Westminster University student-athletes delivered standout performances across collegiate skiing and snowboard national competitions, underscoring the strength of the university’s comprehensive Mountain Sports program and its investment in year-round, high-level training environments for winter athletes.
Located at the base of the Wasatch Mountains, Westminster provides student-athletes with direct access to venues such as Utah Olympic Park and nearby resorts, enabling consistent on-snow training and competition at an elite level. Combined with institutional support across disciplines, Westminster’s power of place allows athletes to compete nationally while pursuing academic programs.
At the 2026 NCAA Skiing Championships in Park City, Westminster’s alpine team competed against the nation’s top programs, highlighted by a First-Team All-American finish from Guro Hestad Vognild. Vognild placed fourth in the women’s giant slalom with a combined time of 2:06.09, earning All-American honors and leading the Griffins’ scoring effort at the national meet.
She added a 12th-place finish in the slalom, contributing additional points across the two-day competition. On the men’s side, Benjamin Angerer recorded an 18th-place finish in the giant slalom, while Alejandro Puente Tasias posted a 25th-place result in the slalom, highlighted by one of the fastest second runs in the field.
The NCAA appearance follows a strong season for the alpine program, which competes in the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association against many of the nation’s top Division I programs.
Complementing that success, Westminster’s freeski and snowboard teams delivered a dominant showing at the U.S. Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association National Championships, capturing multiple team and individual national titles across disciplines.
The men’s freeski team secured the overall national championship, led by a podium sweep in the individual overall standings. The team added national titles in both slopestyle and rail jam, demonstrating depth across events.
Across the broader competition, Westminster athletes combined for four team overall national championships, eight team event titles, and five individual national championships. The men’s and women’s snowboard teams each claimed freestyle national titles, while individual athletes recorded multiple podium finishes across freeski and snowboard events.
Together, these results reflect Westminster’s unique positioning in collegiate mountain sports. The university’s mountain sports initiative integrates alpine skiing, freeskiing, and snowboarding under a unified model that emphasizes access to world-class terrain, proximity to Utah’s mountain venues, and a training structure designed to support both NCAA and non-NCAA competition pathways.
