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University of New Hampshire Athletics
Seth Wyatt, Scott Schulz and Roger Anderson are among the Wildcats competing in the NCAA Championships in Utah starting Wednesday.
Photo by: Allen Lessels
Insider Report: NCAA Skiing
3/8/2022 4:34:00 PM | UNH Insider, Skiing
'Cats Look to Build Off Success in Championships in Utah
DURHAM, N.H. – The University of New Hampshire ski team will aim to ride the momentum from its best-ever finish in the Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association Championships into the NCAA Championships this week in Utah.
The Wildcats played host to the EISA event – which doubles as the NCAA East Regionals - at Cannon Mountain/Mittersill and Jackson Cross Country the last weekend of February and finished second to Vermont and ahead of Middlebury and Dartmouth.
Now they'll look to follow up that success with more in the 2022 NCAA Ski Championships that open with the giant slalom for women and men at Park City Mountain Resort on Wednesday morning.
"We're hoping we get off to a good start on Wednesday with the alpine crew and then we can continue it on Thursday," said skiing coordinator and Nordic head coach Cory Schwartz. "We have a lot of people that can perform well."
The NCAAs have an alpine/Nordic/alpine/Nordic format.
The women's 5K classic and men's 10K classic races are set for Thursday at Soldier Hollow Nordic Center in Midway, about 40 minutes from the alpine venue. The slalom races are back at Park City on Friday and the NCAAs wrap up with the men's 20K freestyle and women's 15K freestyle at Soldier Hollow on Saturday.
Each team is limited to 12 skiers at the NCAAs, three each of Nordic women and men and alpine women and men. UNH qualified nearly a full squad and has 11 competitors.
Sophomore Jasmine Lyons, freshman Lisa Nystedt and junior Luci Anderson are the women's Nordic qualifiers and junior Scott Schulz, sophomore Seth Wyatt and freshman Roger Anderson, Luci's brother, will compete on the men's Nordic side.
Freshman Zoe Michael and senior Fanny Sanderberg are the women's alpine competitors. Grad students Bastian Meisen and Will Bruneau-Bouchard and junior Marius Solbakken are the men's alpine racers. Senior Lisa Olsson was ninth in the giant slalom at the EISAs and just missed qualifying.
"I feel like we have a really strong team, one of the strongest we've had in a few years," said Brian Blank, the head alpine coach. "I think we definitely have the ability to rack up some points. I don't like guessing what place we might finish, but top eight would be great, seven or eight. We certainly have the ability to do that with the numbers we have."
The Wildcats finished ninth last year when UNH stepped up to host the NCAAs, also at Cannon/Mittersill and Jackson Cross Country, on short notice. The school originally scheduled to host was not able to when its team did not compete during the season because of COVID restrictions. Dartmouth and NESCAC schools, including Williams and Middlebury, also sat out last season.
The Wildcats will be shooting for individual honors in their quest for team points.
"It's always nice to have a couple of All Americans," Blank said. "A national champion isn't out of the realm of possibility. But it's a tall task given the field of skiers we have here."
Meisen, a former member of the German national team, made a bid for an EISA and Regional title at Mittersill.
As the winner of the first run of giant slalom Saturday, he was the last racer to ski his second run among the top 30. By then it was getting late and shadowy on an icy and rough course and he skied off the course about 10 gates from the finish line.
"I was going for it," Meisen said. "But I got late on a gate and it was bumpy and unfortunately I skied out. I'm looking forward to the NCAAs. I think we're a really good team."
Meisen, who skied on the World Cup circuit for a couple of seasons, is in the MBA program at UNH.
"He's skiing well right now," Blank said. "I feel like it's the best he's skied all season, so that's good."
The Wildcats across the board had some nice results in the EISA Championships.
"We skied solidly," Schwartz said. "I think we know we can compete."
Nystedt skied her way into the NCAAs with her results at EISAs. She finished ninth in the classic race, following up a fifth-place result after she started 37th in the freestyle race.
"It was kind of interesting to hear her talk about it," Schwartz said. "She didn't know where she was in terms of the race, but kept passing people and was feeling good. It was definitely a confidence boost for her."
Lyons and Luci Anderson missed the EISA Championships while they raced in Norway at the World Juniors and Under-23 Championships.
Lyons comes in as the No. 3 ranked Nordic skiers in the East, No. 2 in freestyle.
Schulz is No. 6 overall from the East and No. 4 in freestyle and also had a big EISA with a runnerup finish in the 20K freestyle and sixth-place result in the classic.
"I think our coaches (Schwartz and assistant Shane McDowell) did a really good job of peaking us at the right time," Schulz said. "I think we're all just coming into our own right now."
