Completed Event: Skiing versus 20K Freestyle (M) on March 8, 2025 , , 1st
Final Score
Skiing
1st
vs 20K Freestyle (M)
Thursday, March 6
Hanover, N.H. / Oak Hill
8 a.m. MT
University of Utah
vs
7.5K Classic (I)
Erica Lavén and Celine Mayer after the women's 7.5K classic, with alpine teammates on-hand to support.
Photo by: Eli Rehmer/Utah Athletics
Lavén Wins 7.5K Classic Individual Title at NCAA Championships
3/6/2025 2:13 PM | Skiing
Utah remains in third place but closes gap in team standings at halfway point
HANOVER, N.H. – Erica Lavén of the Utah Ski Team had a cushion of more than 11 seconds to win the 7.5K classic women's individual championship as the Utes raced interval start events on Thursday as part of the 2025 NCAA Ski Championships at Oak Hill.
Utah remains in third place in the team standings at the halfway point of NCAAs, tallying 257 points through two days of racing. Host Dartmouth pulled into the lead (267.5) and Colorado is now in second place (262). It now puts Utah 10.5 points back from the top spot; the team made up significant ground today after entering 61 points back.
Including Lavén, five of the six skiers in the Utah lineup today earned All-American honors. All three men placed in the top-eight—led by third-place finisher Joe Davies—while everyone in the women's lineup were in the top-14.
Making her first NCAA Championships start, Laven's victory in the women's 7.5K classic marked the 87th individual championship won by a Utah skier in recorded program history and 35th on the women's side. A Utah skier has won at least one women's Nordic individual championship in five straight seasons.
Director of skiing Fredrik Landstedt said, "It feels great; we needed to come back after yesterday as we were a little bit down. But it swings fast in skiing. The points can go either way back and forth really quickly. We came here very excited to do well today. Today was probably one of our best days that I've seen in my years at Utah."
Athletes throughout the field were faced with warmer conditions as temperatures held steady in the 40s throughout the races. Clouds covered the Oak Hill course at the start of the morning, but the Sun came out as athletes cruised through the final lap of the women's race and while the men were getting ready to compete.
Women's Race
Despite the entire Utah lineup making their NCAA Championships debut, the Utes were unfazed by the moment as two athletes finished in the top-five and all three were in the top-14. It gave the team 86 points in the women's classic, ranking second in the field behind only host Dartmouth (88).
Starting in the 34th position, individual NCAA champion Erica Lavén clocked a winning time of 23:43.3 and had a lead of 11.1 seconds on runner-up Annie McColgan of Vermont. Celine Mayer (24:38.7) was fifth to give Utah a pair of All-American first-team honors, while Selma Nevin took 14th for Utah (25:17.6).
"I felt like I opened at my own pace and didn't want to open too hard," Lavén said. "I feel like I did not (open too hard). That was my goal for today. I just kept on going and heard everyone from the team cheering on. I was pushing as hard as I could. It helped a lot to have the alpine team out here cheering."
Lavén led at each of the splits on course, quickly building her 11-second pad after the first lap. She got as much as 15 seconds cushion on McColgan after the second lap. She now has eight wins this season and all 12 of her starts have netted a podium result.
Mayer was seventh after the opening 2.5K of the race but climbed up into the top-five after her second lap and remained there the rest of the way.
Nevin placed 15th at the first split and kept trucking right along to score key points with a 14th-place finish.
Men's Race
The Utes men's lineup had a change early this week as Walker Hall was unable to race due to illness; he was substituted by Zachary Jayne.
Joe Davies was third (21:19.5) with Brian Bushey placing sixth (22:02.8) and Jayne rounding out the Utah lineup in eighth place (22:12.5). Each were tabbed All-Americans as Davies earned first-team with Bushey and Jayne both receiving second-team nods.
Davies was fourth at the first split, climbing into third place after two laps. He battled with John Steel Hagenbuch of Dartmouth and Vermont's Finn Sweet, but nobody could catch Hagenbuch—last year's individual champion in freestyle.
It was a top-five first lap for Bushey and he remained in fifth place at the 5K split, before placing sixth in the final results.
Jayne came into the final lap 10th in the field but had a top-five time for the final lap, using that mark to climb two spots in the overall results to eighth.
Next Up | NCAA Championship Central
Teams will return to the Dartmouth Skiway on Friday for giant slalom races. Events are slated to begin at 7 a.m. MT with the women's first run.
Official Mobile App of Utah Athletics – Utah 360
The official mobile app of Utah Athletics is Utah 360. Download it today for access to news and information, schedules, rosters, stats and behind-the-scenes videos directly from your mobile device. The app is available in both the Apple Store (download) and Google Play (download). Add it today, access your game tickets and download them to your smartphone's wallet to make yourself game-day ready!
