Lewis wins third national title

Dan Lewis hit the trifecta and the University of Wyoming men's and women's Nordic ski club teams can start acting like national champions.

Lewis, a junior from Jackson, won his third consecutive individual national title, taking the 15km freestyle race Friday at the United States Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association (USCSA) Nationals at Devil's Thumb Ranch near Frisco, Colo.

He led a perfect six-point score for the team when the Cowboys swept the top three positions. Finishing behind Lewis were Evgeniy Panzhinskiy, senior from Russia, and Casper junior John Kirlin.

The men have an insurmountable lead for the USCSA national title over runner-up Whitman College of Walla Walla, Wash., UW Coach Christi Boggs said.

"It's a ridiculous lead right now," she said, although official team points were not available. "We thought the men had a shot at winning the national title this year. We figured that they would just be solid, but we didn't think that they would be this dominant."

This would be the Cowboys' second-ever USCSA national title since Nordic skiing was reinstated 10 years ago as a UW club sport.

The UW women also built a lead Friday that should give the team its fourth national title in the past decade.With four women in the top 10 in the 15km freestyle race Friday morning, UW had a team-low 12 points to widen its overall lead against Whitman College, which is 16 points back.

Gracey Lewis, freshman, Jackson, led the Cowgirls with a third-place finish, followed by teammates Kari Boroff, senior, Daniel, in fourth place; Laramie junior Gwynn Barrows in fifth; and Marie Cartwright, sophomore, Lander, in sixth place.

"I am so ecstatic that both our teams are this close to winning national titles the same year. It's just been a great year for us," Boggs said.

The UW men and women also had several other skiers finish among the top 20 racers.Eliah Pederson, freshman, Lander, placed seventh; Lander junior Jacob Peterson, placed 14th; and Justin Kinner, junior, Casper, was three places back.

The UW men competed against 49 other competitors in the 15km freestyle race. Western State College of Gunnison, Colo., placed second in the competition to the front-running Cowboys with 23 points, while Whitman College was third with 29.

Two UW Cowgirls finished in the top 20 among the 35-person competition. Freshman Morgan Cropsey placed 15th and junior Shannon Wilson, both from Casper, was 17th.

The UW women scored 12 points, while Whitman College had 20.

The final competition Saturday is the team relay event with two legs each of a 5km classic style ski and a 5km skate.