NCAA Skiing Hits Halfway Mark

Thursday, March 11

Men's 10K Classic - Jackson XC

10 AM

University of New Hampshire

NCAA Ski Championships

UNH's Lucinda Anderson and the field dealt with soft snow conditions Thursday at Jackson.

Photo by: NCAA Photos via Getty Images

3/11/2021 6:06:00 PM | Men's Skiing, Women's Skiing, UNH Insider

Utah Dominates in XC on A Sunny Day in Jackson

By: Allen Lessels

JACKSON, N.H. - Another glorious, sunny day. Another day down in the 2021 NCAA Skiing Championships.

The Utes representing the University of Utah put on a show Thursday in the Nordic classic events at Jackson XC to take another step toward defending their national championship.

The four-day championships continue with the men's and women's giant slalom at Cannon/Mittersill on Friday and conclude with Nordic freestyle races back at Jackson on Saturday.

"What a spectacular day," said Ellen Chandler, executive director of Jackson XC. "A great day for spectating, here and on TV. It was a tough day for racing, tough but fair."

Those watching on site are limited to teammates, coaches and venue personnel. No spectators are allowed at these championships due to COVID-19 protocols.

All the races are being live-streamed through www.ncaa.com and the live-stream and more information may be accessed as well through a championships page at www.unhwildcats.com.

The tough side for racing came from the sun and warmth. Temperatures were in the mid-50s and the snow got more and more soft as the day went on. The championships started under sunny skies, though it was not as warm, on Wednesday with giant slalom races at Cannon/Mittersill.

"It was a gorgeous day to watch, a beautiful day in Jackson," said Cory Schwartz, UNH skiing coordinator and head Nordic coach. "But you could see the conditions and the weather. It's not a fun day to race. Mid-50s with the sun baking on us. I feel like I'm at the beach."

Sophomore Lucinda Anderson and freshman Jasmine Lyons led UNH on the women's side with finishes of 25^th and 26^th respectively. Sophomore Scott Schulz was 26^th for the men and freshman Seth Wyatt was 29^th.

"We definitely could have done better," Schwartz said. "The team's young on the Nordic side and they're going to be unhappy for a few hours and then we'll regroup and they'll be fine by Saturday, there's no doubt about that."

Temperatures are forecast to drop and Schwartz is expecting the day, and conditions, to be drastically different by Saturday.

"It's supposed to get down below freezing, which will make for fun skiing," Schwartz said. "It will be a faster race."

Thursday's sun and temperatures impacted the course conditions. The venue, Chandler said, will be good to go.

"We've got our work cut out for us," Chandler said. "But we have plenty of snow. We just have to make sure it's in the right place."

WATCH THE 'SHIP

All events at the championships are being livestreamed at www.ncaa.com
Streaming, statistics and more information are available through the NCAA Championship page at www.unhwildcats.com

THIS AND THAT

Utah dominated the classic events Thursday.
Sydney Palmer-Leger led a sweep of the top three spots in the women's 5K.
Colorado's Magnus Boee won the men's 10K race in 26:17.7.
Utah skiers were second, third and fifth.
The Utes have 319 points to lead the championships after two days.
Colorado is second with 252.5 points and Montana State is third with 213.5 points.
Alaska-Anchorage is fourth with 200 points.
UNH is in ninth with 96 points.
Utah is looking to defend its 2019 championship and has won two of the last three NCAA titles.
There was no team championship awarded last year. The event was canceled following the second day because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
UNH also hosted the 2017 NCAA Skiing Championships at Cannon/Mittersill and Jackson XC.