Photo: Courtesy of Denver Athletics – National Champion Jett Seymour

The Denver Alpine team took to the slopes on the final day of the NCAA Skiing Championships in Stowe, Vermont. While the Pioneers did not repeat as team champions, a DU sophomore won an individual NCAA championship.

On the men’s side, DU sophomore Jett Seymour became a national champion and All-American with a first-place finish in the men’s slalom Saturday morning.

On the women’s side, Denver had another strong Alpine performance as Andrea Komsic finished 6th and Amelia Smart finished 4th in slalom. Both are now  All-Americans.

Colorado finished third, University of Vermont second and the University of Utah won the overall team championship.

It’s not unusual to follow a National Championship with a flat year – and any distance events present a number of variables – not an excuse, just a fact. So much of doing well in the NCAA’s is peaking at the right time as well. I expect DU to continue to focus on rebuilding and strengthening the Nordic squad with a number of graduations and the return of most of the Alpine squad next season. The Nordic team will be graduating the following seven seniors: Jasmi Joensuu, Lars Hannah, Kristine Karsrud, Eivind Kvaale, Taeler McCrerey, Natalia Muller and Simon Zink. The Alpine team will be losing Storm Klomhaus and Tuva Norbye.

Because our ski team athletes compete without a lot of fanfare, we often forget how hard they work representing DU. And a shout-out to this year’s seniors – they have been Champions. I am around a number of athletes and teams at DU and I can tell you that their coaches and athletes represent us well.

While it may not have ended in a NCAA team championship, it was great to see a Denver athlete crowned as a national champion on the final day. It was the best outcome we could have expected after a rough first three days of competition.

Go Pioneers

Article special to LetsGoDU by Denver Ski Team Insider Tim Healy