Miller Captures National Title; Bobcats Lead at Midway Mark of NCAAs

Thursday, March 10

Steamboat Springs, CO

9 a.m.

Montana State University

2016 NCAA Championships - Nordic Freestyle

MSU's Anika Miller (atop podium) won a national freestyle championship, Thursday morning.

Miller Captures National Title; Bobcats Lead at Midway Mark of NCAAs

3/10/2016 5:42:00 PM | Men's Skiing, Women's Skiing, Skiing

By: Tom Schulz

Montana State junior Anika Miller became the first Bobcat skier to win an individual title at the NCAA Skiing Championships since Dan Brelsford captured the slalom crown in 1978, Thursday morning at Howelsen Hill. Tor Fageraas also won a Nordic combined championship for MSU in 1962.

Miller, a product of McCall, Idaho, also becomes the first female Montana State skier to win an individual title. "Anika had everything and more go her way today and she went to the start line prepared to have a peak performance," said MSU Nordic coach Matthew Johnson. "I'm really proud of her for the incredible effort she puts into training every day, and excited she was able to capitalize on that training and fitness when it counted most."

Miller's winning time was 13:06.1 in the five-kilometer freestyle. Colorado's Petra Nyncicova was runner-up in 13:14.0.

Also earning First-Team All-America accolades for the Bobcats was Cambria McDermott. The senior from Putney, Vermont has been MSU's most consistent skier on the women's side this winter. McDermott placed fourth in a clocking of 13:15.5

Freshman Johanna Taliharm (Tallinn, Estonia) completed the scoring for Montana State finishing 13th in 13:26.9.

"Today was an outstanding day for the Nordic team," Johnson commented. "We watched the live stream of the alpine races yesterday and the whole team was so excited. We knew that we could back up their performance in the giant slalom.

"We focused on executing our race plan just like this was any other race," Johnson said. "The Bobcat women won the 5k freestyle day here two months ago during the CU invite, so we really wanted to approach the championships the exact same way again this time. There are no guarantees when it comes to NCAAs; getting a top five today means everything has to line up for you on this particular day, and winning means more than everything has to go your way."

Senior Sawyer Kesselheim, who entered the NCAAs with four top five finishes during the regular-season, continued his stifling season placing fifth overall to become a two-time All-American. The Bozeman native covered the 10-kilometer course in 22:35.4.

"The NCAA men's field was incredibly competitive, which showed today," Johnson said. "Our skis were running well and the boys had a lot of confidence going in after seeing the girls' results, which contributed to their success on the course. From our splits on the course we could tell Sawyer was vying for a top position all race, and it was exciting to see him finish so well."

Rounding out MSU's scoring were Forrest Mahlen, 19^th, 23:33.0, and Karsten Hokanson, 27^th, 24:05.2.

"Karsten and Forrest also had very solid days, which relative to our outstanding women's results may seem lackluster," Johnson said. "However, their performances were excellent and it was obvious from where I was standing on the far end, and arguably hardest part of the course, that they were pushing as hard as they could to help the team stay on top of the overall standings.
"Now, we are trying to rest and recover as well as possible to have another great day on Saturday," Johnson continued. "And, we are taking these championships a day at a time and enjoying the process."

Colorado's Mads Stroem won the individual men's title in a clocking of 22:06.8.

Quickly becoming the Cinderella story of the 2016 NCAA Skiing Championships, Montana State maintained its lead, extending it from 10 to 18 points as the Bobcats have 282 team points through four of eight events. Utah overtook Denver for second place, but just barely as the NCAA West Regional champion Utes have 264 points and the Pioneers 263; Colorado is the only other team over 200 as the Buffaloes have 214.5. East region champ Vermont is in a distant fifth with 154.

MSU, which was just the 10th different school to hold the first day lead, as well as at any point since the sport went coed, became only the seventh to be in front at the midway point, joining (in order) Wyoming, Colorado, Vermont, Utah, Denver and Dartmouth. The Bobcats have never finished higher than seventh at the NCAA's, which they have done twice, in 2012 as the host and last year at Lake Placid.

The alpine slalom races will be featured on Friday night under the lights at Mt. Werner.