Midway, UT - The Nordic team capped off the NCAA Championships by getting two men into the top 30 on the final day of racing in the 20k mass start freestyle event. With really warm temps forecasted, there was concern that the course would break down and make for some really difficult racing conditions for the athletes, but fortunately the cloud cover enabled the snow to hold up much better than anticipated which made for some great conditions for the Mules. 

The women opened up the final day of racing, and the snow was really firm and fast for them, and the pace was also very fast from the start. Lola Villafranco skied a very smart race and was able to stay in contact with her group up the long climb section at the beginning of the loop, and was able to conserve energy on the later portion of the loop. She was able to outsprint the group of athletes she was skiing with to finish 37th. 

The men's race stayed bunched up for a little longer than the women's race did. Ben Lewis and James Underwood were able to get themselves into a good position early and stay there for the majority of the race. Andrew Defor was very controlled at the start and was able to conserve energy with his group of skiers, and then was able to separate from them on the last couple laps. Ben led the team with a really well-paced race, pushing his limit, but just avoiding going over it to find his way to 25th and 5th among Eastern region skiers in the field. James was one lap away from a stellar race, and despite fading a little on the last lap, still held on for a good race at 29th overall and 7th for the East. Andy found his way to 37th place, handily skiing away from the duo he had been skiing with for the majority of the race.

Together with the Alpine team Colby finished 11th out of 22 teams and was the 2nd Division III program at this year's NCAA Championships.

It was a good conclusion to a strong season for the Nordic team who are already looking forward to the 2027 season.

Results
Team standings