Day three slalom is complete today at the NCAA Championships at Utah Olympic Park. This concludes the Alpine portion of the NCAA Championships. Mia Hunt was Denver’s best performer of the day, and it was heartbreak for Denver’s top Alpine slalom performer, Sara Rask. On the men’s side, Christian Soevik finished in the top 10, but the rest of the Alpine slalom team struggled on the day.

Following the first run in Women’s slalom, DU was ahead of Utah and CU, sitting in third, trailing Montana State and the University of New Hampshire. Mia Hunt sat in third, Sarah Rask in 11th. The top teams usually ski a conservative first run to ensure team scores so I was hoping for even better second runs. Utah’s Melanie Dahlberg got a DNF for the Utes, damaging their team score.

On the second run, Hunt moved up to the second spot on the podium. Sara Rask had problems on the course and tumbled to 27th spot. During her career at DU, Rask was named RMISA Most Valuable Skier in women’s alpine slalom for the 2026 season and is one of DU’s most historic skiers (19 career first-place podiums). Like most Pioneers fans, I was hoping for win #20, but it was not meant to be. Rask built a great skiing legacy at DU, and a challenging week won’t change that. DU’s Cecelia Pizzanato finished in 20th, and DU finished in 4th (52 points), ahead of Utah while trailing the winner, Montana State, with 91.5 points.

On the men’s side, after the first run, DU sat in 4th in team points with DU’s Christian Soevik in 4th place. CU placed two skiers in the Top 10 and Utah three skiers to stretch their team lead going into the second run.

DU’s Soevic slipped to 7th on his second run while Utah and CU placed two skiers each in the top 10 to finish first and second, respectively. Denver collected another 54 points and settled into 5th in the event. Adrian Hunshammer finished 14th for the Pioneers, and Pietro Motterlini finished 19th. The expectation heading into nationals was that we could place all our skiiers in the top 10-15, but that did not happen for Denver today.

Denver is sitting solidly behind Colorado and Utah, with Montana State closely following.

The Nordic 20K freestyle mass start will conclude the NCAA Skiing Championship on Saturday morning at Soldier Hollow Nordic Center.

Note: I am glad to see the passionate comments about our DU ski team write-ups. It shows there is great interest in DU Skiing. In response to some of your comments and questions: AD Josh Berlo is an avid skier and has been to DU practices, attended national events and publicly supports the program. Former Board of Trustees member Otto Tschudi has endowed the head Alpine coach position and remains actively involved in the program, and has a large network, both nationally and internationally. So, I can safely say, from my experience, DU is committed to the ski program. There is direct access to key decision-makers if you want to talk directly to Joonas Rasanen (Alpine) or Eliska Albrigtsen (Nordic). I have found DU coaches are always quick and receptive to discussions about their programs. There are various ways to make a positive impact or have your questions or concerns answered. The great thing about DU, you can talk directly to the decision-makers – coaches and administrators or even student-athletes. I can’t answer the funding question directly, but I can fairly say every program could use more money and support. If you feel emotionally invested in Denver skiing and have the interest and ability, why not write a check and be a part of the solution?

DU Skiing, Attn: Joonas Rasanen, 2410 East Asbury Avenue, Denver, Colorado 80210

Top Photo courtesy of DU Athletics