HANOVER, N.H. – University of Alaska Anchorage junior Carmen Nielssen earned her second All-American honor of the week by finishing fourth in the giant slalom at the NCAA National Championships Friday.
Nielssen finished in a time of 1:58.02.
Ella Bromee placed 13th (1:59.15), and Ainsley Proffit was 24th (2:00.37).
"Exceptional day for our alpine group," said head coach Sparky Anderson. "GS has been a puzzle all season long, but today some critical pieces fell into place. Carmen was the last athlete to qualify in GS this year and started bib 34, the very last racer out of the gate on the first run. She skied a very strong first run to move into ninth, then had the fourth fastest second run and held on to that position through the end. Amazing. To go from bib 34 to 4th is pretty remarkable on any day, but to do it at a national championship is next level. It's extremely rare. Ella and Ainsley also attacked from the back. Ella put two very good runs together and moved up through almost two thirds of the field to end in 13th. Ainsley broke a pole mid pitch but fought her way back into it and moved up with a great second run and scored some important points for us."
Jan Ronner finished 27th (1:57.33) in the men's race.
"Jan skied really well," said Anderson. "27th wasn't his plan, but honestly his skiing was clean, fall-line, and mistake free. It's a tough hill for a strong guy who doesn't carry as much mass as the bigger guys. Today was exceptionally windy, which didn't help the smaller very technical skiers. All-in-all I'm really pleased with how our group competed this week. They skied their hearts out. The women's team ended up being the third best in the country, ahead of both Colorado and Utah. That's a big deal. And we're in striking distance to a podium if our Nordic kids can have a good day. Excited to watch them go tomorrow."
The Seawolves are currently sixth out of 23 teams with 204 points.
Johs Herland of Utah won the men's race (1:53.35), and Sara Rask of Denver won the women's (1:56.23).
The NCAA Skiing National Championships conclude Saturday with the 20-kilometer freestyle race.
