The Grand Finale: NCAA Championships at Soldier Hollow Nordic Center
- mlwagner9
- 3 hours ago
- 4 min read
Soldier Hollow Nordic Center, Midway, UT
All photos courtesy of Stephen Cloutier
An exciting season of racing came to a close last week with the 2026 NCAA Skiing Championships at Soldier Hollow Nordic Center in Midway, Utah. Originally scheduled to be held at Crosscut Mountain Sports Center in Bozeman, Montana, the races were relocated due to insufficient snow cover as a result of the West's warm winter. On both days of racing, the skiers competed on a narrow strip of manmade snow that cut through the otherwise brown venue at Solider Hollow.
The NCAA nordic races kicked off with a 7.5k classic individual start race on Thursday. Each athlete completed three laps of Soldier Hollow's 2.5k course, which got warmer and slower as each hour passed. The men took off first, and an EISA standout quickly emerged. Dartmouth's John Steel Hagenbuch, coming off of two victories at the EISA Regional Championships in late February, put together another outstanding performance and claimed the NCAA title. "I was really happy with my race today," Hagenbuch celebrated. "I felt super good, I had great kick, and it was awesome skiing out there!" The victory marked his third consecutive NCAA individual title, following wins in 2025 and 2024. Hagenbuch was followed by fellow EISA skiers Tabor Greenberg and Ruben Kretzschmar of UVM, who finished 13th and 15th in their NCAA debuts.
By the time the women lined up to race later in the day, the conditions had only gotten tougher. The sun broke through the clouds, slowing the snow, and the tracks deteriorated lap by lap. Overall, Rosie Fordham of Alaska Fairbanks took a commanding victory, outpacing the next competitor by nearly a minute. The EISA women were led through the challenging conditions by Dartmouth's Ava Thurston, who finished in eighth place, earning All-American honors. "The sun hit right before our race and things got quite slow," Thurston said. "I tried to keep things relaxed each time on the long climb up the hollow." Close behind, Thurston was joined by Middlebury's Shea Brams, who placed 10th and also earned All-American honors. "I kept fighting until the end," Brams shared. "I felt proud of myself because the altitude and conditions were so tough out there." Brams was followed by her teammate Mica Bodkins, who finished 12th in her first NCAA appearance.
After a day of recovery, the skiers returned to Soldier Hollow on Saturday for a 20k freestyle mass start race. The women's race opened the day of competition, and unlike Thursday's balmy conditions, the course was icy and fast, setting the stage for an exciting day of racing. The EISA women embraced the fast snow, ready to make a statement, and what followed was a spectacular showing for the Eastern Region: six EISA women earned All-American honors. While Rosie Fordham of Alaska Fairbanks took another controlling victory, it was UVM's Haley Brewster who led the EISA charge, out-lunging a competitive chase pack to a second-place podium finish. Ava Thurston, lunging just behind Brewster, followed in fourth, and UNH's Natalie Nicholas took sixth in her NCAA debut. "My strategy was to stick behind some of the older girls from the East that I’ve been skiing with all season" Nicholas explained. "It was fun to shake it up with some women I had never skied with before."
Emma Crum of Bowdoin and Hattie Barker of UNH finished seventh and eighth, sharing a meaningful moment at the finish line. "Hattie and I have been training together since high school and it felt good for the two of us to finish together," Crum said. "It also feels so good to end as an All-American. I didn’t expect it at all and I’ve felt so grateful for such a wonderful EISA career and community." Rounding out the EISA's All-American women's crew was freshman Lena Poduska from UVM, who finished tenth place at her first NCAA Championships.
The EISA women's depth was put on display on the national stage in Saturday's 20k. Overall, the UVM women took the women's team victory, and the UNH women finished in third. From the start to finish, the EISA women raced with heart and grit, setting a high bar for the men's race to follow.
...And the men delivered. John Steel Hagenbuch returned to the podium in second place after a hard-fought race in a tight front group. Hagenbuch skied aggressively, but was narrowly out-sprinted by Utah's Mons Melbye at the finish. Joining Hagenbuch on the podium was UVM's Tabor Greenberg, after skiing a composed and tactical race. "My plan was to sit in the pack and ski smooth" Greenberg reflected. "I was pretty tired going into the final sprint but was happy I ended up getting third!"
Greenberg out-lunged two competitors to secure his place on the podium, a moment that his teammate Lena Poduska said was energizing to watch. "Cheering for the boys was by far the best part of the day," said Poduska. "Watching Tabor podium was actually so impressive and heartwarming." Greenberg was welcomed by a wave of cheering from his teammates at the finish, a fitting end to his standout performance.
After a challenging start on Thursday, Saturday's 20k brought a rewarding close to the season. However, on both days of racing, the EISA skiers demonstrated what Eastern racing is all about: grit, teamwork, and showing up when it matters most. For now, that's a wrap on the 2026 ski season! Thank you to all of the staff and volunteers at Soldier Hollow and the Utah Ski Team for hosting the grand finale to the collegiate ski season.
See you next year!
⭐️ Full NCAA race results and livestream playbacks can be found at ncaa.com/news/skiing
⭐️ Full EISA season race results are available at bullitttiming.com/eisa
⭐️ Full EISA season photo sets can be downloaded at https://phillipbelena.com/eisa
⭐️ For more news & updates on EISA carnival racing, follow @eisaskiing on Instagram
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