PARK CITY, Utah – Senior
Katie Hensien of the University of Denver Ski Team closed out her collegiate career as a national champion after winning women's slalom on Friday afternoon at the NCAA Championships at Park City Mountain Resort.
"It feels amazing. This was one of my goals this year," said Hensien. "I have accomplished so much this year, but this is the icing on the cake. I am just so happy to get this one in my last year and get some points for DU."
Hensien became the 96th skier in DU history to earn an individual national championship and the second in as many years in women's slalom after
Amelia Smart also won the event in 2021 in New Hampshire.
The win also marked her first collegiate victory in slalom after posting two second-place results earlier this season—her first two career podiums in the discipline. She finishes the year as a two-time First-Team All-American after placing second in Thursday's giant slalom race.
Wearing bib No. 3, Hensien led after the opening run with a time of 50.59 seconds, holding a 35-hundredths of a second advantage over Kristiane Bekkestad of Montana State. Hensien recorded the third-fastest second run at 54.81 seconds, and it was enough for her to hold onto her lead and give the Pioneers an individual national champion for a third straight year.
Hensien finished with a total time of 1:45.50, beating out second-place Evelina Fredericsson of Westminster by 0.23 seconds and third-place Bekkestad by 0.48 seconds.
"I pushed a little bit on the first run and tried to ski as fast as I could, and I had a pretty good lead coming into that second run," Hensien said. "I felt like I handled all the nerves in that second run, and it was great to come out on top. It felt like the snow got better on that second run. It was a lot harder, and I took advantage of that."
The victory was Hensien's third win of the season, all of which have come in Park City—a place she spent the later years of her childhood after growing up in Redmond, Washington. She won back-to-back giant slalom races at the RMISA Invitational on Jan. 23 and Utah Invitational on Jan. 24, which were both held at Park City Mountain Resort.
"I've skied this place a couple of times every year. Thankfully my parents still live here and I have some friends and family who still live here, and they came out to watch," she said. "It's just an awesome way to end my college career."
Denver finished second in team scoring in the women's race with 70 points as
Galena Wardle placed 13th and
Eleri Smart came in 19th.
As a team, the Pioneers stayed in third place overall at the national championships, having gained 372.5 points through six-of-eight events. They are just five points behind second-place Vermont, which switched spots with current fourth-place holder Colorado after Day 1. Utah leads the meet with 405 points, 32.5 ahead of Denver.
In the men's slalom,
Simon Fournier led DU with a fourth-place result, earning first-team All-American honors. After being 11th in his first run, the senior ended up having the fourth-fastest afternoon run and held the leaders chair for a bit late in the race.
Fellow DU senior
Tobias Kogler was 13th, as he climbed out of the 17th spot in the first run with the seventh-fastest time in the afternoon. Freshman
Cooper Cornelius also picked points for the Pios in 26th place.
Vermont's Mathias Tefre won the men's slalom while teammate Joachim Lindstol was third, coming 46-hundredths of a second ahead of Fournier. Utah's Gustav Vollo was also on the podium in second place.
UP NEXT: The national championships conclude on Saturday with the Nordic freestyle distance races at Solider Hollow Nordic Center. The men will compete in a 20-kilometer mass start at 9:30 a.m. while the women will do a 15K at 11:30 a.m.
NOTES
- The Pioneers have eight All-Americans, tied for the third-most so far at these championships.
- DU finished with the most points in women's alpine with 139 and was second overall in alpine with 255.5, 11 behind winner Utah (256.5).
- Denver gained 53.5 points in men's slalom, fourth-highest.
DENVER MEN INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
4.
Simon Fournier, 1:54.47 (54:06/1:00.41)
13.
Tobias Kogler, 1:55.77 (55.10/1:00.67)
26.
Cooper Cornelius, 2:04.73 (1:03.79/1:00.94)
DENVER WOMEN INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
4.
Katie Hensien, 1:45.50 (50.59/54.81)
13.
Galena Wardle, 1:49.03 (55.10/55.93)
19.
Eleri Smart, 1:50.28 (52.35/57.93)
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM STANDINGS (Through 6-of-8 Races): 1. Utah 405; 2. Vermont, 377.5; 3
. Denver 372.5; 4. Colorado 368; 5. Westminster 231; 6. Montana State 184; 7. Middlebury, 180.5; 8. New Hampshire 165; 9. Alaska Anchorage 158; 10. Dartmouth 130; 11. St. Michael's 108.5; 12. Alaska Fairbanks 108; 13. Michigan Tech 74; 14. Colby 38; 15. Northern Michigan 24; 16. St. Lawrence 20; 17. Plymouth State 19; 18. St. Scholastica 12; 19. Harvard 9; 20 Boston College & Bowdoin, 4; 22. Green Bay 0.
MEN'S SLALOM TOP 10 (30 finishers): 1. Mathias Tefre, UVM, 1:53.69; 2. Gustav Vollo, UU, 1:53.97; 3. Joachim Lindstol, UVM, 1:54.01;
4. Simon Fournier, DU, 1:54.47; T5. Simeon Strand, SMC, 1:54.65; T5. Francesco Gori, WMC, 1:54.65; 7. Jacob Dilling, CU, 1:54.68; 8. Joachim Lien, UU, 1:54.69; 9. Leon Nikic, UAA, 1:54.77; 10. Filip Forejtek, CU, 1:54.78.
WOMEN'S SLALOM TOP 10 (29 finishers): 1. Katie Hensien, DU, 1:45.50; 2. Evelina Fredericsson, WMC, 1:45.63; 3. Kristiane Bekkestad, MSU, 1:45.88; 4. Mia Clementson, UVM, 1:46.04; 5. Denise Dingsleder, WMC, 1:46.54; 6. Kaja Norbye, UU, 1:47.44; 7. Hannah Utter, DAR, 1:47.84; 8. Kaitlyn Harsch, CU, 1:48.25; 9. Gwen Warrenmaker, DAR, 1:48.34; 10. Zoe Michael, UNH, 1:48.57.
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