DENVER – Senior Nordic skier
Andreas Kirkeng of the University of Denver has been named the Collegiate Athlete of the Year by the Colorado Snowsports Museum Hall of Fame for the 2024 season.
Kirkeng picked up six wins, earned eight podiums and placed in the top 10 in each of the first 12 races during his junior campaign with the Pioneers in 2024. He won four consecutive events from Feb. 2-10, sweeping the regular-season races in Colorado from Feb. 2-10—the most consecutive wins by a RMISA men's Nordic skier since Colorado's Magnus Boee also won four in a row to finish the 2021 campaign.
The Lier, Norway, native won his third consecutive RMISA West Regional Championship in the Nordic classical discipline and was selected to the All-RMISA First Team and as the RMISA Most Valuable Skier in both men's freestyle and classic. Kirkeng earned All-American honors for the third straight year, as he was a second-team member in the 7.5K freestyle after placing 10th at the NCAA Championships on March 7 in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.
Kirkeng began the season by winning a U.S. National Championship for the second straight year, as he led the field in the 10K classic at Soldier Hollow Nordic Center in Utah on Jan. 2. The event also served as the season-opening Westminster Invitational, and Kirkeng went on to earn Skier of the Meet honors after also coming in fifth in freestyle sprints on Jan. 4.
The Pioneer upperclassman is the men's recipient of the Collegiate Athlete of the Year award, while
Magdalena Luczak of the University of Colorado is the 2024 women's winner. Kirkeng will be recognized for his 2024 campaign on Saturday, Sept. 7 at the annual Colorado Snowsports Hall of Fame awards ceremony at the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater in Vail, Colorado.
Colorado Snowsports Hall of Fame's other 2024 award honorees are
River Radamus as the Mikaela Shiffrin Competitor of the Year,
Noah Elliott as Adaptive Athlete of the Year,
Kent Erickson and
Barbara Krichbau for their Lifetime Achievement and
Winter Park's National Sports Center for the Disabled as the winner of the Top of the Hill Award.
This year's Colorado Snowsports Hall of Fame inductees are
Ross Anderson, Bjorn Erik Borgen, John McBride, Sigurd Rockne and
Lindsey Vonn.
The event on Sept. 7 begins at 4:30 p.m. MT and
ticket prices start at just $50 for adults, with all proceeds going to support the Colorado Snowsports Museum—a non-profit organization and the State of Colorado's official snow sports museum.
About the Colorado Snowsports Museum and Hall of Fame:
Founded in 1975 and located in Vail, Colorado, our mission is to celebrate Colorado snow sports by telling stories that educate and inspire others to seek adventure. The priceless artifacts we collect and display tell the story of the birth, rise and explosion of skiing and snowboarding in Colorado. The Museum features displays including Climb to Glory about the 10th Mountain Division, Vail's DNA, The Colorado Snowboard Archive, and The Colorado Snowsports Hall of Fame, among others. Learn more and consider supporting the Museum by becoming a member:
https://www.snowsportsmuseum.org.
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