Utah Utes skiing: U. third after first day of NCAAs

BETHEL, Maine – Led by top five finishes from Eva Huckova and Nick Cohee in the giant slalom, the Utah ski team stands third after the first day of the NCAA Championships in Bethel, Maine.

Utah's alpine teams led the Utes on the day with 193 combined points – which is tops among all of the alpine teams. The women's 97 points was second among all women's alpine teams, while the men earned 96 points, which was also second among their peers.

Huckova earned the third podium finish of her career with a third-place run in the giant slalom, which had been postponed from Wednesday. She earns first-team All-America honors for the third time with her finish of 2:36.39. Mikaela Grassl and Chirine Njeim were also extremely strong, finishing 13th and 14th, respectively. Grassl finished with a time of 2:28.20 while Njeim finished in 2:38.50.

Cohee earns his first All-America honor at his first NCAA Championships with a fifth-place finish in the giant slalom in 2:33.77. Seniors Scott Veenis and Thomas Zumbrunn also did well, with Veenis placing 11th in 2:34.22 and Zumbrunn finishing 12th in 2:34.25.

Over on the Nordic side, Even Sletten finished 10th for his fourth career All-America honor. He skied a time of 25:04.7. Didrik Smith placed 18th in his first Championship meet in 25:26.8. Ben Fick rounded out the Utah skiers in 32nd (26:03.0).

Annelies Cook led the women with a 16th-place run in the 5-km classical in 14:56.6. Zoe Roy was 19th (15:07.9) and Sara Schweiger placed 20th (15:10.8).