MIDWAY, Utah –
Ben Ogden became the third Catamount in program history to sweep the Nordic races at the NCAA Skiing Championships with a second national title in three days as he finished first in the 20k Freestyle Saturday afternoon. The Catamounts earned three All-America citations Saturday and finished as National Runner-Up with 511.5 points. The host Utah Utes claimed their third straight NCAA Championship with 578 points.
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Ogden won the third national title of his career with a time of 43:00.5 Saturday. He finished 7.4 seconds ahead of Utah's Samuel Hendry. Ogden is the first Catamount to sweep the Nordic events at a NCAA Championship since Thorodd Bakken '98 in 1998. Laura Wilson '91 also achieved the feat in 1990 and 1991.
Jacob Nystedt earned his second All-America honor of the week placing ninth overall in a time of 43:38.8.
Matias Øvrum was 15th in a time of 44:06.6.
"Beautiful day and just a beautiful course, there's nothing better," said Ogden. "This is a dream come true. The sun, all my friends and a good race. I can't ask for anything else. I had the whole self-doubt going in my head that today isn't my day and I was just fighting for third. But there were about 150 people on that back hill, and one was my best friend from growing up who was out there with a chain saw, making all kinds of noise and I got my second wind. And I was lucky to get over the finish line. It's all about the noise and the loud cheers, and that was the deciding factor for me."
Anna Bizyukova earned her second All-America honor of the week with a sixth-place finish in the 15k Freestyle. She was the Catamounts' top finisher in both races this week in Utah. Bizyukova completed the 15k circuit in a time of 38:47.7. Utah's Sophia Laukli won the race with a time of 36:35.7.
Waverly Gebhardt placed 16th for Vermont with a time of 40:13.5. Her teammate
Haley Brewster was 17th just 3.1 seconds behind Brewster.
The Catamounts second place finish marks the third time since 2014 UVM has been National Runner-Up. It is the seventh time under Director of Skiing
Bill Reichelt the Catamounts have finished in the top-three. Saturday's action closed out the 2022 collegiate season for the Catamounts. Following the NCAA Championships UVM now has 72 individual national champions and 409 All-American citations in program history.
ALL-AMERICA HONORS
Anna Bizyukova (First Team – 5k Classic, Second Team – 15k Freestyle)
Jacob Nystedt (Second Team – 10k Classic, Second Team – 20k Freestyle)
Ben Ogden (First Team – 10k Classic, First Team – 20k Freestyle)
Moa Clementson (First Team – Slalom)
Marina Vilanova (Second Team – Giant Slalom)
Joachim Jagge Lindstol (Second Team – Giant Slalom, First Team – Slalom)
Mathias Tefre (First Team – Slalom)