A Clarkson University skier, left, makes her way through the freestyle sprint course Wednesday during the U.S. Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association national championships in Bend, Oregon. The Clarkson women won the team title in the race. (Photo provided)

BEND, Oregon — The U.S. Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association continued its five-day collegiate national championship Wednesday with the men’s alpine slalom and a nordic freestyle sprint at Mount Bachelor. The snowy weather continued to be a challenge, forcing the snowboard slopestyle events to be postponed until later in the week due to poor visibility.

Clarkson University took the top two individual spots in the nordic freestyle race, with Ana Witkowski placing first and Sarah Duclos in second. Clarkson’s women’s team was awarded the team national championship with 15 total points, just ahead of St. Olaf with 20 and University of Wyoming with 31.

Another Clarkson skier rose to the top of the men’s freestyle race when Charles Maitland took first place over Nate Maddox of Wester State Colorado University. Peter Mallery placed 10th for Clarkson.

Slalom racing also took place Wednesday at Bachelor Mountain. Rocky Mountain College captured another team national championship, winning by 2.6 seconds over Sierra Nevada College.

Andraz Reich-Pogladic from Rocky Mountain College won the individual title.

Showing how much the soft snow affected the course, the fastest second run of the day was from Castleton College’s Jan Klindic, who rocketed from the 30th position all the way to the third-fastest combined time.  

“It was a difficult day under difficult conditions,” Rocky Mountain College’s head coach Jerry Wolf said. “Rocky did defend our slalom title with sophomore Andraz Reich-Pogladic winning with a commanding lead and two seniors keeping pace in fifth and 10th for the team win. Rocky’s men have won a number of national titles, and four national championships, yet we have never defended the overall two years in a row. I believe that is what this year’s Bears hunger for, another mark in our school’s history book.”

USCSA is the only ski and snowboard league where colleges and universities compete and qualify for postseason competition as a team. This emphasis on team performance is a departure from the typical individual or world cup scoring format often found in skiing. Allowing entire teams to qualify for the USCSA Collegiate National ChampionshipTM also allows for a greater number of competitors to attend the event, with more than 230 alpine athletes, 210 freeski and snowboard athletes and 100 nordic athletes competing this week at Mt Bachelor.

Teams began their quest to qualify for the U.S. Collegiate Skiing and Snowboarding National ChampionshipTM in their local conference competitions, held across 11 conferences spanning the nation, this January. Top teams from each conference attended one of six regional championships, which decide who ultimately qualifies to participate in events at the Collegiate National Championship.