Yellowstone Times

Bobcats Set for 70th NCAA Skiing Championships

Ten Montana State skiers will compete at the 70th NCAA Skiing Championships beginning Wednesday, March 8 with giant slalom at Whiteface Mountain in Lake Placid, N.Y. The slalom races run on Friday also at Whiteface Mountain. The Nordic freestyle and classical events will be held Thursday and Saturday, respectively, at Mt. Van Hoevenberg.

MSU's men's alpine squad will guide the Bobcats after qualifying a full three racers led by two-time All-America performer Riley Seger. Seger, a senior from Vancouver, B.C., finished third in giant slalom at last year's championship in Park City, Utah. He also garnered second-team All-America kudos after finishing sixth in GS at the 2021 national meet in Jackson, N.H.

Newcomer Gianluca Boehm, a product of Samedan, Switzerland, earned All-Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association honors after notching three top five finishes in slalom, including a runner-up showing at the Denver Invitational. Boehm also posted a sixth-place finish in giant slalom at the RMISA championships.

Henry Heaydon rounds out MSU's men's alpine contingent. The native of Avon, Colorado tallied two top 10 finishes in slalom, with a season-best third at the DU Invite.

Kristiane Bekkestad and Justine Lamontagne will anchor the women's alpine team. Bekkestad is a two-time All-America performer after placing third in slalom at last year's NCAA meet. She also garnered second-team accolades in 2021 with a ninth-place finish in slalom.

Lamontagne, a product of Mont. Sainte-Anne, Quebec, had an outstanding freshman season in the RMISA. She notched four top 10 finishes in slalom and was fifth at the RMISA championships. Lamontagne had a season-best seventh place showing in giant slalom at the RMISA meet, as well.

The Bobcat women's Nordic team will also field a full squad of three racers. Tilde Bångman, Sophia Mazzoni and Anna Pryce will look to earn MSU's first All-American nod in freestyle since Emma Tarbath captured first-team recognition in 2018 with a fifth-place finish in Steamboat Springs, Colo. MSU's last classic All-America finish was also in 2018 as Anna Fake placed eighth.

Bångman, a freshman from Oestersund, Sweden, was all-RMISA this winter after registering four top 10 showings in freestyle, and three top 10s in classic. Mazzoni is a three-time NCAA qualifier, while Pryce is making her second appearance.

Reed Godfrey and Florian Winker are MSU's men's Nordic representatives. Godfrey, a product of Canmore, Alberta is making his third NCAA Championships. He placed 13th in classic and 17th in freestyle at the 2021 national meet. Winker, a grad transfer from Spaichingen, Germany is making his first appearance as a Bobcat. Both will be looking to become MSU's first men's Nordic All-American since Sawyer Kesselheim earned first-team honors with a fifth-place finish in freestyle at the 2016 NCAA Skiing Championships in Steamboat Springs, Colo.

MSU's best team finish also came at the 2016 NCAA meet when it finished fourth with 406 points.

The national championships are hosted by St. Lawrence University.

Original source can be found here.