Johnson, Niess Sweep RMISA Coach of the Year Laurels

JJ Johnson and Pierre Niess - RMISA COY Awards

Photo by: Eli Rehmer/Utah Athletics

Johnson, Niess Sweep RMISA Coach of the Year Laurels

4/29/2025 2:00 PM | Skiing

Utah pair helped the Utes to the program’s 17th national championship this past season

SALT LAKE CITY – Utah Ski Team head alpine coach JJ Johnson and head Nordic coach Pierre Niess have been named RMISA Coach of the Year in their respective disciplines, the conference announced on Tuesday.

Johnson has now taken home the alpine honor for three straight seasons and five overall (2019, '20, '23, '24, '25) while Niess snagged the Nordic recognition to cap off his first year of coaching at the collegiate level.

Utah is coming off its 17^th national championship victory this past March and fourth in the last five seasons. Thanks in part to the mentorship of Johnson and Niess, the Utes had three individual title winners and an NCAA-leading 17 All-Americans. In addition, the program won its 10^th RMISA regular season crown as well as a West Regional championship.

Johnson and assistant alpine coach Mary Joyce helped Utah finish atop the alpine-only regular season standings with 1,325.5 points. Ten members of the team earned All-RMISA. The Utes racked up 22 alpine podiums, capped off by an NCAA crown in men's giant slalom for freshman Johs Braathen Herland.

Herland, also named the RMISA MVP in men's GS, started all 14 races for Utah with top-10 results in all but two events. He was ninth or better in each of his GS starts.

On the women's alpine side, Utah won the women's giant slalom (as a team) at NCAAs and had both Kaja Norbye and Claire Timmermann in the top-six of the event. Norbye also finished top-10 in 10 of her final 11 starts, tabbing third in the RMISA MVP standings for slalom and second for GS.

Johnson also helped bring in a pair of key graduate transfers in Simen Strand and Evelina Fredricsson. Strand earned a pair of All-American awards during the NCAA Championships, while Fredricsson contributed five top-10 finishes to help the Utes to the RMISA regular season title.

Niess came to the Utah Ski Team following a successful run as the program director and head coach for the Plain Valley Nordic Team in Washington. Upon his arrival in Salt Lake City, Niess and director of skiing Fredrik Landstedt helped the Utes finish just 3.5 points off the RMISA Nordic regular season title—despite missing about half the team at various points due to international racing.

Erica Lavén had a highly-decorated freshman season, skiing to the podium in each of her 13 starts. The NCAA champion in the women's 7.5K classic also earned All-America First-Team in the 20K freestyle, RMISA MVP in both women's classic and freestyle, All-RMISA First-Team and was an individual regional champ in 20K freestyle.

Niess also helped Celine Mayer enjoy a nice comeback season after being limited in 2024. Mayer was a First-Team All-American in 7.5K classic and individual regional champion in the same discipline.

For the men, the senior trio of Brian Bushey, Joe Davies and Walker Hall combined for 22 starts with 12 podiums and three victories. Davies returned from Norway just prior to the NCAA Championships and placed third in the 7.5K classic, before taking a commanding win two days later in the 20K classic mass start.

Altogether, Niess coached seven All-RMISA selections, including men's 7.5K classic regional champion Zachary Jayne.

Follow the Utah Ski Team
Follow @utahskiteam on social media.