STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. – The University of Denver ski team heads across Rabbit Ears Pass this week and aims to add to it national title collection at the 2024 NCAA Championships in Steamboat Springs.
 
Denver leads all collegiate programs with 24 national titles and is returning to a spot where it has historically fared well. The Pioneers have captured the national championship in each of their last three times the collegiate event has been held in Steamboat, winning in 2010, 2016 and their most recent title in 2018.
 
The NCAA Championships begin on Wednesday with alpine giant slalom at Steamboat Resort and conclude on Sunday with the Nordic 20-kilometer classic across town at Howelsen Hill Ski Area. DU has finished in the top three in each of the last three national championships and look to climb up the team podium at this year's event that is hosted by the University of Colorado.
 
Live video of the races is available on NCAA.com and live result links will be posted on DU skiing schedule page on DenverPioneers.com.
 
Denver has qualified a full team at this year's nationals with 12 skiers from seven different countries and two Coloradoans in freshman Liv Moritz of Vail and senior Trey Seymour who will return to his hometown of Steamboat Springs.
 
Seymour leads the Pioneers' men's alpine squad that also features sophomore Thomas Hoffman (Manly, Australia) and freshman Christian Soevik (Oslo, Norway), all of whom will be making their nationals debut. Women's alpine features NCAA returners in senior Nora Brand (Munich, Germany) and sophomore Sara Rask (Stockholm, Sweden) and newcomer Moritz.
 
Senior Hanna Ray (Esse, Finland) will race at her fourth NCAA Championships in women's Nordic and will be joined on that squad with sophomore returner Selma Andersen (Oslo, Norway) and graduate student Henriette Saeterdal Semb (Asker, Norway), who previously competed at nationals with Michigan Tech. Junior Andreas Kirkeng (Lier, Norway) is set for his third trip to the national championships and will be joined in men's Nordic by a pair of first-timers in grad student Florian Knopf (Bernau am Chiemsee, Germany) and freshman Krystof Zatloukal (Karlovy Vary, Czechia).
 
Kirkeng paced the men's Nordic field in the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association this season as he won Most Valuable Skier honors in both classic and freestyle and defended his title at the RMISA Championships by winning the classical discipline for the third consecutive season. Rask also earned RMISA MVP accolades in women's giant slalom, repeating after picking up the award in 2023 as a freshman.
 
Overall, the Pioneers had nine skiers named to the All-RMISA squad as Kirkeng and Knopf of men's Nordic and Brand, Moritz and Rask of women's alpine all earning First Team honors. Men's alpine picked up the other four spots for DU, as junior Cooper Cornelius, Hoffman and Seymour were recognized on the Second Team and Soevik was named an Honorable Mention.
 
Denver is one of five schools and three in RMISA that qualified 12 student-athletes, with the Colorado, Utah, Dartmouth and Vermont joining the Pioneers in sending full squads as well.
 
This year's NCAA Championships 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.
 
All of the venues this year are viewer friendly.
 
The Pioneers finished runner-up in the first four meets of the season and placed third at the RMISA Championships on Feb. 23-25 in Bozeman, Montana. Denver was just 11 points out of first place at its own DU Invitational on Feb. 5-10 and recorded a season-high 635 points at the CU Invitational at the NCAA Championships venues in Steamboat on Feb. 2-3. The previous performance in Steamboat marked the most points the team has earned in a meet since winning the 2020 RMISA Championships with 688 points.
 
 
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS SCHEDULE
Wednesday, March 6
9:30 a.m. – Men's Giant Slalom: First run (Steamboat Resort)
10:30 a.m. – Women's Giant Slalom: First run (Steamboat Resort)
12:30 p.m. – Men's Giant Slalom: Second run (Steamboat Resort)
1:30 p.m. – Women's Giant Slalom: Second run (Steamboat Resort)
Watch Live
 
Thursday, March 7
10 a.m. – Men's 7.5K Freestyle; Interval start (Howelsen Hill Ski Area)
12 noon – Women's 7.5K Freestyle; Interval start (Howelsen Hill Ski Area)
Watch Live
 
Friday, March 8
6:40 p.m. – Women's Slalom: First run (Howelsen Hill Ski Area)
7:20 p.m. – Men's Slalom: First run (Howelsen Hill Ski Area)
9:00 p.m. – Women's Slalom: Second run (Howelsen Hill Ski Area)
9:30 p.m. – Men's Slalom: Second run (Howelsen Hill Ski Area)
Watch Live
 
Saturday, March 9
10 a.m. – Women's 20K Classic: Mass start (Howelsen Hill Ski Area)
12 noon – Men's 20K Classic: Mass start (Howelsen Hill Ski Area)
2 p.m. – Team Awards Ceremony (Howelsen Hill Ski Area)
Watch Live
 
All times mountain and subject to change
 

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