DU Skiing—On Top of the Mountain
DU skiers are tops in the NCAA skiing world—again.
The Pioneers won their 19th NCAA National Championship in March 2008. The team has won more championships than any other Division I ski team in the nation.
John Buchar, a junior international business major from Ostersund, Sweden, won the men’s slalom and giant slalom—the second time in school history a DU skier won both events at the NCAA championships.
“I could not be more proud of this team,” alpine head coach Andy LeRoy says. “All of our athletes worked hard all year toward the goal of winning an NCAA Championship, and they all skied their best when it counted.”
John Buchar, a junior international business major from Ostersund, Sweden, won the men’s slalom and giant slalom—the second time in school history a DU skier won both events at the NCAA championships.
All-Americans
Several DU skiers joined Buchar in being recognized as NCAA First Team All-Americans for their efforts: Antje Maempel, Annelise Bailly, Rene Reisshauer, Seppi Steigler, Francesco Ghedina and Jenny Lathrop. Molly Ryan and John Stene earned Second Team All-American honors.
The team members, who hail from 10 U.S. states and five other countries, had to work together to overcome a tough year.
“The only thing that mattered for me was that we won as a team,” Buchar says. “That is even better than both of my wins. Everything was a team effort. We had a rough season with a lot of injuries, and a lot of people didn’t think we had the best team.”
After entering the day trailing the University of Colorado-Boulder by 17.5 points, Denver overtook the Buffaloes and won with 649.5 points. DU’s win marked the first time in 13 years that a team had overcome a point deficit to win the title.
Championship Tradition
This also marked the Pioneers’ fifth championship since 2000. DU also won in 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2005.
The Pioneers have won 26 Division I NCAA team titles, 19 in skiing and seven in hockey.
Published on March 24, 2008