March 13, 2010   (Steamboat Springs, CO) – University of Denver junior Nordic skier Antje

Maempel (Stützerbach, Germany) won the women’s 15K freestyle on Saturday, completing the Nordic sweep for the second-straight year, as the Pioneers won their record 21st overall and third-straight NCAA Championship.

Maempel became just the second women’s skier in NCAA history to win both the classical and freestyle individual championships in two-consecutive seasons. Vermont’s Laura Wilson also swept the Nordic titles in 1990 and 1991.

After entering Saturday’s races with a 54.5-point lead, the DU men’s Nordic team held Denver’s lead and the women’s Nordic team blew the gap open, winning by 70.5 points with a four-day total of 785.5 points. Colorado (714) jumped to second place, and New Mexico (677) finished third. Utah (595) and Dartmouth (523) rounded out the top five.

“Antje was the best skier in the nation all year, and she continued that with a great performance today,” Nordic head coach David Stewart said of DU’s three-peat. “Mari and Kate were also outstanding in both races.”

Maempel was trailing Colorado’s Alexa Turzian much of the race, but Maempel turned it on during the final flat section and outkicked Turzian to the finish, winning in 41:03.0 to Turzian’s 41:09.0. It also marked Maempel’s ninth win in a dozen races this season, and she ends the year never finishing worse than second.

Freshman Mari Elden (Namdalseid, Norway) skied to All-America Second Team honors, finishing seventh in 42:36.2 after earning First Team honors in classical on Thursday. Sophomore Kate Dolan (Bozeman, Mont.) was 11th in 43:08.0, just missing the top 10 by 3.9 seconds.

Senior Harald Loevenskiold (Oslo, Norway) earned All-America First Team honors in the men’s 20K freestyle with a fourth place finish in 49:26.0, missing the podium by 2.5 seconds. Freshman Andrew Dougherty (Anchorage, Alaska) was 18th at 50:02.0, and freshman Kristian Soerlund (Sjusjoen, Norway) was 21st in 50:34.4. Vermont’s Franz Bernstein outkicked New Mexico’s Martin Kaas, winning the individual title by 1.2 seconds.

“The first championship was amazing, the last one was surprising, and this one leaves me speechless,” Stewart said of DU’s three-peat. “These athletes came through in every event during the four most important days of the season.”

Denver ran away with the title, becoming the first team since 2002 to lead the NCAA Championships from start to finish, which has occurred only four times since 1993 and three of those were by the Pioneers. DU opened up the NCAA Championship by winning both the men’s and women’s giant slalom on Mount Werner at Steamboat Ski Resort on Wednesday, and carried the momentum across town to Howelsen Hill for the remaining three days.

“We knew that if alpine was going to make a statement, it had to be the first day, because trying to do it on Howelsen Hill on Friday was too difficult,” LeRoy said.

Full results for all competitions here.

2010 NCAA National Championship Results (Final)

1. Denver, 785.5
2. Colorado, 714
3. New Mexico, 677
4. Utah, 595
5. Dartmouth, 523
6. Vermont, 516.5
7. Alaska-Anchorage, 506
8. Montana State, 402
9. New Hampshire, 303
10. Middlebury, 270.5
11. Nevada, 258
12. Williams, 176
13. Colby, 172.5
14. Northern Michigan, 166
15. Alaska-Fairbanks, 118
16. Bates, 98
17. Wisconsin-Green Bay, 88
18. St. Lawrence, 75
19. Michigan Tech, 30
20. Wellesley, 25
21. St. Michael’s, 19
22. Gustavus Adolphus, 7.

