Press Launch offered by College of Utah
Featured Picture: Mikkel Solbakken Credit score: Ski Racing Media/Ellie Hartman
SALT LAKE CITY – Mikkel Solbakken of the Utah Ski Workforce has been named Nationwide Males’s Alpine Skier of the 12 months, as introduced Friday by america Collegiate Ski Coaches Affiliation. Solbakken, the 2024 NCAA particular person champion in males’s large slalom, collected 4 wins, seven podiums and 12 top-10 outcomes throughout his graduate yr with the Utes. Solbakken joined the Utes after spending the 2020-23 seasons simply down the highway at Westminster. He loved a adorned last season of collegiate snowboarding, incomes First Workforce All-American laurels each in large slalom and slalom, additionally being named All-RMISA First Workforce. Along with his GS title throughout NCAAs, Solbakken positioned third in slalom to assist the Utes place second within the crew standings. Following the season, he was named the Utah Ski Workforce’s alpine MVP in addition to the alpine recipient of the David Novelle Memorial Award, given yearly to the excellent male skier.
As a precursor to his success at NCAAs, Solbakken had a pair of GS wins in February 2024. He received an RMISA alpine qualifier in Large Sky, Montana, earlier than repeating that efficiency the next day throughout the RMISA Championships. His performances at NCAAs made Solbakken the primary males’s GS particular person champion from Utah since 2016. For all of his ski racing prowess, Solbakken was simply as gifted a pupil throughout his yr with the Utes. He accomplished a Grasp’s diploma in finance with an ideal 4.0 grade-point common, incomes CSC Tutorial All-District honors. He’s presently an Tutorial All-America candidate, with recipients of that award anticipated to be introduced in mid-July. A local of Bekkestua, Norway, Solbakken recorded 14 podium outcomes throughout his time with Westminster, headlined with a large slalom gold medal on the 2021 NCAA Championships in Franconia, New Hampshire.
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