Completed Event: Skiing versus 20K Freestyle (M) on March 8, 2025 , , 1st
Final Score
Skiing
1st
vs 20K Freestyle (M)
Thursday, February 22
Big Sky, MT
All Day
University of Utah
vs
Giant Slalom
Photo by: Hunter Dyke/Utah Athletics
Utes Outbound to Montana for GS Qualifier and RMISA Championships
2/21/2024 2:03 PM | Skiing
Meet doubles as the NCAA Western Regional, ahead of next month’s NCAA Championships
BIG SKY, Mont. and BOZEMAN, Mont. – Coming off an idle weekend, the Utah Ski Team returns to action with a trip to Montana for the RMISA Championships.
The meet, which also doubles as the NCAA Western Regional, runs from Friday through Sunday, Feb. 23-25. Alpine races on Friday and Saturday will take place in Big Sky, Montana, at Big Sky Resort; Nordic events will go forth in Bozeman, Montana, at Crosscut Mountain Sports Center.
Prior to the meet, alpine teams from across the RMISA will also take part in a giant slalom qualifier on Thursday at Big Sky. As with previous RMISA qualifiers, no team scores will be kept since Thursday's race is not part of a meet; rather, individual results will count toward NCAA Championships qualification.
The Basics
RMISA Qualifier Race (individual results only; no team scores kept)
RMISA Championships / NCAA Western Regional
Alpine races in Big Sky, Montana (Big Sky Resort) // Nordic races in Bozeman, Montana (Crosscut Mountain Sports Center)
Band's Back Together
The Utes anticipate having a majority of the team available this weekend after several members of the squad had the opportunity to compete on the World Cup, U-23 World Championship and World Junior Championship circuits throughout January and February.
Combined between alpine and Nordic, six current members of the Utah Ski Team raced at either the U-23 or World Junior Championships in Europe; it includes alpine's Jay Poulter and Nordic's Brian Bushey, Joe Davies, Walker Hall, Zachary Jayne and Nina Schamberger.
Six Utes have made at least one World Cup start this season, including the alpine duo of Madison Hoffman and Claire Timmermann. On the Nordic side, Brian Bushey, Joe Davies, Walker Hall and Sydney Palmer-Leger all have seen World Cup competition. Davies had a 16th-place finish in the Feb. 18 men's 10K freestyle in Minneapolis, finishing just 32.1 seconds behind the winner. Palmer-Leger also clocked a top-25 result in Canmore, Alberta, during the Feb. 9 women's 15K freestyle event.
The Regular Season Rundown
With the regular season wrapping up, the Utes placed third in the RMISA team standings in what was the tightest finish since a regular season champion was first crowned in 2006. Utah totaled 2,371.5 points across the four meets, just 10 points behind Colorado (2,381.5). Denver finished second with 2,375 points.
Illustrating just how close the top-three panned out, the 10-point separation among Colorado, Denver and Utah comes after the RMISA's top-three regular season teams averaged 579.6 points separation from 2019-23.
Numbers to Know
Next Up
From here, the Utes turn their focus to the NCAA Championships which run from March 6-9 in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Utah's lineup of NCAA qualifiers will be announced in the coming days.
Utah has won 16 national championships all-time, including four consecutive NCAA titles.
Follow the Utah Ski Team
Follow the Utes on social media (@utahskiteam).
The meet, which also doubles as the NCAA Western Regional, runs from Friday through Sunday, Feb. 23-25. Alpine races on Friday and Saturday will take place in Big Sky, Montana, at Big Sky Resort; Nordic events will go forth in Bozeman, Montana, at Crosscut Mountain Sports Center.
Prior to the meet, alpine teams from across the RMISA will also take part in a giant slalom qualifier on Thursday at Big Sky. As with previous RMISA qualifiers, no team scores will be kept since Thursday's race is not part of a meet; rather, individual results will count toward NCAA Championships qualification.
The Basics
RMISA Qualifier Race (individual results only; no team scores kept)
- Thursday, February 22 – Giant Slalom – Big Sky, Montana (Big Sky Resort)
RMISA Championships / NCAA Western Regional
Alpine races in Big Sky, Montana (Big Sky Resort) // Nordic races in Bozeman, Montana (Crosscut Mountain Sports Center)
- Friday, February 23 – Giant Slalom
- Saturday, February 24 – Slalom
- Saturday, February 24 – 7.5K Freestyle
- Sunday, February 25 – 20K Classic
Band's Back Together
The Utes anticipate having a majority of the team available this weekend after several members of the squad had the opportunity to compete on the World Cup, U-23 World Championship and World Junior Championship circuits throughout January and February.
Combined between alpine and Nordic, six current members of the Utah Ski Team raced at either the U-23 or World Junior Championships in Europe; it includes alpine's Jay Poulter and Nordic's Brian Bushey, Joe Davies, Walker Hall, Zachary Jayne and Nina Schamberger.
Six Utes have made at least one World Cup start this season, including the alpine duo of Madison Hoffman and Claire Timmermann. On the Nordic side, Brian Bushey, Joe Davies, Walker Hall and Sydney Palmer-Leger all have seen World Cup competition. Davies had a 16th-place finish in the Feb. 18 men's 10K freestyle in Minneapolis, finishing just 32.1 seconds behind the winner. Palmer-Leger also clocked a top-25 result in Canmore, Alberta, during the Feb. 9 women's 15K freestyle event.
The Regular Season Rundown
With the regular season wrapping up, the Utes placed third in the RMISA team standings in what was the tightest finish since a regular season champion was first crowned in 2006. Utah totaled 2,371.5 points across the four meets, just 10 points behind Colorado (2,381.5). Denver finished second with 2,375 points.
Illustrating just how close the top-three panned out, the 10-point separation among Colorado, Denver and Utah comes after the RMISA's top-three regular season teams averaged 579.6 points separation from 2019-23.
Numbers to Know
- 29 – total individual podiums for the Utes this season, leading the RMISA. Both Utah's 13 alpine and 16 Nordic podiums are also conference-bests this year.
- 11 – Utah's RMISA-leading individual race victories in 2024. It was highlighted in part by Kaja Norbye's gold in slalom both at the Utah Invitational (Jan. 18) and Denver Invitational (Feb. 6), while Karianne Dengerud had a pair of wins at Soldier Hollow during the Westminster Invitational freestyle sprints (Jan. 4) and RMISA qualifier classic sprints (Jan. 7).
- 4 – RMISA Championship meets won by the Utes under director of skiing Fredrik Landstedt. Utah won the RMISA Championship/NCAA Western Regional in 2019 and each year from '21 through '23, while finishing as the runner-up in 2020 and only 10 points behind Denver.
- 329 – miles from the Spence Eccles Ski Team Building to Steamboat Springs, Colorado, where Utah will race at the NCAA Championships from March 6-9.
Next Up
From here, the Utes turn their focus to the NCAA Championships which run from March 6-9 in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Utah's lineup of NCAA qualifiers will be announced in the coming days.
Utah has won 16 national championships all-time, including four consecutive NCAA titles.
Follow the Utah Ski Team
Follow the Utes on social media (@utahskiteam).
Players Mentioned
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