Steamboat Springs, Colo. - The Colby Nordic Ski team competed in the Freestyle event on the second day of the 2024 NCAA Skiing Championships Thursday.  The series opened Wednesday with the Giant Slalom portion of the Alpine events.  

With three athletes representing Colby College, the Mules stepped toe to toe with the best in college ski racing.  The field at the annual event is full of international experience, including several with previous World Cup and even Olympic games under their belt.  Colby's own Jack Young is one of those with such experience, having raced in three World Cup Sprint events this past February.  While an 11th place in the Canmore World Cup qualifier opened eyes across the nation, the Sprint is not a recognized event at these championships.  

Young still stepped up and performed well Thursday, placing 26th with a time of 21:03.  Dartmouth's John Hagenbuch won the race in 19:09.  Hagenbuch was followed by seven consecutive finishers from western scholarship universities before the next eastern racer came through.  Young was the 7th finisher from an eastern institution, and the second finisher from a Division III school. Teammate Zach Nemeth was close behind in 36th place in 22:07. 

Gretta Scholz represented Colby for the women's team, placing 29th with a time of 24:29.  The race was won by Sydney Palmer-Leger from the University of Utah.  Scholz had an outstanding senior carnival season on the eastern circuit consistently in the top-12-15.  Her performance Thursday was right on par as she finished as the 13th eastern skier.   Scholz was the third finisher from a Division III institution. 

"We had a great day!" said Head Nordic Ski coach Tracey Cote. "Racing at altitude without time to acclimate is really challenging for any distance athlete. Jack and Gretta did a fantastic job pacing their races and both were looking super strong at the end.  Both scored points for the team which is always a huge goal at the championships. We are also so proud of how Zach competed.  We're excited for him to get after it Saturday in the Classic." 

The top-30 finishers of each race score points towards team scoring.  With the Giant Slalom and Freestyle races completed, Colby sits in 12th place just behind 11th place Middlebury as the top Division III schools.  

The Alpine team will conclude their portion of the competition Friday night with the Slalom at Howelson Hill before Saturday's Classic mass start closes the championships.