USCSA Nationals Day Two Recap
Contact: Jay Moyer
BEND, Oregon. – MARCH 12th, 2025. The U.S. Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association (USCSA) kicked off its 5-day long annual Collegiate National Championship today with the men's Snowboard and Freeski Rail Jam, women's Skier and Snowboard Cross, men's Alpine Giant Slalom, and a Nordic Classic Sprint. Snow and wind moved in throughout the day, creating challenging conditions at all venues. Mt. Bachelor is serving as host for all events over the five days of exciting competition.
A record breaking 685 Collegiate athletes representing 75 universities across 6 regions will compete in the Cascade Mountains this week. This championship represents the best collegiate athletes from around the country. USCSA has member schools in every geographic region of the United States. Events include Alpine Ski and Snowboard Giant Slalom, Alpine Ski and Snowboard Slalom, Dual Slalom, Cross-Country Sprints, Nordic Relays, Nordic Distance, Slopestyle, Skier and Snowboard Cross, and Rail Jam.
All this week, the USCSA broadcast network will bring audiences over 70 hours of LIVE, multi-camera HD video coverage from all three competition venues at its web portal: http://www.uscsa.org/broadcast.html. Scott "Boss" Hogg returns to lead the USCSA broadcast team at alpine alongside announcer Elan Olliff, joined by legendary snowboard announcer Mark "The Beav" Oliver and A. Shova at snowboard/freestyle, and Trent Rosenberg and former USCSA student-athlete Luke Dykowski at Nordic. Visit https://www.uscsa.org/broadcast.html for more information, including live-timing, daily schedules, and on-demand archived broadcasts.
In the men's Giant Slalom on the Thunderbird trail, Rocky Mountain College won the team National Championship, followed by Babson College in second and Northern Michigan University in third. Jules Clerice from Rocky Mountain College also won the individual National Championship. After the race, Rocky Mountain College's Head Coach Jerry Wolf said that the week had showcased "fantastic competition at the USCSA Nationals. As a coach it was a great roller coaster ride of emotions. The team scoring and having to have 3 finishers came into play today. With the difficult snow conditions I even lost two of my Bears in the battle. I feel for any of those teams that lost 3 today, I know how that feels."
"It was a close one today, serious competition making for great sport. Thank You USCSA."
Racing continued at the Nordic venue with a Classic Sprint race. St. Olaf College's women's team won the combined race, taking first and second place in the individual competition. Paul Smith's College won the team men's competition. Philip Matthews from Paul Smith's College won the individual men's National Championship. After the race, Philip said, "this one meant a lot to me since my father passed away 2 weeks ago, so today I raced for him, although I dedicate my win to my teammate Jacob Alberga who couldn't come out because he is battling cancer." Paul Smith's Head Coach Matt Dougherty added that today had, "Memorable weather with challenging waxing conditions but incredible racing. Today was a really special day for the team. This season the team has had one of our All-American teammates from last year diagnosed with cancer and he couldn't be here with us. A few days before coming to Bend Phil Matthews dad passed away after a battle with cancer. It's been a challenging season but today was magical and emotional for everyone on our team. Winning a national championship is always special but today will live in all our memories and was a salve for a challenging time."
After her individual win in the women's Nordic competition, St. Olaf College's Amaeli Kam-Magruder said that "it's super cool to win a sprint, because it's an all day event and it's really cool to move out through the ladder and while you're getting more tired and more tired it's like more rewarding and more rewarding. Definitely shout out to my coaches for the amazing wax, they worked their butts off in the really really challenging conditions. Racing is one thing, but standing outside in the wet snowy cold barehanded, scraping and corking skis and dealing with sticky closer is a whole nother feat."
On the Cross course, Rocky Mountain College won the team women's Ski Cross while Lees-McRae College's women's team won the Snowboard Cross. "This year's USCSA Nationals event is very special to me," said Lees-McRae College Head Coach Aaron Maas. "The last time Nationals were held at Mt. Bachelor in 2017 was also the first time our snowboard team qualified to compete, but unfortunately, as a new club sport we didn't have the financial means to travel across the country. It was at that moment I decided we would never miss another USCSA Nationals due to lack of funds. Since then, we have won 11 National titles, become a varsity sport at Lees-McRae College and haven't missed out on another opportunity to represent our school at the highest level. Traveling to a world-class resort and competing at USCSA Nationals is absolutely one of the highlights of my season. Big thanks to USCSA and Mt. Bachelor staff for putting on another great event for all of us fortunate enough to compete."
USCSA is the sports federation for collegiate team ski and snowboard competition in North America. The organization believes that student-athletes of all levels and abilities should have access to quality and exciting venues of competition. Our athletes agree that our team orientation fosters a collaborative approach across their collegiate athletic and academic careers, and often this mentality proves indispensable in their adult lives and careers. USCSA includes over 140 institutions from coast to coast, fielding over 4,700 female and male alpine, freestyle, nordic, and snowboarding athletes who participate in more than 300 events annually.
Mt. Bachelor is the premier ski area in the Pacific Northwest, offering 4,323 acres of lift-accessible terrain with 360-degree descents from its 9,065' volcanic peak. The mountain resort is served by three carpets and 12 lifts, seven of which feature high-speed quads and one new high-speed 6-pack lift. Mt. Bachelor also features 15 Woodward Mountain Parks, 56 km of groomed cross-country trails, snowshoeing, and sled dog rides. Summer attractions include downhill mountain biking, ZipTour ziplining, and whitewater rafting with Sun Country Tours. Mt. Bachelor is part of POWDR, a family-owned and operated Adventure Lifestyle Company©. For more information visit www.mtbachelor.com.