The Utah Ski Team moved into the lead at the National Collegiate Skiing Championships on March 12, following standout performances by Erica Lavén and Mons Melbye in the 7.5K classic interval start events at Soldier Hollow Nordic Center.
This development is significant as it positions Utah ahead of its main competitors, with a total of 299.5 points—11.5 points more than Colorado and well ahead of Denver’s 208.5 points—at the halfway mark of the four-day meet.
Director of skiing Fredrik Landstedt said, “Very good day for us, overall. The team really came together, and as a group they all had good races and scored some good points for us. So overall it was an incredible day.” Landstedt also praised individual efforts: “Mons had an incredible race. He was fighting for the victory the whole way. So for his first NCAA race it was very impressive… And then Max Kluck came in and really pulled through for us today, racing very well. That was incredible and really helped the team score.” For the women’s team, he added, “Erica is pretty much always up there… still second in NCAAs so that’s really good… Witta is just a dark horse and has been getting better all year… Sofia, too, didn’t have her best day but she really fought hard, and being top 10 in NCAAs is a great result.”
In men’s competition, Melbye earned silver with a time of 18:31.0 in his first NCAA Championships appearance, finishing just behind Dartmouth’s John Steel Hagenbuch. Zachary Jayne placed sixth (18:57.9), while Max Kluck tied for sixteenth (19:47.5). Melbye said, “I just love racing here… I learned a lot from regionals and put it to practice here at the NCAAs and got a better result, so I’m happy.” In women’s results, Lavén took silver (25:11.0), Witta Walcher finished fifth (25:56.1), and Sofia Pedersen placed ninth (26:50.7). Lavén commented on conditions: “I feel like the last few days and the week have been really warm… But we still just managed it and pushed all the way through.”
Utah athletes collected several All-American honors during these events; Lavén, Melbye, and Walcher received first-team recognition while Jayne earned second-team status for his performance.
The championships continue Friday with slalom races at Spencer F. Eccles Olympic Mountain Center before concluding Saturday with freestyle mass starts.
