However, the Clarkson University’s men’s Nordic ski team emerged victorious in the USCSA National Championships overall standings, edging out the Bobcats by two points in the entire team event. It was the Golden Knights’ first USCSA overall title since the women’s team victory in 2019 and the first men’s team national title for the Golden Knights since 2012. Clarkson also received the President’s Award for best combined team results along with the Alpine men’s team, who placed third.

Saranac Lake native and Clarkson assistant coach Caroline Dodd said she was immensely proud to have helped lead Clarkson earn the team victory.

“As a former Saranac Lake Nordic skier, I was thrilled to coach at the collegiate level at two of my home venues, with regionals at Dewey Mountain and nationals at Mount Van Hoevenberg,” she said. “It was a real Adirondack week, with temperatures ranging from 20 to 65, rain, high winds and bright sunshine. The (state Olympic Regional Development Authority) team and USCSA put together an amazing event despite the challenges. Growing up skiing the legacy trails with the Bill Koch program, I could never have envisioned the caliber of the current venue and this week’s competition, much less that I would be part of it. Celebrating my team’s success at my home course was truly surreal.”

After returning from the IBU World Junior Championships in Estonia one day prior, Tanguay opened her championship run with a second place finish in the 7.5-kilometer skate, followed by a dominating performance in the classic sprint races to take home the win.

Clarkson assistant coach and Saranac Lake native Caroline Dodd, left, coaches Clarkson skier Conner Robertsin the USCSA National Nordic Championships in Lake Placid. (Provided photo)

In women’s 15K, which was the deciding race for the individual title, she nabbed fourth place to seal the individual crown. On the final day of competition, Tanguay set the fastest time of the day by four seconds in the 2K uphill time trial event. The race was modified from a team trial, due to the weather.

Ripp’s performance was nothing short of dominant, he opened the first race by setting a pace that was unmatched by anyone in the USCSA, winning the 7.5K skate race by over 44 seconds. Ripp took the win in the individual classic sprint, as well as a dominating win in the 15K classic race where he won by more than 1 minute, 30 seconds. On the final day of racing, he set the fastest time in the 2K uphill time trial, winning by more than 20 seconds. It was Ripp’s second overall title in the USCSA National Championship. He won the crown in 2022.

“Both of these performances were incredibly special. Dolcie and Aidan set these as goals a long time ago, and to see them achieve them was wonderful,” PSC Nordic head Coach Matthew Dougherty said. “For Dolcie to fly across the world, return home and after racing for two weeks in Europe and then race four times at nationals and take the overall title was incredible. Ripp’s performance goes down as the most dominant performance I have seen in the USCSA — four titles in four days and in dominant fashion. These two athletes have meant so much to our program, and I am so thankful for them and happy for them.”

Clarkson senior Conner Roberts of Honeoye-Falls raced to a career-best second place overall, while senior Kai Richter and sophomore Joey Rouhana placed seventh and ninth, respectively. Clarkson excelled in the distance races, winning the 7.5K skate and the 15K classic as a team.

The Bobcats also collected three team national championships, including a women’s title in the uphill time trial. The women’s squad landed in third overall in the final team points, earning its third overall podium in the last three years. The men’s team took the championships in the classic sprints as well as the uphill sprint and finished second overall — just two points behind in the overall classification.

Paul Smith’s Dolcie Tanguay competes in the USCSA National Nordic Championships in Lake Placid. (Provided photo — Brady Miller)

In the past two seasons, the Bobcat men have never finished lower than second place in any race at the USCSA National Championship.

“What an incredible week of performances from both teams,” Dougherty said. “We can literally say the whole team stepped up to garner these results whether it was Griffin Smith and Jacob Alberga in the classic sprints making it to the finals or Emily Cieslewitz notching a top 15 time in the classic sprints. The entire team was committed to the effort, and it was amazing to watch and be a part of. While sometimes you have to have good luck or just avoid the bad luck, this team battled through the good and the bad, and despite the conditions, they persevered and were amazing. Special shout out to our fans and teammates who showed up every day and were by far the best and loudest cheer squad on course.”

Over the course of the competition, the Bobcats garnered 24 All-American awards. Ripp, Alberga, Smith, Phillip Matthews, Diego Schillaci and Timothy Ziegler earned All-American honors for the Paul Smith’s men’s team. Ripp, Matthews and Schillaci all finished in the top 12 in the overall individual points race. On the women’s side, Tanguay and Jessie Church took home All-American honors, and both were in the top 15 for the overall points.

Following the national championships, some of the Bobcats’ athletes will compete in the USSA Junior National Championships in Lake Placid this week, and the U.S. Biathlon National College Championships from March 21 to 23 in Fort Kent, Maine.