NCAA skiing – FasterSkier

University of Alaska Fairbanks Seeks Head Men’s and Women’s Ski Coach

FasterSkierFebruary 24, 2026

The Head Men’s and Women’s Skiing Coach provides comprehensive leadership and oversight for all aspects of UAF’s Nordic skiing programs within the Department of Athletics. This position is responsible for coaching and program development, student-athlete recruitment, supervision and mentorship of assistant coaches, and fostering a culture that promotes academic success, personal growth, and competitive excellence. The role supports student-athlete welfare, ensures compliance with NCAA, conference, and university policies, and contributes to the department...

Collegiate Feature US Ski Team

“You Can’t Live Nervous”

Matthew VoisinDecember 22, 2025

Finals week has a way of compressing time. Days shrink into problem sets and exams; nights stretch just long enough to make sleep negotiable. When Jack Lange logged onto Zoom from Hanover in late November, he was finishing his senior fall at Dartmouth, a mechanical engineering major balancing equations while packing for a training block at Silver Star. The snow out west wasn’t cooperating. Races were being reformatted. Nothing felt settled. That uncertainty didn’t seem...

Feature World Cup

Two Degrees, One Dream: How a Future Teacher Found Her Way to the World Cup

Matthew VoisinDecember 10, 2025

The Hill That Got Easier On an ordinary winter afternoon in Fairbanks, before NCAA titles and World Cup bibs and FIS profiles, there was just a loop—eight hundred meters of snow and one long, unforgiving hill. Middle-school Kendall Kramer skied it after class, day after day, with her dad. Birch Hill. Blue Loop. One big climb, same as yesterday, same as tomorrow. What changed was how it felt. “We would just go for, like, 30...

Collegiate US Ski Team

The Hilltop Lesson: How Second Place at the NCAA Championship Became Hagenbuch’s Guiding Philosophy

Matthew VoisinNovember 26, 2025

On a bright March afternoon at Dartmouth’s Oak Hill, with a soft and slow course under his skis and a band he himself had organized blasting in the stadium above, John Steel Hagenbuch approached the final climb where he learned something that would shape the early years of his career far more than any podium ever could. He had come into the NCAA Championships with the weight of a thousand private dreams — a home...

Collegiate General News

D1 Skiing returns to the University of Nevada, just alpine for now

Ella HallAugust 31, 2022

In a press conference on Wednesday, the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) announced that it will once again support a Division I ski team, starting this season. For the time being however, the program will only have alpine skiing. Both the president of the university and the university’s athletic director were present for the announcement, marking the moment. “It has been truly amazing to see how much the program’s return has energized our community,” said...

Community Feature Health Interviews Lifestyle Resources

On Pregnancy, Postpartum Recovery, and NCAA Ski Coaching: Eliška Albrigtsen (Part 2)

Rachel PerkinsMay 10, 2022

Part 1 of this story details Eliška’s experience coaching through pregnancy and the birth of her son. Keep reading to learn about the challenges she, like many women, experienced during the postpartum recovery process, and what it took to navigate year one of life on the road with baby Viggo. Expectation versus reality. When preparing to interview Eliška Albrigtsen about her experience pairing NCAA coaching with new motherhood, I expected the challenges she faced during...

Community Feature Resources Training

On Pregnancy, Postpartum Recovery, and NCAA Ski Coaching: Eliška Albrigtsen (Part 1)

Rachel PerkinsMay 8, 2022

While skimming through the extensive photo albums shared by Tobias Albrigtsen during the U.S. Cross Country Ski Championships in Soldier Hollow this past January, one head coach caught my attention. University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) head coach Eliška Albrigtsen (Tobias’ wife) had an extra member of the team in tow: her then 11-month-old son, Viggo. As most ski coaches know all too well, the demands of the job are multifactorial, and can make it challenging...

Collegiate Community Interviews Racing

After Three Straight NCAA Championship Victories, What’s Next for the University of Utah?

Ben TheyerlMay 5, 2022

With a cohort of some of the best U23 skiers in the country, the program is setting a trend for young American skiers pursuing international-level and college skiing simultaneously. After the first day of this year’s NCAA Championships, held at Soldier Hollow, Utah, the team scoring was close. The familiar schools were all there, the University of Utah (UU) at the front, with the University of Colorado (CU), Denver University (DU), and the University...

Collegiate General News Racing

From the Archives: Performance, not college, was reason for USST cuts (June 2009)

Gavin KentchApril 22, 2022

The following article was first published on FasterSkier in June 2009. It is reprinted now in advance of the upcoming announcement of athlete nominations for the 2022/2023 U.S. Ski Team, a subject of perennial interest for American ski fans. Based on the published objective criteria for team naming and athletes’ current world ranking, it appears that multiple athletes who are current or recent NCAA skiers will be named to next year’s national team. Like many...

