UW Women Nordic Skiers Third at National Competition

It was a week of thirds for the University of Wyoming women’s Nordic ski team at this week’s United States Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association (USCSA) national championships in Jackson.

The Cowgirls closed out their fourth straight third-place finish in four separate events to earn third place overall in the women’s USCSA competition. The UW women were third in the event’s final race -- the team relay Saturday -- to close the national meet with the third-place trophy.

The team relay trio included Casper’s Kat Gruner and Maddy Tinker, and Ella DeWolf, from Laramie.

UW co-head Coach Christi Boggs says the UW women first pushed St. Olaf College (Northfield, Minn.), which finished second in the race, and then fought off a serious attempt to unseat their podium finish by Castleton University of Vermont.

“Our women skied amazing and finished strong, putting the final touch to their third-place overall finish,” Boggs says.

Clarkson University (Potsdam, N.Y.) finished the week with a team-low 43 points through four events to win the national title, while St. Olaf was the team runner-up with 58 points. The Cowgirls were a solid third place with 120 team points, while Castleton University finished with 173.

The UW men just missed the podium, finishing fourth in the final team relay event and placed fifth overall in the national team standings.

“Our men skied out of their minds, just missing the podium by one second,” Boggs says. “It was incredible to watch. The fantastic finish put them into fifth overall -- a solid finish in this strong field.”

Competing on the UW men’s relay team were Silas Goetz, of Lander; Jackson’s Matt Williams; and Trevor Willoughby, from Casper.

Clarkson University won the final event, followed by St. Olaf and Castleton University.

Castleton claimed the men’s overall national title with a team-low 74 points, while Clarkson was second with 91 points. Third went to St. Olaf with 121 points, Colorado Mesa University was fourth with 138 points, and the Cowboys had a team score of 158 points.

Boggs adds that all but one UW team member earned Academic All-American honors for student-athletes with a 3.3 grade-point average or higher. She also adds that the team’s success through the week was aided by former UW team members Ava Bell, Ben Noren, Bryan Overcast and Sam Wiswell.

“Our alumni took a whole week off from work to come wax tech for the team. I can truly say that, without their hard work, the awesome performances that we had throughout the week would never have happened without all of the support we received,”Boggs says. “Co-head Coach Rachel Watson and I are so grateful for our incredible alumni.”