DENVER – Graduate student
Sara Rask of the University of Denver ski team has been named the RMISA Most Valuable Skier in women's alpine slalom for the 2026 season.
This is Rask's fifth career MVP award from the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association and her third time earning accolades in slalom, as she previously picked up honors in the discipline in both 2023 and 2025. She was also recognized as the RMISA Most Valuable Skier in giant slalom in 2023 and 2024.
The Stockholm, Sweden, native finished the RMISA regular season with five top-five finishes and 185 points across the six slalom races. Rask swept the slalom events at Loveland Ski Area on Jan. 12-13 in the Denver and Colorado Invitationals, and she also placed first in the RMISA Alpine Qualifier in Montana on Feb. 27. The grad student earned a podium placement in third at the Utah Invitational on Feb. 24 and was fourth in the RMISA Alpine Qualifier in Nevada on Jan. 31.
In total, Rask placed in the top five in 10 of the 12 races she finished in 2026, totaling five wins and eight podium results. She owns 20 career victories and set the program's all-time wins record with her giant slalom victory at the RMISA Alpine Qualifier in Utah on Feb. 23.
Rask is the defending NCAA National Champion in both women's slalom and giant slalom after sweeping the alpine races last year at Dartmouth Skiway, New Hampshire. She has earned All-American honors in all six NCAA events she's competed in, including winning five first-team awards.
The Denver alpine skier has placed in the top 20 in all 50 races she's finished in her career and has come in the top 10 in 48 of them. In addition to her 20 victories, Rask has posted 35 podiums and 41 top-five finishes in her collegiate career.
Colorado's Louison Accambray was the recipient of the RMISA Most Valuable Skier in women's alpine giant slalom while teammate Filip Wahlqvist won the men's GS award and Utah's Johs Herland was recognized as the top men's skier in slalom. In Nordic, Utah's Erica Laven (women's classic), Montana State's Simon Chappaz (men's freestyle) and CU's Tilde Baangman (women's freestyle) and Storm Pedersen (men's classic) were also named RMISA Most Valuable Skiers.
The 2026 NCAA Championships begin next week, March 11-14, in Utah with the alpine events at Olympic Park in Park City and the Nordic competitions being held at Solider Hollow.
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