Miles Havlick - Skiing Coach - University of Utah Athletics

Miles Havlick

Title:
Head Nordic Coach
Email:
miles.havlick@utah.edu
Phone:
801-554-5902

Two-time NCAA champion skier and Utah alumnus Miles Havlick enters his sixth season as the Utes’ head Nordic coach, joining director of skiing Fredrik Landstedt’s staff in August 2018.

Havlick, the three-time RMISA Nordic Coach of the Year (2021, ’22, ‘23) and two-time USCSCA National Nordic Coach of the Year (2021, ’22), was additionally tabbed Cross Country Development Coach of the Year by U.S. Ski & Snowboard in 2022.

He has been on staff for Utah’s run of four straight NCAA Championships (2019, ’21, ’22, ‘23), an unprecedented feat in the mixed-gender era of NCAA skiing. His Nordic athletes have recorded 36 NCAA All-America performances and seven NCAA individual championships, including all six women’s titles since 2021.

The 2023 edition of the Utes went undefeated and finished as the RMISA regular season champions, before claiming the NCAA crown two weeks later. Novie McCabe swept the women's 5K freestyle and 20K classic races, bringing McCabe to 19 individual wins in her Utah career. McCabe, Sophia Laukli and Sydney Palmer-Leger all finished top-five in the women’s 20K classic, solidifying the Utes’ 16^th team national championship all-time.

Samuel Hendry, Laukli (2), McCabe (2) and Palmer-Leger racked up an NCAA-leading six Nordic First Team All-America awards. A dominant Nordic season as a whole saw Utah finish with the most RMISA regular season points (1,474) in addition to men's only (762) and women's only (712) competition, plus the most Nordic points at the RMISA Championships (332.5). Luke Jager (classic) and McCabe (freestyle) each were named RMISA MVPs.

Havlick’s squad had another incredible year in 2022, capped alongside Utah's alpine crew with the NCAA championship. Along the way the Utes took first place in all but one RMISA regular season meet, before finishing atop the pack at the RMISA and NCAA Championships. It was a year in which the Utes won both the overall Nordic and women's Nordic RMISA regular season championships, tallying a near-200-point cushion in both standings. In the RMISA men's Nordic standings, Utah was second.

McCabe, later named the USCSCA Women’s Nordic Skier of the Year, was crowned NCAA individual national champion in the women’s 5K classic and Laukli triumphed in the women's 15K freestyle. Havlick also helped Hendry to a national runner-up finish in men’s 20K freestyle at NCAAs. By the time Utah raised the championship trophy, the Utes had amassed an NCAA-leading seven All-America performances on the Nordic side.

The Utes collected 13 individual Nordic wins on the year—most in the RMISA—including all 12 women's races. Palmer-Leger, the RMISA Most Valuable Skier (both women's classic and freestyle) tallied six victories, McCabe four and Laukli earned a pair of wins. On the men's side, Jager scored his first collegiate win in the men's 20K freestyle at the NCAA West Regional. The team's 33 Nordic podiums were the most in the RMISA and 20 more than the next-closest program. It included four women's sweeps.

Beyond the college circuit, Havlick’s athletes starred on the international stage as well. Jager, Laukli and McCabe all made their Olympics debut, highlighted by top-20 performances for Laukli and McCabe during the 2022 Winter Games. In addition, Palmer-Leger capped the year among the world's top junior women on the FIS distance points list.

It was a dominant campaign for the Utes in 2021, culminating with the program’s 14^th national championship. Utah won 13 of its 24 races that year, including 11 of 12 on the women's side while racking up 42 total podium appearances. Palmer-Leger, just a freshman at the time, took home National Nordic Skier of the Year laurels.

Palmer-Leger, McCabe and Julia Richter combined for 22 podium finishes in women’s competition, with Palmer-Leger winning four and Richter adding two victories to the total. The trio swept the top three spots in the classic race at the NCAA Championships, while three men were in the top-five that year en route to 211 out of a possible 222 points. The Utes’ men finished the season with 17 podiums, including nine for Hendry out of 10 races.

During a pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Hendry (2^nd; men’s 10k) and Guro Jordheim (3^rd; women’s 5k) finished on the freestyle podium at the NCAA Championships before the remainder of events were cancelled due to pandemic concerns. Utah led in the team standings at the time, and finished with three All-American performers on the Nordic side.

In helping lead Utah to the 2019 NCAA Championship in Havlick’s first season, the Utes were the top scoring team in three of the four Nordic races at NCAAs. Utah was particularly strong in the classic races on day three, scoring 93 points in the women's race and 81 in the men's to give Utah a 65.5-point lead going into the final day of the championships. Richter won the women's 5-km freestyle and five Nordic skiers combined for eight All-America honors at the championships. Richter was named the RMISA Female Nordic Athlete of the Year.

During his collegiate career with the Utes, Havlick claimed the 20K freestyle (2013) and the 20K classical (2012) titles. He was a seven-time All-American during his four-year career (2010-13). Havlick won seven races as a senior in 2013 and 13 total during his career, and finished third or better in 28 career races. He was a three-time Ski Racing Magazine Nordic Collegiate Skier of the Year and the two-time RMISA Men's Nordic MVP.

Havlick earned the 2013 Tom Hansen Conference Medal, awarded annually by the Pac-12 to each member institution's outstanding senior male and female student-athlete based on the exhibition of the greatest combination of performance and achievement in scholarship, athletics and leadership.

Following his Utah career, Havlick raced professionally with the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation Gold Team. He finished in the top 10 several times at the U.S. National Championships and competed regularly on the U.S. Super Tour and Alpen Cup. Havlick won a World Loppet 42-km freestyle marathon in Australia in August, 2017.

Havlick coached with the Birkebeiner Nordic Ski Club and Victorian Junior cross country ski team in Australia in 2017. He worked as an assistant coach and wax technician for the Australian Junior National Team at the World Junior Championships in January 2018 and was a wax technician for the Australian National Team in China in March 2018.

Havlick also periodically volunteered with the Utah Ski Team during his professional career, including as an assistant coach at the 2018 NCAA Championships.

A native of Boulder, Colorado, Havlick is a double alumnus of the U, earning a Bachelor’s in exercise physiology in 2013 and adding an MBA in August 2021.

He also earned a master’s degree from Norwegian University of Science and Technology in exercise physiology in 2018. Havlick’s thesis involved research surrounding the application and adaptations of altitude training in world-class cross country skiers, completed in cooperation with the Norwegian Olympic Training Centers.