Utah has won the last two and three of the last four NCAA championships. Vermont was the runnerup in 2019 and was the last Eastern school to win the championship in 2012.
The Wildcats played host to the EISA event – which doubles as the NCAA East Regionals - at Cannon Mountain/Mittersill and Jackson Cross Country the last weekend of February and finished second to Vermont and ahead of Middlebury and Dartmouth.
Now they'll look to follow up that success with more in the 2022 NCAA Ski Championships that open with the giant slalom for women and men at Park City Mountain Resort on Wednesday morning.
"We're hoping we get off to a good start on Wednesday with the alpine crew and then we can continue it on Thursday," said skiing coordinator and Nordic head coach Cory Schwartz. "We have a lot of people that can perform well."
The NCAAs have an alpine/Nordic/alpine/Nordic format.
The women's 5K classic and men's 10K classic races are set for Thursday at Soldier Hollow Nordic Center in Midway, about 40 minutes from the alpine venue. The slalom races are back at Park City on Friday and the NCAAs wrap up with the men's 20K freestyle and women's 15K freestyle at Soldier Hollow on Saturday.
Each team is limited to 12 skiers at the NCAAs, three each of Nordic women and men and alpine women and men. UNH qualified nearly a full squad and has 11 competitors.
Sophomore Jasmine Lyons, freshman Lisa Nystedt and junior Luci Anderson are the women's Nordic qualifiers and junior Scott Schulz, sophomore Seth Wyatt and freshman Roger Anderson, Luci's brother, will compete on the men's Nordic side.
Freshman Zoe Michael and senior Fanny Sanderberg are the women's alpine competitors. Grad students Bastian Meisen and Will Bruneau-Bouchard and junior Marius Solbakken are the men's alpine racers. Senior Lisa Olsson was ninth in the giant slalom at the EISAs and just missed qualifying.
"I feel like we have a really strong team, one of the strongest we've had in a few years," said Brian Blank, the head alpine coach. "I think we definitely have the ability to rack up some points. I don't like guessing what place we might finish, but top eight would be great, seven or eight. We certainly have the ability to do that with the numbers we have."
The Wildcats finished ninth last year when UNH stepped up to host the NCAAs, also at Cannon/Mittersill and Jackson Cross Country, on short notice. The school originally scheduled to host was not able to when its team did not compete during the season because of COVID restrictions. Dartmouth and NESCAC schools, including Williams and Middlebury, also sat out last season.
The Wildcats will be shooting for individual honors in their quest for team points.
"It's always nice to have a couple of All Americans," Blank said. "A national champion isn't out of the realm of possibility. But it's a tall task given the field of skiers we have here."
Meisen, a former member of the German national team, made a bid for an EISA and Regional title at Mittersill.
As the winner of the first run of giant slalom Saturday, he was the last racer to ski his second run among the top 30. By then it was getting late and shadowy on an icy and rough course and he skied off the course about 10 gates from the finish line.
"I was going for it," Meisen said. "But I got late on a gate and it was bumpy and unfortunately I skied out. I'm looking forward to the NCAAs. I think we're a really good team."
Meisen, who skied on the World Cup circuit for a couple of seasons, is in the MBA program at UNH.
"He's skiing well right now," Blank said. "I feel like it's the best he's skied all season, so that's good."
The Wildcats across the board had some nice results in the EISA Championships.
"We skied solidly," Schwartz said. "I think we know we can compete."
Nystedt skied her way into the NCAAs with her results at EISAs. She finished ninth in the classic race, following up a fifth-place result after she started 37th in the freestyle race.
"It was kind of interesting to hear her talk about it," Schwartz said. "She didn't know where she was in terms of the race, but kept passing people and was feeling good. It was definitely a confidence boost for her."
Lyons and Luci Anderson missed the EISA Championships while they raced in Norway at the World Juniors and Under-23 Championships.
Lyons comes in as the No. 3 ranked Nordic skiers in the East, No. 2 in freestyle.
Schulz is No. 6 overall from the East and No. 4 in freestyle and also had a big EISA with a runnerup finish in the 20K freestyle and sixth-place result in the classic.
"I think our coaches (Schwartz and assistant Shane McDowell) did a really good job of peaking us at the right time," Schulz said. "I think we're all just coming into our own right now."
Utah has won the last two and three of the last four NCAA championships. Vermont was the runnerup in 2019 and was the last Eastern school to win the championship in 2012.
Players Mentioned
Nordic
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Nordic
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Alpine
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Nordic
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Alpine
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Alpine
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Nordic
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Alpine
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Alpine
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Nordic
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Alpine
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Nordic
/ SkiingSunday, October 18
Saturday, October 17
Friday, October 16
Thursday, October 15