Pioneers Look for No. 21: The two-time defending champion University of Denver ski team looks to win its 21st national championship, when they head to Steamboat Springs, Colo., for the NCAA Championships from March 10-13. The Pioneers have won an NCAA-record 20 team championships, including two-straight and six since 2000.
Full Squad: DU is sending the maximum 12 skiers to compete in the 2010 NCAA Championships. Teams can qualify up to three men and three women from both alpine and Nordic to compete. Colorado and Utah are the only other RMISA teams sending 12 skiers, along with Dartmouth from the EISA, followed by 11 from both Alaska Anchorage and New Mexico, and 10 from Vermont.
Repeat After Me: Women's Nordic skier Antje Maempel became just the second Denver skier to sweep the classical and freestyle at the NCAA Championships last year, equaling the feat of Lisbeth Johnsen in 1996. Maempel, who also earned first-team All-American honors in classical and second team in freestyle in 2008, looks to become just the second women's Nordic skier in NCAA history to defend her individual national titles in both classical and freestyle, and the first since Vermont's Laura Wilson in 1990-91. Maempel has won seven of the 10 races this season, including four-straight heading into the NCAA Championships, and finished second in the other three. Maempel has finished in the top five of every race for the past two years.
More Women's Nordic: Kate Dolan and Mari Elden will join Maempel at the NCAA Championships. Dolan makes her second trip to the championships after finishing 12th in classical and 28th in freestyle last year. Newcomer Elden will make her championship debut. The DU women won six races this season and finished second in the other four.
Men's Nordic: First Team All-American Harald Lovenskiold returns to the NCAA Championships, where he finished fourth in classical last season. Joining Loevenskiold at the championships are a pair of freshmen: Andrew Dougherty and Kristian Soerlund.
Olympic Movement: Denver alpine skier Leif Kristian Haugen represented his native Norway in the Vancouver Olympics last month, finishing 28th in giant slalom and also skiing slalom. Prior to heading to the Games, Haugen qualified for the NCAA Championships by winning the two slalom races he skied and finishing second in a pair of giant slalom races.
Men's Alpine: Joining Haugen will be sophomore A.J. Avrin and junior Andreas Kilde, who both will be making their NCAA Championship debuts. Kilde won the GS during the extra RMISA Qualifier this year and finished on the podium three additional times. Avrin was second in giant slalom at the NCAA West Regional and finished fourth in two other GS races this season.
Women's Alpine: Sophomore transfer Lindsay Cone is the defending NCAA individual champion in giant slalom, which she won while skiing for St. Lawrence University last season. Cone also earned All-American second team honors with a ninth place finish in slalom in 2009. Sophomore Ida Dillingoen also returns to the championships, coming in 14th in slalom and 19th in GS last year. Freshman Jennie VanWagner will be making her NCAA Championship debut.
Pioneers in the NCAAs: The Pioneers won their 20th team championships in 2009, the most by any team in the NCAA. Colorado is second with 16 titles, and New Mexico is third with 10. The 20 ski titles are tied with North Carolina women's soccer for the fifth most NCAA Division I titles among any team in any sport. Oklahoma State wrestling holds the most national titles with 34, followed by USC men's outdoor track and field (26), Iowa wrestling (22) and Yale men's golf (21). Added to seven hockey national titles, DU is tied with Yale for the most championships among all schools.
Team of the 2000s: Denver won six NCAA Championships in skiing in the first decade of the 2000s. Utah (2003), New Mexico (2004), Colorado (2006) and Dartmouth (2007) won the other four titles this decade.
Coached by Champions: Denver's head coaches, alpine coach Andy LeRoy and Nordic coach David Stewart, have their fair share of championship caliber racing. LeRoy won the slalom at the 2000 NCAA National Championships while at the University of Colorado after a six-year stint on the U.S. Ski Team that included a trip to the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. Meanwhile, Stewart was a 2006 national champion in the sprint relay while racing professionally after graduating from Vermont. Third-year Nordic assistant coach Hennie Kashiwa was the Nordic captain on DU's 2005 title team.
Coaches of the Year: Alpine head coach Andy LeRoy has been named Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association Coach of the Year in each of his three years, and Nordic head coach David Stewart has earned it in each of his two seasons.
2010 Season Recap
Utah Invitational (Jan. 11-12, 21-23)
Denver earned a second place finish at the Utah Invitational with 835 points, trailing only to New Mexico (850). Maempel again led the way, winning the 15K freestyle, while Seppi Stiegler claimed first place in the giant slalom.
Montana State Invitational (Jan. 15-17)
The Pioneers finished third at the Montana State Invitational with 822 points, trailing Colorado (903), and New Mexico (835). Leif Kristian HaugenAntje Maempel won both Nordic events. won the men's slalom, while
New Mexico Invitational (Feb. 5-6)
Five Pioneers reached the podium to lead Denver to a third-place finish at the New Mexico Invitational. Denver scored 785 points, trailing host New Mexico (961) and Colorado (801). Maempel earned two second-place finishes in the 5K and 10K, while Andreas Kilde finished second in the men's slalom.
Nevada Invitational (Feb. 19-20)
The Denver women's Nordic team completed a sweep and led the Pioneers to a third-place finish at the Nevada Invitational. Denver's 752 points trailed Colorado (913.5) and New Mexico (834). Maempel earned her fifth victory of the season.
RMISA Qualifiers (Jan. 15, Feb. 21)
Kilde was named RMISA Skier of the Week after winning the giant slalom and finishing in fourth in the slalom at the RMISA Qualifiers. Lindsay Cone also finished third in both the slalom and GS.
RMISA Championships/NCAA Western Regional (Feb. 26-27)
Denver finished fifth at the RMISA Championships with 700.5 points, trailing host Colorado (902), Alaska-Anchorage (764), New Mexico (725), and Utah (705). Maempel once again led Denver as she tied for first in the 15K, marking her fourth consecutive victory.
