final Score
Skiing
1st
vs 20K Freestyle (M)
The University of Utah Athletics
U.S. Cross Country Ski Team Selects Five Utes for FIS World Championships
2/11/2023 9:30 AM | Skiing
Competition begins on February 22 in Planica, Slovenia
Photos courtesy Steve Fuller / @flyingpoint
PARK CITY, Utah and PLANICA, Slovenia – Sophia Laukli and Sydney Palmer-Leger of the Utah Ski Team, along with alumnus Kevin Bolger, have been selected among the 18-athlete U.S. Ski Team roster for the 2023 FIS Cross Country World Ski Championships. The championships are slated for February 22 through March 6 in Planica, Slovenia.
Current Utes Luke Jager and Novie McCabe were also selected to Team USA, but respectfully declined their spots in order to focus on collegiate racing and preparation for the 2023 NCAA Championships. All told, five of the 18 athletes have a connection to the Utah Ski Team, with four currently on the active Utes roster.
All events in Slovenia will stream live on the skiandsnowboard.live platform, with live commentary from five-time Winter Olympian Kikkan Randall and Chad Samela. A full schedule of competition is available in the U.S. Ski Team's release.
Laukli, a 2022 United States Olympian and NCAA individual champion in the women's 15K freestyle, entered this weekend's Denver Invitational with eight starts as a Ute. All eight have netted podium finishes for Laukli, including two wins. The two-time All-American with the Utes also received the Nordic team's Toril Forland Award in 2022, presented each year to the program's most outstanding female skier. The native of Yarmouth, Maine, joined Utah ahead of the '22 season after beginning her collegiate career at Middlebury College in Vermont.
In one of several memorable moments of last year's NCAA championship meet, Laukli had a big enough lead entering the final turn of the freestyle race that she was given a Utah flag while still on course, and skied into the finish waving the flag.
Palmer-Leger, who hails from nearby Park City, Utah, is a four-time NCAA All-American and was named National Women's Nordic Skier of the Year as a freshman in 2021. During her rookie collegiate season in '21, she swept the women's individual NCAA Championships, winning both the 5K classic and 15K freestyle events—the latter by 24 seconds—as Utah won what was then its 14th national championship in program history.
Her 2021 double-victory at NCAAs made Palmer-Leger the first Ute to accomplish that feat since Martin Bergstrom in 2017, and first woman since Katrin Smigun in 2003. In 24 career RMISA starts for Palmer-Leger, she owns 18 podiums and 10 wins. She earned six victories in 2022, garnering RMISA Most Valuable Skier.
Bolger, a two-time NCAA All-American with the Utes, skied with the program from 2014-17 and was named RMISA MVP in his final season. The Minocqua, Wisconsin, product has been with the U.S. Ski Team since 2020 and represented the United States at the 2022 Winter Olympics, in part alongside Jager, Laukli and McCabe. He is a three-time U.S. Supertour Champion.
Follow the Utah Ski Team on social media @utahskiteam.
PARK CITY, Utah and PLANICA, Slovenia – Sophia Laukli and Sydney Palmer-Leger of the Utah Ski Team, along with alumnus Kevin Bolger, have been selected among the 18-athlete U.S. Ski Team roster for the 2023 FIS Cross Country World Ski Championships. The championships are slated for February 22 through March 6 in Planica, Slovenia.
Current Utes Luke Jager and Novie McCabe were also selected to Team USA, but respectfully declined their spots in order to focus on collegiate racing and preparation for the 2023 NCAA Championships. All told, five of the 18 athletes have a connection to the Utah Ski Team, with four currently on the active Utes roster.
All events in Slovenia will stream live on the skiandsnowboard.live platform, with live commentary from five-time Winter Olympian Kikkan Randall and Chad Samela. A full schedule of competition is available in the U.S. Ski Team's release.
Laukli, a 2022 United States Olympian and NCAA individual champion in the women's 15K freestyle, entered this weekend's Denver Invitational with eight starts as a Ute. All eight have netted podium finishes for Laukli, including two wins. The two-time All-American with the Utes also received the Nordic team's Toril Forland Award in 2022, presented each year to the program's most outstanding female skier. The native of Yarmouth, Maine, joined Utah ahead of the '22 season after beginning her collegiate career at Middlebury College in Vermont.
In one of several memorable moments of last year's NCAA championship meet, Laukli had a big enough lead entering the final turn of the freestyle race that she was given a Utah flag while still on course, and skied into the finish waving the flag.
Palmer-Leger, who hails from nearby Park City, Utah, is a four-time NCAA All-American and was named National Women's Nordic Skier of the Year as a freshman in 2021. During her rookie collegiate season in '21, she swept the women's individual NCAA Championships, winning both the 5K classic and 15K freestyle events—the latter by 24 seconds—as Utah won what was then its 14th national championship in program history.
Her 2021 double-victory at NCAAs made Palmer-Leger the first Ute to accomplish that feat since Martin Bergstrom in 2017, and first woman since Katrin Smigun in 2003. In 24 career RMISA starts for Palmer-Leger, she owns 18 podiums and 10 wins. She earned six victories in 2022, garnering RMISA Most Valuable Skier.
Bolger, a two-time NCAA All-American with the Utes, skied with the program from 2014-17 and was named RMISA MVP in his final season. The Minocqua, Wisconsin, product has been with the U.S. Ski Team since 2020 and represented the United States at the 2022 Winter Olympics, in part alongside Jager, Laukli and McCabe. He is a three-time U.S. Supertour Champion.
Follow the Utah Ski Team on social media @utahskiteam.
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