Community Feature News

EISA Circuit Ready to Start the Carnival(s) Again

Ben TheyerlJanuary 10, 2022

As the largest NCAA circuit in the nation prepares for a return to a full schedule, anticipation, anxiety, and lessons from a pandemic year abound in New England. Carnival, as a noun, has perhaps had its moment. We’ve been building towards ennui, not excitement, for nearly two years now. Maybe it’s time to dispel the anticipation, let the moment fade, and let “Carnival” go along with it. But then again, calling a collegiate race circuit...

Community Resources

Unraveling the College Athlete Admission Process: Preparing for the Campus Visit with Dartmouth’s Cami Thompson-Graves

Rachel PerkinsSeptember 24, 2019

Deciding how to handle the “college conflict”, as aptly phrased by Alayna Sonnesyn, is a daunting and somewhat mysterious prospect, particularly for athletes and families who are unfamiliar with the process. How does a junior athlete know that they are cut out for a collegiate program? NCAA or USCSA? What about a gap year? In this series, FasterSkier spoke with collegiate and junior coaches and athletes who have chosen different pathways to create a resource...

Collegiate Community

USCSA: The “Hidden Gem” Pathway for Non-NCAA Collegiate Skiers

Rachel PerkinsJuly 16, 20191

Last year, 174 athletes in the male and female U18 categories competed at Junior Nationals in Anchorage, AK. This number represents a small fraction of the cross country skiers throughout the country in that age category. As there are only about 30 NCAA programs nationwide that offer Division I or Division II cross country skiing, the opportunity for high-level training and racing narrows significantly after a skier graduates from high school. However, the door to...

General Interviews News Racing

The Phenom Next Door: Gus Schumacher Looks to Lahti

Gavin KentchJanuary 17, 2019

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Gus Schumacher spent last winter traveling the world for ski racing, including laying down the season’s most dramatic anchor leg, non-Jessie Diggins edition, to bring the U.S. men’s relay team from fourth to a historic second at World Juniors. The then-high school senior also spent the season touring the country to plan his future in ski racing, talking with multiple NCAA coaches to discuss their programs and weigh everything from coaching philosophy...

Interviews News

FasterSkier’s Interview with University of Utah Head Coach Miles Havlick

Jason AlbertNovember 19, 2018

The Internet is a wonderful time machine. Just a few search words and clicks away, there’s Miles Havlick, arms raised, crossing the line first in the 20-kilometer freestyle mass start at the 2013 NCAA Skiing Championships. It was the second consecutive NCAA championship for the now 28-year-old Havlick — he won the 2012 NCAA title in the 20 k classic. As a standout skier at the University of Utah, Havlick made the jump to Sun...

Collegiate Interviews Lifestyle News Racing Training

Summer Training… All Over Finland with Krista Niiranen

Chelsea LittleJuly 20, 2017

A World Junior Championships and World U23 Championships skier for Finland who had racked up top-10 finishes in her country’s competitive national-championships field, Krista Niiranen moved to the American Southwest last year. “I had been studying law in the University of Lapland in Finland, but for the last season I transferred to the University of New Mexico and represented the UNM Ski Team,” she explained. Niiranen made a splash on the SuperTour and NCAA circuits,...

Collegiate General Interviews News Racing

Summer Training In… Hamar, Norway, with Silje Wilson and Annavitte Rand

Chelsea LittleJuly 11, 2017

Talking about their summer plans, University of New Hampshire (UNH) skiers Annavitte Rand and Silje Wilson suddenly had what they called a crazy idea. Wilson hails from Hamar, Norway, and Rand from Vermont. They both wanted something new out of this summer: Wilson wanted to train with other college skiers (and not just Norwegian club teammates), and Rand wanted to go somewhere new. “Given that this is the summer before my senior year, I knew...

General News

NCAA Skiing Cut at Both Alaska Schools, UA President Announces

Gavin KentchOctober 27, 2016

The 2016/2017 school year will be the final season of NCAA-sanctioned college skiing in the state of Alaska, University of Alaska President Jim Johnsen announced at a Thursday afternoon press conference.

Job Postings

Northern Michigan University Seeks Assistant Coach

FasterSkierApril 10, 2015

The NMU Ski Team is hiring an assistant coach to help the head coach with all assigned duties associated with the Intercollegiate Ski Programs and teach in the Health and Human Performance Department as assigned.

Collegiate Continental Cup Interviews News Racing

Pros of Tomorrow: After Injury-Fraught Year, Lustgarten Ready to Make His Mark with Sun Valley

Lander KarathJune 18, 2014

Ben Lustgarten had a modest start in nordic skiing, but his future in the sport is anything but. Despite a senior year at Middlebury College that was fraught with injuries, the emerging star is ready to excel in the world of professional skiing.

Collegiate Racing

Gruber Returns to Top of 5 k Classic Podium at NCAA Championships

Seth AdamsMarch 6, 2014

UVM's Anja Gruber defended her title in the women's 5 k classic at the NCAA Championships in Soldier Hollow, Utah, today. She was followed by DU's Sylvia Nordskar and UNM's Eva Severrus.

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