By: Caleb Horsch
The EISA season came to a thrilling conclusion on Friday with the Slalom race at NCAA Championships. Eastern skiers delivered memorable and impressive individual and team performances in challenging soft conditions.
The men got the action underway amidst a beautiful day at Whiteface Mountain. Temperatures sat in the mid-30s as overclouded skies gave way to sunshine. The snow was fairly soft, a more familiar sight to the western skiers. However, the small field meant it never truly deteriorated, and a few racers from the back were able to throw in All-American performances.
Mathias Tefre has had a stellar season, his near dominance in Slalom this season has been remarkable. Across the six races this season, he won all but one and looked to bring that fast skiing into NCAAs. He was able to do just that as he took advantage of a set by his coach Bill Reichelt to snag the National Championship title. "First run was good, solid skiing and in second place," he commented, then "I was charging for first in the second run." His full-attack skiing proved enough and was made even sweeter by the performance of his teammate Joachim Jagge Lindstoel. Lindstoel earned his first Championship podium, skiing into third on the second run and adding even more points to the Catamounts total.
Mathias Tefre (University of Vermont) - Stephen R Cloutier
Oscar Zimmer from Dartmouth made it three eastern skiers in the top 5, earning first-team All-American honors. Maximillian Haussmann from Plymouth State and Eirik Kveno also finished in the top 10. For Kveno, he is now a two-time All-American after his eighth-place finish in the GS.
On the women's side, Justine Clement from the University of Vermont was the top eastern skier in 9th. Hanna Larsson Nathhorst from Plymouth State narrowly just missed the top 10 to finish in 11th.
A strong day by the UVM men's team and DU women's team consolidated their positions in the team standings. The Pioneers finish NCAAs on the podium in third, and the Catamounts finish in fourth. The battle between the Utes and Buffaloes would go on for another day as the Nordic teams battled it out in the 20k Classic race. It was here that the Utes pulled away to win a fourth consecutive National Championships by a slim 35 points. Colorado finishes as the runner-up for the fifth time in eight years that they have finished in second place.
Trailing Vermont in fourth was Dartmouth, who was behind the Catamounts by just eight points. UNH finished NCAAs in eight, Middlebury skied to 10th, and Plymouth State, Harvard, and Colby finished just behind, still in the top 16.
Oscar Zimmer (Dartmouth) - Stephen R Cloutier
It's been a long season for the college racers. Many student-athletes return to school just in time for midterm exams. After that, they will prepare for the final push of races, including Nor-Am Finals and US Nationals. The full team results can be viewed here.
University of Vermont NCAA Championships Team - Stephen R Cloutier
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