Utah remains in third place in the team standings at the halfway point of NCAAs, tallying 257 points through two days of racing. Host Dartmouth pulled into the lead (267.5) and Colorado is now in second place (262). It now puts Utah 10.5 points back from the top spot; the team made up significant ground today after entering 61 points back.
Including Lavén, five of the six skiers in the Utah lineup today earned All-American honors. All three men placed in the top-eight—led by third-place finisher Joe Davies—while everyone in the women's lineup were in the top-14.
Making her first NCAA Championships start, Laven's victory in the women's 7.5K classic marked the 87th individual championship won by a Utah skier in recorded program history and 35th on the women's side. A Utah skier has won at least one women's Nordic individual championship in five straight seasons.
Director of skiing Fredrik Landstedt said, "It feels great; we needed to come back after yesterday as we were a little bit down. But it swings fast in skiing. The points can go either way back and forth really quickly. We came here very excited to do well today. Today was probably one of our best days that I've seen in my years at Utah."
Athletes throughout the field were faced with warmer conditions as temperatures held steady in the 40s throughout the races. Clouds covered the Oak Hill course at the start of the morning, but the Sun came out as athletes cruised through the final lap of the women's race and while the men were getting ready to compete.
Women's Race
Despite the entire Utah lineup making their NCAA Championships debut, the Utes were unfazed by the moment as two athletes finished in the top-five and all three were in the top-14. It gave the team 86 points in the women's classic, ranking second in the field behind only host Dartmouth (88).
Starting in the 34th position, individual NCAA champion Erica Lavén clocked a winning time of 23:43.3 and had a lead of 11.1 seconds on runner-up Annie McColgan of Vermont. Celine Mayer (24:38.7) was fifth to give Utah a pair of All-American first-team honors, while Selma Nevin took 14th for Utah (25:17.6).
"I felt like I opened at my own pace and didn't want to open too hard," Lavén said. "I feel like I did not (open too hard). That was my goal for today. I just kept on going and heard everyone from the team cheering on. I was pushing as hard as I could. It helped a lot to have the alpine team out here cheering."
Lavén led at each of the splits on course, quickly building her 11-second pad after the first lap. She got as much as 15 seconds cushion on McColgan after the second lap. She now has eight wins this season and all 12 of her starts have netted a podium result.
Mayer was seventh after the opening 2.5K of the race but climbed up into the top-five after her second lap and remained there the rest of the way.
Nevin placed 15th at the first split and kept trucking right along to score key points with a 14th-place finish.
Men's Race
The Utes men's lineup had a change early this week as Walker Hall was unable to race due to illness; he was substituted by Zachary Jayne.
Joe Davies was third (21:19.5) with Brian Bushey placing sixth (22:02.8) and Jayne rounding out the Utah lineup in eighth place (22:12.5). Each were tabbed All-Americans as Davies earned first-team with Bushey and Jayne both receiving second-team nods.
Davies was fourth at the first split, climbing into third place after two laps. He battled with John Steel Hagenbuch of Dartmouth and Vermont's Finn Sweet, but nobody could catch Hagenbuch—last year's individual champion in freestyle.
It was a top-five first lap for Bushey and he remained in fifth place at the 5K split, before placing sixth in the final results.
Jayne came into the final lap 10th in the field but had a top-five time for the final lap, using that mark to climb two spots in the overall results to eighth.
Next Up | NCAA Championship Central
Teams will return to the Dartmouth Skiway on Friday for giant slalom races. Events are slated to begin at 7 a.m. MT with the women's first run.
Official Mobile App of Utah Athletics – Utah 360
The official mobile app of Utah Athletics is Utah 360. Download it today for access to news and information, schedules, rosters, stats and behind-the-scenes videos directly from your mobile device. The app is available in both the Apple Store (download) and Google Play (download). Add it today, access your game tickets and download them to your smartphone's wallet to make yourself game-day ready!
Players Mentioned
Nordic
/ Skiing
Nordic
/ Skiing
Nordic
/ Skiing
Nordic
/ Skiing
Nordic
/ Skiing
Nordic
/ Skiing
Nordic
/ SkiingSeven New Inductees to Join Utah Athletics Hall of Fame in October 2025
Monday, July 28
University of Utah Athletics - A Storied History
Friday, August 02
Last weekend, Sydney Palmer-Leger won the 7.5K freestyle earning her THIRD national title! 🏆 🏆 🏆
Wednesday, March 13
Utah Skiing National Championship 2023!!
Friday, May 26