Utah’s Madison Hoffman wins gold in women’s giant slalom

Posted: Mar 8, 2023 / 06:34 PM MST

Updated: Mar 8, 2023 / 06:34 PM MST

LAKE PLACID, N.Y. (ABC4 Sports) – Making her first start in an NCAA Championships event, Utah’s Madison Hoffman took home the women’s giant slalom individual title, the first women’s GS crown for the program since 2010, and highlighting three All-America performances by the Utah Ski Team on day one of the 2023 NCAA Championships at Whiteface Mountain.

“It felt pretty special grabbing my first college GS win today, especially with it being the championship,” Hoffman said. “The snow was firm and the course was fun! I definitely was nervous, but glad I could keep it together for second run after giving myself the lead.”

Hoffman’s individual championship was the 14^th women’s GS individual title all-time at Utah, and first in either gender since Endre Bjertness stood atop the men’s GS podium in 2016. It also goes on the books as the 81^st individual NCAA Championship won by a Utah skier across all disciplines.

Hoffman was the ninth skier in the starting order for the morning run, posting a time of 1:04.78 which had her in the lead at the break by 1.42 seconds. She was the last skier out of the gate for the second run and was into the finish area in 1:05.88. It was the second-best afternoon run of the field and put her ahead of Denver’s Sara Rask in the final results by 1.24 seconds.

It continued a remarkable season for Hoffman, who returned to the college circuit in 2023 after missing much of 2022 plus the Winter Olympics due to injury. Wednesday’s result was her first win in a collegiate giant slalom race, but her second GS victory in the last three days. She traveled to Lake Placid for NCAAs after racing on the Nor-Am Cup circuit, which included a GS victory for Hoffman on Monday at Stratton Mountain in Vermont.

“It felt pretty special grabbing my first college GS win today, especially with it being the championship,” Hoffman said. “The snow was firm and the course was fun! I definitely was nervous, but glad I could keep it together for second run after giving myself the lead.”

Utah, the three-time defending national champion, is third in the team standings (115 points), just behind second-place Denver (117.5 points) and the leader Colorado (139.5 points). Teams will now turn their focus to the men’s and women’s 10K freestyle races, which begin at 8 a.m. MT on Thursday from Mt. Van Hoevenberg.