DENVER – The University of Denver ski team had nine student-athletes recognized with All-RMISA Team honors for the 2024 season, the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association announced earlier this week.
 
The Five Pioneers were selected on the First Team, with junior Andreas Kirkeng and graduate student Florian Knopf representing men's Nordic while senior Nora Brand, freshman Liv Moritz and sophomore Sara Rask of women's alpine also earning top regional honors. Men's alpine unit picked the other four spots for DU, as junior Cooper Cornelius, sophomore Thomas Hoffman and senior Trey Seymour were recognized on the Second Team and freshman Christian Soevik was named an Honorable Mention.
 
The All-RMISA Teams were selected based on NCAA qualification seeding. The first five seeds in men's and women's alpine and Nordic are named to the first team and the second five are named to the second team, with ties expanding teams as needed. The honorable mention selections are given to the skiers who finished in the top 10 of each of the eight NCAA seeding lists not already a part of the first or second teams.
 
Denver's nine skiers on All-RMISA squads were the third-most among all programs in the conference.
 
Brand has continued her momentum from her junior campaign where she earned two All-American honors in her debut at the NCAA Championships. The Munich, Germany, native placed in the top 15 in all 12 races in 2024, recording nine top-10 finishes and seven top-five placements, both of which are close to matching her career highs from last season. She recorded four podiums and two wins, taking the top step in slalom at the season-opening Westminster Invitational on Jan. 17 and in the night slalom at Steamboat's Howelsen Hill on Feb. 3.
 
Kirkeng continued his upward trajectory in his third season with DU and produced the most impressive regular seasons on the RMISA circuit in men's Nordic since 2021 when Colorado's Magnus Boee posted podium finishes in 11-of-12 races. Kirkeng placed in the top 10 in all 11 events while producing seven podiums and five wins. The 2024 RMISA Most Valuable Skier in both men's Nordic classic and freestyle, Kirkeng opened the season by winning U.S. National Championship in the 10K classical during the Westminster Invitational on Jan. 2. The Lier, Norway, native paced the field in all four events in Colorado from Feb. 2-10, winning both freestyle and classic races at the CU and Denver Invitationals. He also won the RMISA Championships' 20K classic, marking the third straight year he won gold in the discipline at the postseason regional  meet.
 
Knopf was consistent at the top of the leaderboard this season for Pioneers, joining the team after racing for the German National Team and taking a gap year. Knopf, who still has another season of eligibility in 2025, placed in the top five in each of the first seven races this season. From Bernau am Chiemsee, Germany, he recorded three podiums in that time, all of which were runner-up results. Knopf represented Germany at the FIS World Cup in Canmore, Alberta, in early February before returning to the Pioneers' lineup with a 13th-place result on tricky snow at the RMISA Championships' 7.5K freestyle on Feb. 24.
 
Moritz, also a member of DU's Division-I women's soccer team, transitioned near flawlessly from the pitch to the snow this winter. The rookie only raced in six college events as she was also competing for Team USA in early February at the FIS Alpine Junior World Championships in France and at Nor-Am Cup events in New York and Ontario, Canada, later in the month. The Vail, Colorado, native still recorded five top-20 results and two podiums this year. After posting a second-run DNF and tying for 20th in her first two collegiate slalom events, she finished four straight days of racing in Utah by recording her first podium in second place in giant slalom in the Westminster Invitational on Jan. 19 and her first career victory 24 hours later in the Utah Invite GS. After returning from the Junior Worlds a day earlier, Moritz skied the Denver Invitational on Feb. 5-6 and posted season-best results in slalom in ninth and 11th.
 
Rask is peaking at the right time heading into this year's NCAA Championships. After recording her first DNF of her college career in the season opener, Rask finished each the next 11 races, placing eighth or better in each one. In addition to her 11 top-10 finishes this year, she produced eight top-five results and six podiums—including five straight appearances on the stage entering nationals. The Stockholm, Sweden, native's only win of the year came in giant slalom at the RMISA Alpine Qualifier in Bozeman on Feb. 22 and that performance secured her second-straight RMISA Most Valuable Skier title in women's GS. The sophomore posted runner-up finishes in giant slalom and slalom at the RMISA Championships on Feb. 23-24.
 
Cornelius is in his third season for the Pioneers and raced in DU's first seven events of the season while also competing as a member the U.S. Alpine Ski Team. The Glenwood Springs, Colorado, recorded top-10 finishes in all four giant slalom races, including earning his first career victory on Feb. 2 at the Colorado Invitational. He placed 10th in both GS events at Utah Olympic Park on Jan. 19-20 at the Westminster and Utah Invitationals and recorded a sixth-place result in a RMISA Alpine Qualifier on Feb. 1 in Steamboat.
 
Hoffman had a consistent second season with the Pioneers, finishing 10-of-12 races and placing in the top 15 in seven events. From Manly, Australia, Hoffman enters nationals with top-10 results in four of his last six races, including posting his first career podium in second place in slalom at the RMISA Championships in his last competition on Feb. 24.
 
Seymour had a career season as a senior. The Steamboat Springs, Colorado, native recorded eight top-15 finishes this year and has placed in the top 10 five times—both career bests. He posted his best results of the campaign at Steamboat on Feb. 1-2 in giant slalom, coming in fourth in the Alpine Qualifier before a recording a career high in second the next day to begin the Colorado Invitational.
 
Soevik just missed out on a podium spot by one one-hundredths of second in his second college race on Jan. 18 at the Utah Invitational, but he had a strong finish to the main campaign to climb the leaderboard. The Oslo, Norway, native had eight consecutive top-15 results in his final nine races, including finishing in the top 10 five straight events. The DU rookie picked up his first podium by placing second in giant slalom at the RMISA Championships on Feb. 23 and was leading after the first run in slalom the next day before posting a DNF.
 
DU wraps up the collegiate campaign next week at the 2024 NCAA Championships at Steamboat Springs. This year's nationals begin on Wednesday, March 6 with alpine giant slalom at Steamboat Resort before the action heads across town to Howelsen Hill Ski Area for the final three days of the meet. The Nordic 7.5K freestyle interval start is Thursday, March 7, while night slalom races wrap up the alpine portion on Friday, March 8. The national championships conclude on Saturday with the 20K classic mass start.
 
The NCAA Championships are in Steamboat for the first time since 2018—the year the Pioneers won their 24th and most recent national title.
 

DONATE: Fans interested in making a donation to the Pioneers Athletic Fund can do so by clicking here. Your gift will transform the lives of our student-athletes by giving them the first-class resources needed to excel in the classroom and beyond. Thank you for Building Pioneers for Life!