Men’s 20km Freestyle

1. Franz Bernstein, UVM, 49:19.7
2. Martin Kaas, UNM, 49:20.9
3. Matt Gelso, CU, 49:23.5
4. Harald Loevenskiold, DU, 49:26.0
5. Bernhard Roenning, MSU, 49:27.7
6. Tyler Reinking, MSU, 49:31.1
7. Ryan Scott, MSU, 49:32.6
8. Patrick Johnson, MID, 49:33.6
9. Lex Treinen, UAA, 49:41.6
10. Santiago Ocariz, UWG, 49:44.3
11. Michael Schallinger, UAA, 49:47.4
12. Didrik Smith, UU, 49:48.7
13. Benjamin Knowles, SLU, 49:49.5
14. Dimitri Luthi, WIL, 49:50.1
15. Tor-Hakon Hellebostad, UNM, 49:50.8
16. Jesper Ostensen, CU, 49:57.9
17. Martin Liljemark, UU, 49:59.4
18. Andrew Dougherty, DU, 50:02.0
19. Vegard Kjoelhamar, CU, 50:15.5
20. Charlie Smith, UN, 50:31.8
21. Kristian Soerlund, DU, 50:34.4
22. Miles Havlick, UU, 50:35.4
23. Elias Bucher, UN, 50:36.3
24. Pierre Niess, UNM, 50:38.3
25. Nils Koons, DAR, 50:40.1
26. Eric Packer, DAR, 50:41.1
27. Patrick O’Brien, DAR, 50:41.4
28. Eric Wolcott, SLU, 50:44.0
29. Dylan McGuffin, UNH, 51:13.8
30. George Cartwright, NMU, 51:43.4
31. Tyler Kornfield, UAF, 52:00.0
32. Tor Christopherson, UAA, 52:02.5
33. Oskar Lund, MTU, 52:11.4
34. Chris Bowler, NMU, 52:18.1
35. John Parry, UAF, 52:34.1
36. Zachary Wetherell, SLU, 53:02.8
37. Wyatt Fereday, CBC, 53:25.2
38. Kevin Cutts, NMU, 54:19.5
39. Jens Brabbit, GAC, 55:09.5.

Women’s 15km Freestyle

1. Antje Maempel, DU, 41:03.0
2. Alexa Turzian, CU, 41:09.0
3. Eliska Hajkova, CU, 41:42.5
4. Maria Graefnings, UN, 42:23.7
5. Rosie Brennan, DAR, 42:25.9
6. Polina Ermoshina, UNM, 42:34.7
7. Mari Elden, DU, 42:36.2
8. Jaime Bronga, UAA, 42:46.5
9. Kaelin Kiesel, MSU, 42:47.9
10. Joanne Reid, CU, 43:05.0
11. Kate Dolan, DU, 43:08.9
12. Laura DeWitt, NMU, 43:26.2
13. Zoe Roy, UU, 43:34.5
14. Monica Marksvarden, NMU, 43:36.5
15. Stephanie Hiemer, UAA, 43:43.9
16. Caitlin Patterson, UVM, 43:51.6
17. Carolyn Freeman, UWG, 43:59.1
18. Casey Kutz, MSU, 44:02.7
19. Lucy Garrec, CBC, 44:06.4
20. Mellie Park, MSU, 44:09.5
21. Laura Rombach, UAA, 44:30.3
22. Rose Kemp, UU, 45:04.6
23. Linn Klaesson, UNM, 45:08.5
24. Ida Sargent, DAR, 45:09.4
25. Claire Egan, WC, 45:12.9
26. Aurelia Korthauer, UAF, 45:16.6
27. Katie Bono, DAR, 45:21.2
28. Caitlin Curran, UVM, 45:23.6
29. Anya Bean, UNH, 45:34.8
30. Alice Nelson, WIL, 45:39.5
31. Sarah MacCarthy, UU, 45:51.2
32. Natalie Ruppertsberger, BAT, 46:07.1
33. Jennie Bender, UVM, 46:21.4
34. Christina Gillis, NMU, 47:02.2
35. Natasha Kullas, UNH, 47:11.7
36. Lauren Fritz, MID, 47:13.2
37. Theresia Schnurr, UAF, 47:50.2
38. Kristin Ronnestrand, UN, 48:18.1
DNF Henna Riikonen-Purtsi, MTU

Women’s 15K Freestyle All-Americans
First Team
– Antje Maempel, Denver
– Alexa Turzian, Colorado
– Eliska Hajkova, Colorado
– Maria Graefnings, Nevada
– Rosie Brennan, Dartmouth

Second Team
– Polina Ermoshina, New Mexico
– Mari Elden, Denver
– Jaime Bronga, Alaska-Anchorage
– Kaelin Kiesel, Montana State
– Joanne Reid, Colorado

Men’s 20K Freestyle All-Americans
First Team
– Franz Bernstein, Vermont
– Martin Kaas, New Mexico
– Matt Gelso, Colorado
– Harald Loevenskiold, Denver
– Bernhard Roenning, Montana State

Second Team
– Tyler Reinking, Montana State
– Ryan Scott , Montana State
– Patrick Johnson, Middlebury
– Lex Treinen, Alaska-Anchorage
– Santiago Ocariz, Wisconsin-Green Bay

