Both the University of Wyoming men’s and women’s Nordic skiing teams turned in strong performances at the United States Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association national championships Thursday in Lake Placid, New York.
During the third round of competition, UW’s Kaj Taylor followed up his impressive sprint with a national runner-up finish in the 15k classic, making him a two-time first team All-American.
In the race, Taylor started quickly and skied closely with the overall national champion from Paul Smith’s College. The two competitors pulled away from the rest of the pack, with Taylor trying multiple times to pull away from the leader, but he could not quite drop him and eventually lost ground.
“It was an incredible show of skiing by Kaj. He skied so well, but he is ever humble, saying the wax on his skis was what was perfect,” UW coach Rachel Watson said. “Kaj was so calm and confident in the race. He knew he had that podium in him, and you could see it in his eyes throughout the race.”
The rest of the men skied “super hard and gritty,” inspired by Taylor’s performance, coach Christi Boggs said. Unofficially, the Cowboys finished sixth overall in the men’s competition.
“We had some crashes that kept us back from an incredible finish, but overall, it was a good day,” Boggs added. “Our women also were incredible, with seven women in the top 19 places. They just kept picking people off.”
The Cowgirls were led once again by Annie Miller, who placed fifth among all skiers. She was followed by her teammates who all finished in order from 12th through 16th place. They were Krisanna Andrews, Sammy Veauthier, Shayla Babits, Grace Erholtz and Wren Hybertson. Izzy Brown rounded out the overall top-20 placers in 19th.
“They were a thing of beauty to watch, just skiing so well, pacing each other to such great finishes,” Boggs said.
As a team, the Cowgirls placed third behind national-leader St. Olaf University, which had the top-two skiers and another in eighth place. Second went to the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
“This puts our women’s team on the podium for the largest and best field USCSA has ever seen,” Boggs said. “They go into the final relay fighting to move up one place on the podium.”
The national competition wraps up Saturday with the freestyle team sprint finale.
Let the news come to you
Get any of our free email newsletters — news headlines, sports, arts & entertainment, state legislature, CFD news, and more.
