Lake Placid, N.Y. - The 2023 NCAA Skiing Championships kicked off with Alpine Ski Team in action at Whiteface Mountain. Lydia Riddell delivered a fantastic and astounding result earning second-team All-American honors. She becomes the first Mule to earn All-American honors since Mardi Haskell in 2017. Navigating a long, draining, and demanding G.S hill, Riddell put the exclamation mark on a stellar season for her in Giant Slalom.

The Mules had been able to race on the hill two weeks prior for the Saint Lawrence carnival, where Riddell showed impressive speed. Her podium performance in that race gave her the confidence to ski with intensity down the Upper Thruway and into Draper's Drop, the site of the 1980 Olympics. 

The hill, which is amongst the most demanding in the Eastern United States, was made even harder by the decision to start the race higher than usual. The change forced athletes to show strong technical skills and played right into Riddell's hands.

Riddell delivered a solid if not error-free first run to put her right in the mix in 10th. However, she knew she would need to find a higher gear to hold onto the top 10. She did just that, skiing a clean top section on the long and steep opening pitch before delivering snappy and aggressive skiing through the flat middle section, which gave her a significant lead at the second interval. She skied a balanced bottom section through a deteriorating course to come down with the lead, guaranteeing a top-10 result.

Riddell finished the day in 9th, the 3rd fastest skier from the Eastern region and remarkably the second fastest American, second only to current U.S. Ski Team member Allie Resnick from Dartmouth. Against international competition from the top division 1 schools in the country, Riddell proved herself and catapulted the Mules into the national conversation with the likes of the University of Utah, Colorado, and Vermont. 

Skiing in their second NCAA Championships was Ella Spear and Chauncey Morgan. Spear battled intense back pain to finish the day in 27th, adding team points for the Mules. Morgan suffered a nasty crash just three gates from the bottom of the course on his first run that took him out of the running. The two will look to bounce back in the Slalom.

After the day, the Mules sit in 12th place. The alpine side will get a rest day tomorrow as the Nordic team will be in action with the 5km and 10km skate race.

FULL REPLAY

TEAM RESULTS