LAKE PLACID, N.Y. - A nation-leading four All-America finishes pushed the Saint Michael's College Alpine skiing team to sixth place on day one of the NCAA National Collegiate Championship on Wednesday at Whiteface Mountain. The Purple Knights stand first in the East Region following the first day of action, bolstered by the men placing second in the giant slalom, the best NCAA performance in an event in program history.

Junior Simen Strand (Høvik, Norway/Dønski VGS), sophomores Helene Kristoffersen (Rælingen, Norway/Dønski VGS) and Eirik Kveno (Asker, Norway/Dønski VGS), and first-year Gray Flanagan (West Burke, Vt./Green Mountain Valley School) are the four Saint Michael's representatives at this year's NCAA Championship, and each finished among the top 10 in Wednesday's GS, qualifying them for All-America status. Entering the day, only Kristoffersen, Strand and Guillaume Grand '19 had ever earned All-America finishes.

CHAMPIONSHIP FACTS

• The Purple and Gold's four All-America finishes was the most by any school in the field, with the University of Colorado Boulder, Denver University and the University of Utah all claiming three. The Purple Knights' four qualifications accounted for half of the eight All-America showings from the East on Wednesday.
• After the opening day, Saint Michael's is sixth among 16 schools with 95 points, tops in the East by 28 points, over perennial national championship contender University of Vermont. Dartmouth College (61), Middlebury College (51), Plymouth State University (50) and the University of New Hampshire (49) follow.
• The Purple Knights, who are already within 13.5 points of the school record they set at the 2022 NCAA Championship, narrowly trail fifth-place Westminster (Utah) College (97), Montana State University (108), Utah (115) and Denver (117.5).
• With 72 points in the GS, the men placed second, short only of Colorado (94.5). Montana State (58) and UVM (54) were a distant third and fourth, respectively. Saint Michael's and UVM were the lone East squads in the top seven.
• The Purple Knights were the only team to place three men in the top 10 of GS, a feat last turned in 2021 by both Montana State and Utah. Dartmouth had been the last East squad to do so, in 2019.
• Kristoffersen singlehandedly scored 23 points to place Saint Michael's 10th in the women's GS, ahead of New Hampshire (22) and UVM (17) - both of which qualified three competitors for NCAAs.
• Saint Michael's is among nine schools with the maximum three male Alpine skiers at NCAAs, including four from the East. Only eight schools qualified more than the Purple Knights (4), who trailed national powers Dartmouth (6), New Hampshire (6) and UVM (6) in the East.
• 148 skiers are taking part in Alpine and Nordic races at the NCAA Championship, with 34 female and 34 male Alpine skiers competing, including 17 apiece from the East Region.
• At least three Saint Michael's Alpine skiers have qualified for the NCAA Championship six times since 2016; prior to that, neither the Alpine nor Nordic squads had ever sent more than one to an NCAA Championship.
• Fifteen of the 23 qualifiers in College history have come in Gus MacLeod's '02 13-year tenure as Alpine head coach, with those 15 accounting for 27 qualifications.

MEN'S LEADERS

• Junior Simen Strand (Høvik, Norway/Dønski VGS), 6th in giant slalom, 2:08.18 two-run combined time
  • Best GS finish at NCAA Championship in program history
  • Third career All-America placement, including second qualification for second team
  • Matched Guillaume Grand's '19 school record of three career All-America finishes
  • Finished third among East skiers
  • Started in No. 11 bib
  • 13th following his opening run (1:05.06), 0.03 seconds short of Flanagan
  • Posted 11th-fastest second run (1:03.12)
  • 12th top-10 finish of season and 19th of career
• Sophomore Eirik Kveno (Asker, Norway/Dønski VGS), 8th, 2:08.23
  • 0.01 seconds behind Utah's seventh-place finisher and 0.05 ticks short of Strand
  • First career All-America placement, landing on second team
  • Finished fourth among East skiers
  • Started in No. 8 bib
  • After a hold of multiple minutes due to a downed skier immediately preceding him, Kveno was 0.27 seconds ahead of the pack at the midway split in his opening race before ending up fourth out of seven finishers upon concluding the run, in 1:04.88. He ended up sitting 10th out of 31 finishers at the end of the first run. He posted the 16th-fastest second run (1:03.34).
  • 12th top-10 finish of season and 18th of career
• First-year Gray Flanagan (West Burke, Vt./Green Mountain Valley School), 9th, 2:08.31
  • 0.08 seconds behind Kveno
  • Joins Kristoffersen as lone first-years to earn All-America, both earning spots on second team as rookies
  • Finished fifth among East skiers
  • Started in No. 19 bib
  • In a run highlighted by major moves from starting position, Flanagan placed 12th during his first journey down the course in 1:05.03. He put together the 13th-fastest second run (1:03.28).
  • Second top-10 finish of season

WOMEN'S LEADERS

• Sophomore Helene Kristoffersen (Rælingen, Norway/Dønski VGS), 8th in GS, 2:13.96
  • Best placement by any female student-athlete at an NCAA Championship in College history
  • Second career All-America placement, both on the second team, as she remains the lone All-America women's skier in program annals
  • The Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association (EISA) GS points champion for the 2023 season finished second among East skiers
  • Started in No. 6 bib
  • During the opening run, Kristoffersen immediately followed two student-athletes who did not finish their treks, including one that crashed and forced a hold of more than 10 minutes. Despite that pause atop the hill, Kristoffersen glided down the mountain to place second among four finishers to that point, eventually placing eighth among 30 finishers for her opening run in a time of 1:07.36. She came back to take fifth in the second run (1:06.60).
  • 10th top-10 finish of season and 14th of career

NEXT SAINT MICHAEL'S EVENT

• The Purple Knight quartet is idle on Thursday, as Nordic skiing begins. The final Alpine event - slalom races - take place on Friday, with the men's first run starting at 9 a.m. and the women beginning at 10 a.m.