Tim Healy is a special contributor to LetsGoDU with expertise and access to the DU Ski Team. Be sure to follow him on Twitter (@609Healy.

The Denver Pioneers alpine team brought their ‘A’ game to Howelsen Hill in Steamboat Springs on Friday night. The Pioneers finished the evening with a 26 point overall lead after starting the night trailing the Colorado Buffs by 9 points.

Going into Saturday morning men’s and women’s Nordic events, the Pioneers are well positioned for their 24th national championship title. But, it will take a solid 20k by the men and 15k from the women to earn the title Saturday morning.

It appears that the final day will be a two team contest as DU and CU will battle each other again for supremacy. And, appropriate that it will be DU’s Nordic teams that can control their fate. Last season, DU had a final day points lead and let it slip away. Saturday offers the team an opportunity at redemption.

In slalom under the lights, the women continued their dominant performances and the men threw down the hammer on the competition as well.

Pioneer women were driving the bus and taking everyone to school. Freshman Amelia Smart followed up her win on Wednesday with another win tonight in the slalom. She is the first Pioneer to accomplish that feat since Kristine Haugen did it in 2013. Smart was followed by Andrea Komsic in 4th place and Tuva Norbye in 11th.

The men followed the women with a strong showing. Freshman Tobias Kogler led Denver with a 3rd place finish. Following Tobias was Alex Leever in 8th and Jett Seymour in 9th. The more amazing stat of the night was the Pioneers getting 5 All Americans on the evening (and the 6th Pioneer was only milliseconds away from All American status). The strong performance puts the Pioneers into 1st place overall heading into the final day of Nordic on Saturday. Expect the Nordic team to come out strong to defend DU’s place atop the standings.

Don’t forget to follow @609Healy and @DU_Skiing for live updates.