Featured Image: University of Denver celebrating Sara Rask’s consecutive win. Credit: Stephen Cloutier
The alpine racers moved back onto the Dartmouth Skiway for the giant slalom portion of the NCAA Championships. After the Men’s and Women’s 7.5 km Individual Classical Nordic races yesterday, the series transitioned back to a battle on the alpine hill.
After the slalom and Nordic race, Dartmouth took the lead with 267.5 points, the University of Colorado sits in 2nd place with 262 points, and Utah was in 3rd with 257 points.
It was a big change in the weather conditions at the Dartmouth Skiway. The slalom was rainy and warmer, but last night the temperatures dropped and the snow became firm and slick, which made for a fast track.
However, the athletes had to fight through high winds that moved in, which added another challenge for the racers. JJ Johnson, the head coach of the University of Utah Alpine Team, set a direct, attackable first run course for the GS and John Dwyer’s set for the second run, which had a bit more swing.
It was Sara Rask of the University of Denver (DU) and Johs Bråthen Herland of the University of Utah who fought through the different adversities and successfully earned individual NCAA titles.
Sara Rask Achieves Consecutive Victory
The women started off the day, and Justine Clément from the University of Vermont was the first onto the course, setting the pace at 56.08.
However, Bib 6, Magdalena Luczak of the University of Colorado, came down the first run with an impressive time that proved challenging to beat. Luczak won the first run by -0.12 ahead of the slalom NCAA title winner, Sara Rask. Montana State University athlete Justine Lamontagne headed into the second run as the 3rd fastest, +0.21 off the lead time.
In the second run, it was the DU Pioneer, Sara Rask, who went full-throttle from panel to panel, concluding with the fastest overall time of the day.
Reigning NCAA Champion, Luczak, unfortunately crashed in the second run towards the lower section of the course. She did get taken off in a sled, so Ski Racing Media hopes for a speedy recovery for the athlete.
With the Buffalo not finishing her run, it finalized Rask’s successful back-to-back individual NCAA title golds.
Rask has succeeded in a perfect, undefeated senior season. She explained, “I think a lot goes into it [winning an NCAA title], but I think having a really good, strong showing in the West definitely helped build confidence coming here.”
“I am super happy and excited about winning another NCAA Championship title. I also hope that Magdalena is ok, it was a pretty brutal crash, and I just hope she is ok,” Rask stated.
She has expressed that her main focus at NCAA Championships has been to have fun and enjoy her last races as a college athlete.
“It has been a perfect week; I couldn’t ask for anything more. I am super happy about what is happening for us, and it has been so fun being here with my teammates. We have such a close group, supporting each other to make this happen,” Rask stated.
DU’s head coach, Joonas Rasanen, stated, ““I think we saw the Sara that we’ve seen a lot. She had that spicy-tuna mentality that she’s had a lot in slalom all year. For her to go seven-for-seven in this year’s college slalom races is incredible, and we couldn’t be more proud of her. For her to come out and make it happen at the championships is amazing.”
“We’re super happy for her to end her college career on a high note. It’s incredible, and for her to do it in GS—her second run was really good once she came off the pitch. She’s obviously special, and she has changed our program,” Rasanen continued.
For the women, this is the third year in a row that an athlete has swept NCAA Championships. Last year it was Luczak, and the year before it was Madison Hoffman of the University of Utah.
Lamontagne and Larsson Nathhorst Achieve Podium
Lamontagne was the third fastest athlete after a solid first run. The MSU racer was quick through the transitions in the second run, finding her aerodynamics through the strong winds.
The Bobcat finished the day with an individual silver NCAA medal, +0.65 behind Rask’s winning time.
“Coming into today I just wanted to ski the way I have been skiing in training and keep it simple,” Lamontagne explained.
As a freshman, Lamontagne started her collegiate career earning a First Team All-American status with a third in the giant slalom at the 2023 NCAA Championships. This season, she did not find the podium in the regular season collegiate races, but this was an impeccable time to ski into the top 3.
Lamontagne stated, “It feels pretty good to be back on the podium again. It was so close on Wednesday, but I didn’t quite make it.”
Hanna Larsson Nathhorst of the University of Vermont was in 4th place after the first run, so she knew she really had to attack through the wind in the second run to achieve a medal. She pushed it from the beginning to the end and was able to conclude the day with a bronze.
This season, Larsson Nathhorst made it to the podium twice in GS, which fueled her ambition to win a medal at the Championships, and she accomplished that goal.
For The Men, Johs Bråthen Herland Clinches Gold
In the initial run, the wind intensified; however, that just caused the men to push harder and find a more aerodynamic stance. The men had to carry that into the second run as the weather did not let up.
Bradshaw Underhill of Middlebury College was the first out of the start gate in the first run, and he set a pace that held strong. Then bib 6, Oscar Zimmer of Dartmouth took the lead with a stellar performance, -0.47 ahead of Underhill.
The Ute, Johs Braathen Herland was in fourth place after the first run, +0.61 off of Zimmer’s leading time. Herland knew he had to fully send it in the second run to achieve a medal. He was attacking panel-to-panel and came through with the leading time.
Underhill and Wahlqvist proceeded to come down after him, but Herland’s time remained on top.
Everyone was holding their breath for Zimmer’s performance, which was impressively fast until the final few gates, where he pinched a little too tight and got knocked onto his hip. He slid but was able to recover and ski back in, earning Dartmouth valuable points.
This meant that Herland took the NCAA Individual Gold, marking the freshman’s second win of his collegiate career and the first at NCAA Champs.
He expressed, “This feels super good. It was a really good team effort today; both Utes girls and boys scored really good results. There was some wind in the first run, and the second run was a bit delayed, but it was a really nice day and really good skiing.”
“Being a freshman at Utah has been awesome! We have a great mix of talented skiers and good personalities,” Herland stated prior to NCAA Championships.
Brown and Wahlqvist Achieve Silver and Bronze
Benny Brown of Dartmouth has stood on the podium five times in giant slalom this season, including one victory. Thus, he came into the NCAA Championships ready to execute and earn some hardware.
Brown skied into 6th place on the first run, but after throwing down a solid second run, he finished the day with a silver medal (+0.47).
This marked a significant achievement for the sophomore in his debut at the NCAA Championships, indicating that he is likely to keep making an impact for the Dartmouth Ski Team.
The reigning slalom Champion, Filip Wahlqvist, earned a medal in the slalom on the first day of the 2025 NCAA Championships, but was eager to win. He brought that momentum into today and successfully earned another podium, finishing with a bronze medal (+0.51).
Heading into the final day of NCAA Championships University of Utah takes the lead in the team standings with 417 points. University of Colorado is in second with 382 points and Dartmouth is in third with 380 points.
The Nordic teams will conclude the competition tomorrow (March 8th) with the men’s and women’s 20 km Mass Start Freestyle. Tune in at ncaa.com
About the Author: Ellie Hartman
