Utah Utes campus briefs

BASEBALL: The Utah baseball team faces a tough challenge this weekend when it heads to Oregon for a four-game series against Washington State, beginning with a doubleheader at 1:00 p.m. PT on Friday, March 5.

"This will be a good challenge for us," head coach Bill Kinneberg said. "Washington State is a quality team. They were one of the better teams we played last year and they have a lot of returning guys. This will be a good indicator of where we are at right now."

The Utes (5-2) are coming off a four-game sweep of Sam Houston State. Kinneberg was pleased with several improvements the team has made over the last two weeks.

"We had some tough conditions early and we got clutch pitching and defense in tight situations, so I was really happy with that phase of our game," Kinneberg said. "We also swung the bats a lot better through the lineup and had opportunities to score more runs. I am disappointed that we were not as clean on defense at times, but we did make plays when it counted."

Washington State is 6-0 to start the year, earning wins over Seattle, Bethune-Cookman and Texas Tech.

SKIING: The Utah ski team took its first step towards its goal of earning a 12th national title, qualifying a full team of 12 skiers for the NCAA Championships.

Utah is one of four schools to qualify a full team. Colorado and Denver in the west also have full teams while Dartmouth is the only team from the east with 12 skiers. The Utes qualified 15 skiers, but are limited to 12 (three per gender per discipline), giving them alternate skiers in case of injury or illness.

"Qualifying a full team is a big honor for our program," Director of Skiing Eli Brown said. "We've always prided ourselves on our depth. It's exciting for us to be one of four teams in the country to qualify a full team because it gives us confidence going into the championships. We've been improving every weekend in consistency and results, and our main goal is to have everyone peak at the same time and finish on the podium as a team."

Below is a full list of skiers who will represent Utah at the NCAA Championships:

Miles Havlick; Nordic; Boulder, Colo.

Torjus Krogdahl; Alpine; Oslo, Norway

Kyle Kung; Alpine; Girdwood, Alaska

Max Lamb; Alpine; Winter Park, Colo.

Martin Liljemark; Nordic; Torsby, Sweden

Didrik Smith; Nordic; Bekkestua, Norway

Eva Huckova; Alpine; Banska Bystricka, Slovakia

Rose Kemp; Nordic; Boise, Idaho

Anna Kocken; Alpine; Jarpen, Sweden

Sarah MacCarthy; Nordic; Steamboat Springs, Colo.

Zoe Roy; Nordic; Bend, Ore.

Sofia Smith; Alpine, Issaquah, Washington