A UW Nordic Skier competes in the United States Collegiate Ski Association championship. The club team won the national title for the first times since 2010.
Earlier in the season, the UW Nordic Ski Club members were a little unsure of how their season would end.
Having one of the smallest groups the Club has seen in years, the Pokes had a lot of rebuilding to do throughout the season.
Despite the grueling 6 a.m. practices, the blizzards and the negative temperatures, their hard work paid off as the men’s team captured its first United States Collegiate Ski Association championship since 2010.
The competition was held in Sun Valley, Idaho and marked the Cowboy’s fourth overall championship title. To win the competition, the Cowboys simply had to finish Saturday’s final three-man relay because of their considerable 24-point lead over Clarkson University.
Representing the UW men’s team was senior Kyle Bochanski of Fairfax, Vt., junior Patrick Rodgers from Casper and juinor Nathan Hough, also from Casper. The trio finished second overall, which secured the national title for UW.
According to the competition’s reports, the Cowboys finished the event with a team-low 47 points followed by Clarkson University of Potsdam, N.Y. with a distant 80 points, and perennial national power St. Olaf of Northfield, Minn. coming in at the third place slot with 83 points.
With this most recent victory closing out the Cowboy’s season, the team has now either won or was the national runners-up seven times in the 14 years since Nordic skiing was brought back as a club sport at UW.
On the women’s side of competition, the Cowgirls skied for a second place finish in their division. During Saturday’s closing relay race, the Cowgirls’ effort gave them their fourth national runner-up trophy.
Having an early lead in the event, the Cowgirls ended up finishing second in the relay race. The UW women’s team was led by junior Sierra Jech from Cody, junior Bridget Weiner from Casper and junior Sarah Johnson from Duluth, Minn.
St. Olaf ended the competition having earned the overall women’s USCSA championship with a team-low of 38 points while the Cowgirls followed behind scoring 63 total points.
