USCSA championship kicks off with giant slalom races at Whiteface

LAKE PLACID, N.Y. – The U.S. Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association (USCSA) kicked off its five-day long annual Collegiate National Championship today with two days of giant slalom racing. The Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA) is serving as host for all events over the five days of exciting competition at Whiteface Mountain.

A record-breaking 536 collegiate athletes representing 67 universities across 6 regions will compete in 24 events over the five day period. This championship represents the best collegiate athletes from around the country. USCSA has member schools in every geographic region of the United States. Events include giant slalom, slalom, cross-country sprints, cross-country relays, cross-country distance, slopestyle, skiercross, snowboard cross and a rail jam.

The first day of alpine racing on Draper’s Drop belonged to Rocky Mountain College. The Battlin Bears won both the team and individual women’s giant slalom national championships, with Frida Svedberg taking home her third individual giant slalom title.

“I can’t believe I managed to take that third title. I definitely felt like I put some more pressure and expectations on myself and I am so happy that I managed to keep my head in the game and maintain focus on what I had to do for both runs and not on all the good skiers around me,” said Svedberg. “Today was an amazing day for the RMC ladies’ team. Everyone stepped up their game and performed some amazing skiing – could not be more proud of what all of the girls did today and I’m so thankful to be a part of this team. We are looking forward to the slalom on Thursday.”

Day two of alpine racing featured the men’s giant slalom down the same trail at Whiteface. For the second straight day, Rocky Mountain College won the team national championship with three strong results, while Ivo Ricou took home his first individual national championship title after an exciting second run.

“I’m happy with my performance today, I put down two solid runs,” said Ricou after his winning second run. “Unfortunately we didn’t do the same in team classification, but we still have slalom on Friday to redeem ourselves. We are all hoping Finlay Neeson will be back on Friday after dislocating his shoulder today just before second run.”

As the events unfold all week in Lake Placid, fans, families, and friends can join the USCSA athletes in celebrating this pinnacle of collegiate competition by following the competitions online at www.uscsa.com. Team and individual results will are posted daily online at the USCSA website. Check in for live video and audio feeds here.

Release courtesy of USCSA, photo courtesy of Jay Moyer