Newcomer Rene Reisshauer (Oberhof, Germany) won the men's 20K Freestyle race with a time of 55:57.3 to help the University of Denver Ski Team win its 18th NCAA Skiing Championship with 622.5 points today at Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, Vt. Host Vermont came in second with 575 points and Utah finished third with 545 points. Denver ends the season with a perfect record capturing all five invitationals and the national championship.
"Overall, I am thrilled with the way this team performed not only this week, but throughout the season," said Director of Skiing Operations Kurt Smitz. " The alpine conditions weren't ideal, but we fought through it and our team came together at the Nordic races to end a great season."
The Pioneer men captured the 20K Freestyle title with 100 points to sweep the Nordic events. Reisshauer capped off a stellar season with his second NCAA individual title by edging rival Erling Christiansen of Colorado by 10.7 seconds. Freshman John Stene (Trondheim, Norway) earned his second All-America honors in sixth place with a time of 57:00.3 and 34 points, while Haavard Selseng (Sogndal, Norway) placed 11th with a time of 58:14.2 just shy of All-America honors.
Newcomer Bodil Ryste (Trondheim, Norway) was the highest placing Pioneer woman in 14th place with a time of 48:28.2 to help Denver to a sixth-place finish with 61 points behind New Mexico (94), Alaska Anchorage (88), Utah (78), Northern Michigan (68) and Colorado (64). Alaska Anchorage's Mandy Kaempf won her second NCAA Nordic title with a time of 46:18.8. Senior Tara Hamilton (Anchorage, Alaska.) finished in 17th place with a time of 48:51.8 and 23 points, and Julia Swieder (Oberhof, Germany) rounded it out for the Denver and finished 28th with a time of 50:15.8 to earn 12 points.
The Pioneers finished the season with two individual NCAA titles, both won by Reisshauer, and Florence Roujas (Embrum, France), Pia Rivelsrud (Aalesund, Norway), Dominik Schweiger (Wangle, Austria), Hamilton, Stene and Selseng all earning All-America honors.
For complete results please visit the NCAA Skiing homepage at www.ncaasports.com.
NCAA Championship Team Scores - 1. Denver 622.5; 2. Vermont 575; 3. Utah 545; 4. New Mexico 518; 5. Dartmouth 486; 6. Colorado 438; 7. Alaska-Anchorage 436; 8. Middlebury 326; 9. Nevada 303; 10. Northern Michigan 300; 11. Colby 280; 12. New Hampshire 222.5; 13. Montana State 209; 14. Williams 201; 15. Alaska-Fairbanks 165; 16. Boise State 92; 17. Whitman 71; 18. Michigan Tech 61; 19. St. Lawrence 56; 20. Wisconsin-Green Bay 42; 21. Bates 30; 22. Western State 26.
Men's 20K Freestyle 1. Rene Reisshauer, DU, 55:57.3; 2. Erling Christiansen, CU, 56:08.0; 3. Henrik Hoye, CU, 56:09.1; 4. Magnus Carlsson, Utah, 56:11.2; 5. Daniel Sonntag, Utah, 56:58.4; 6. John Stene, DU, 57:00.3; 7. Lowell Bailey, UVM, 57:04.9; 8. Ethan Foster, UVM, 57:09.3; 9. Benjamin Sonntag, UAA, 57:18.5; 10. Dirk Grimm, UNM, 57:55.3. Other Denver Finishers: 11. Haavard Selseng, 58:14.2.
Women's 15K Freestyle 1. Mandy Kaempf, UAA, 46:18.8; 2. Nicole DeYong, UAA, 46:54.8; 3. Martina Stursova, UNM, 47:10.8; 4. Lindsay Williams, NMU, 47:25.5; 5. Trine Lundamo, UNM, 47:31.8; 6. Muriele Huberli, CU, 47:45.7; 7. Sandra Gredig, Utah, 48:04.8; 8. Johanna Turunen, UAF, 48:07.5; 9. Laura Valaas, Whit., 48:07.8; 10. Elizabeth Harrington, Dart., 48:11.2. Brooke Rygg, 49:25.7 Denver Finishers: 14. Bodil Ryste, 48:28.2; 17. Tara Hamilton, 48:51.8; 28. Julia Swieder, 50:15.8.