Women’s Slalom All-Americans
First Team
– Malin Hemmingsson, New Mexico
– Lindsay Cone, Denver
– Anna Kocken, Utah
– Anne Cecilie Brusletto, New Mexico
– Carolina Nordh, Colorado

Second Team
– Erika Ghent, Colorado
– Katie Hartman, Colorado
– Vero Archambault-Leger, New Hampshire
– Kate Williams, New Mexico
– Ida Dillingoen, Denver

Men’s Slalom All-Americans
First Team
– Andreas Adde, Alaska Anchorage
– Torjus Krogdahl, Utah
– David Donaldson, Vermont
– Petter Brenna, New Mexico
– Ace Tarberry, Dartmouth

Second Team
– Bobby Poehling, Middlebury
– Vincent Lebrun-Fortin, Colby
– Christopher Acosta, New Mexico
– Joshua Kernan, Colby
– Benjamin Manter, Bates

Women’s 5K Classical All-Americans
First Team
– Antje Maempel, Denver
– Rosie Brennan, Dartmouth
– Mari Elden, Denver
– Joanne Reid, Colorado
– Kaelin Kiesel, Montana State

Second Team
– Polina Ermoshina, New Mexico
– Eliska Hajkova, Colorado
– Laura DeWitt, New Mexico
– Caitlin Patterson, Vermonth
– Maria Graefnings, Nevada

Men’s 10K Classical All-Americans
First Team
– Matt Gelso, Colorado
– Franz Bernstein, Vermont
– Charlie Smith, Nevada
– Vegard Kjoelhamar, Colorado
– Martin Kaas, New Mexico

Second Team
– Bernhard Roenning, Montana State
– Pierre Niess, New Mexico
– Miles Havlick, Utah
– Michael Schallinger, Alaska Anchorage
– Dylan McGuffin, New Hampshire

Women’s Giant Slalom All-Americans
First Team
– Eva Huckova, Utah
– Lindsay Cone, Denver
– Katie Hartman, Colorado
– Malin Hemmingsson, New Mexico
– Ida Dillingoen, Denver

Second Team
– Anne Brusletto, New Mexico
– Sofia Smith, Utah
– Courtney Hammond, Dartmouth
– Jennie VanWagner, Denver
– Meg Ryley, Vermont
– Alexandra Parker, Alaska-Anchorage

Men’s Giant Slalom All-Americans
First Team
– Leif Kristian Haugen, Denver
– Ace Tarberry, Dartmouth
– David Donaldson, Vermont
– Bryan Schpall, Middlebury
– A.J. Avrin, Denver

Second Team
– Chris Colpitts, Vermont
– Thomas Schwab, New Mexico
– Andreas Kilde, Denver
– Torjus Krogdahl, Utah
– Andreas Adde, Alaska Anchorage

CHAMPIONS: Denver

WOMEN’S CHAMPIONS: Denver
MEN’S CHAMPIONS: New Mexico

ALPINE CHAMPIONS: Denver
WOMEN’S ALPINE CHAMPIONS: New Mexico
MEN’S ALPINE CHAMPIONS: Denver

NORDIC CHAMPIONS: Colorado
WOMEN’S NORDIC CHAMPIONS: Denver
MEN’S NORDIC CHAMPIONS: Colorado

MEN’S SLALOM CHAMPIONS: Utah
WOMEN’S SLALOM CHAMPIONS: New Mexico
MEN’S GIANT SLALOM CHAMPIONS: Denver
WOMEN’S GIANT SLALOM CHAMPIONS: Denver

MEN’S CLASSICAL CHAMPIONS: Colorado
WOMEN’S CLASSICAL CHAMPIONS: Denver
MEN’S FREESTYLE CHAMPIONS: Montana State
WOMEN’S FREESTYLE CHAMPIONS: Colorado

Individual NCAA Championships: Denver 3, Alaska-Anchorage, Colorado, New Mexico, Vermont, Utah

Podium’s: Denver 6, Colorado 5, Utah 3, Vermont 3, Dartmouth 2, New Mexico 2, Alaska Anchorage, Nevada, Vermont

First Team All-American’s: Denver 9, Colorado 8, New Mexico 6, Dartmouth 4, Vermont 4, Utah 3, Montana State 2, Nevada 2, Alaska Anchorage, Middlebury