Utah skiing erases slower start to claim 17th national championship

HANOVER, N.H. — The 2024 skiing season was supposed to be Nordic skier Celine Mayer's last. But a bout of COVID during the season-opener left the veteran skier with some long-term effects that made it difficult to keep her strength for the season.

Mayer was left to sit the season out, watching her team from the sidelines.

But an influx of freshmen talent, as well as tireless training in the offseason, gave Mayer the energy and drive to come back for another season, with the hopes of another national title to add to her collection.

"I think it would be incredibly special to end on a high, to go out on that note," Mayer said ahead of the NCAA Championships. "Also, it feels like giving back to the team to ski in the championship and score for them, because they give us so much — the resources. It's just so awesome here, too, so it would be great to give that back."

The senior skier didn't win an individualized ski title this weekend like some of her teammates, but her 19th place finish in the women's 20K freestyle on Saturday in her second start in the NCAA Championships was no less important in Utah claiming a national title on Saturday.

When all the weekend events concluded, Utah came out on top in convincing fashion with 590 total points, beating out reigning champion Colorado, who finished with 513 points. Host Dartmouth rounded out the top three with 508.5 points.

It's the 17th national title all-time for Utah and the fourth out of the last five season. Last season's 2-point loss to Colorado served as a major motivating factor for Utah as it returned for the 2025 championship races.

"This was just amazing up here, especially in front of this crowd," said Fredrik Landstedt, the school's director of skiing. "There's a huge amount of people out here and a band playing. It's just incredible to have this kind of finish. I'm super proud of this team, how they came together and the camaraderie they've shown — really, the way to fight back during the championship."

Utah had to fight back a bit after a disappointing first day — in terms of the team's expectations — in which Utah came out of the first day in third place. But there was no denying Utah on Day 2 as the team went into Nordic races.

Erica Laven won the women's 7.5K classic, Mayer finished in fifth and Selma Nevin added a 14-place finish. On the men's side, Joe Davies earned a third-place finish in the men's 7.5K classic, followed by Brian Bushey (6th) and Zachary Jayne (8th).

"The team really stayed positive (after Wednesday)," Landstedt said. "You can lead by a lot or you can be far behind after one day. It's a long championship. They knew that it changes fast and anything can happen. They were in good spirits still. To comeback the way they did was just incredible."

Utah added another individual title on Friday when Johs Herland won the men's giant slalom event, and Simen Strand finished in fifth and Sindre Myklebust added an eighth-place finish. On the women's side, Kaja Norbye and Claire Timmermann earned fifth- and sixth-place finishes, respectively, and Kaila Lafreniere added a 19th place finish.

The Day 3 events pushed Utah into a first-place lead going into the final day of competition, topping Colorado and Dartmouth.

Once Utah had its sights set on another title, there was no denying the Utes.

Davies won an individual title on the men's 20K freestyle, making his individual title the 89th individual champion in Utah history.

Bushey added a third-place finish and Zachary Jayne rounded out the Utah scores in 10th. Two days off her own title, Laven added a second-place finish in the women's 20K freestyle, followed by Nevin's fifth-place finish and Mayer at 19th.

"It feels so good to win," Lavén said. "The whole team is so happy. We did awesome. Kendall had an amazing day today. I felt already in the beginning that I needed to work really hard to keep up with her. It was so fun seeing her have a really good day. It was a bummer that I didn't feel that good (to win), but I kept on fighting and found my way to second place. That was really good."

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