DENVER - The United States Collegiate Ski Coaches Association (USCSCA) announced the winners of its annual National Coaches and National Skiers of the Year, as voted on the by the association's membership Monday afternoon. Patrick Weaver was named Nordic Coach of the Year for the second straight season and Ben Ogden was named Men's Nordic Skier of the Year.
 
Weaver finished his 10th season as the Nordic coach at Vermont, helping the Catamounts to their first EISA Championship since 2016. Four members of the Nordic squad earned All-American honors at the abbreviated 2020 NCAA Skiing Championships. An UVM skier won 13 of the 24 Nordic events this year on the EISA circuit, including a member of the men's team winning 10 of the 12 events (including the relay event). As a team the UVM men won all 13 races they competed in this season.  Eight Catamounts were named All-East, including five on the men's and women's first team.
 
A sophomore, Ogden won the Catamounts 68th individual national championship at the NCAA Skiing Championships in March. He earned First Team All-American honors with a first-place time of 23:50.2 in the 10k Freestyle to earn his first national title. Ogden skied in 10 EISA races this season, winning six of them. He didn't finish lower than fourth in any of them. He was also named to the All-East First Team and was the EISA Classic Bib Leader.
 
Outside of the collegiate circuit Ogden also competed for the United States at the FIS Junior World Ski Championships in Oberwiesenthal, Germany. He finished sixth in the Freestyle Sprint and ninth in the 10k Classic. Ogden skied second in the US's first-place winning 4x5k relay team.
 
On Friday afternoon, a total of 13 Catamounts were named to the USCSCA All-Academic Ski Team. To qualify, student-athletes must have a cumulative 3.5 grade point average and have competed in one of three NCAA Regional Championships held at the end of February. In the EISA, a total of 152 student-athletes were honored from 14 institutions.
 
USCSCA All-Academic Ski Team
Rachael DesRochers
Waverly Gebhardt
Hannah Hunsaker
Caroline Jones
Lizzie Larkins
Joachim Jagge Lindstol
Finn O'Connell
Ben Ogden
Matias Øvrum
Raphael Quenneville
Karl Schulz
Mathias Tefre
Marina Vilanova
 
2020 USCSCA National Skiers & Coaches of the Year
Women's Alpine Skier of the Year – Mikaela Tommy, Colorado
Men's Alpine Skier of the Year – Joachim Lein, Utah
Women's Nordic Skier of the Year – Guro Jordheim, Utah
Men's Nordic Skier of the Year – Ben Ogden, Vermont
Alpine Coach of the Year – Stever Bartlett, Middlebury
Nordic Coach of the Year - Patrick Weaver, Vermont