March 10, 2018 – STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. – Montana State sophomore Emma Tarbath placed fifth in the women’s 15-kilometer freestyle, earning First-Team All-America honors, and guiding the Bobcats to a sixth place team showing at the 2018 NCAA Skiing Championships on Saturday afternoon at Howelsen Hill.
“I’m kind of still soaking it up right now,” Tarbath said immediately following the race. “I wasn’t really expecting this going in. I kind of knew that maybe I could if things really came together and fortunately they did.”
The product of Anchorage, Alaska covered the course in 44:31.5. Dartmouth’s Katharine Ogden won the women’s title in in 43:22.0.
“We’re so psyched for Emma,” said MSU Nordic coach Matthew Johnson. “It’s such a representative performance of what she’s been doing all season.”
Also recording points for MSU were Johanna Taliharm, 14th, 46:06.9; and Anna Fake, 17th, 46:24.7. Combined, the Bobcat threesome posted 60 points, which was MSU’s highest event total of the championships.
“The three women performing at the same time really speaks to the fact that they’re working together as a team,” Johnson stated. “It’s an individual sport, but you can’t do it without the team. The more they’re meshing and gelling together and able to get out and work off each other is really impressive.”
The Bobcat men were paced by Karsten Hokanson in the 20-kilometer men’s race. The native of Salt Lake City, Utah finished 21st in a time of 55:51.9. Northern Michigan’s Ian Torchia won the event in 54:21.0.
Also finishing for MSU were Erik Axelsson, 27th, 57:01.1; and Eli Jensen, 34th, 57:29.2.
“Right now we have a team full of athletes who are basically competing to compete and it’s time to get to that next level where we’re competing to win every day,” Johnson said. “We’re starting to see flashes of that.”
For the championship, the Bobcat alpine squad produced 153 points, while the Nordic contingent posted 140.
Montana State earned six All-American honors, the sixth highest total at the 2018 NCAA meet.
Denver won its 24th national title as the Pioneers accumulated 604 points. The Pioneers were followed in the top 10 by Colorado 563, Dartmouth 448.5, Utah 385.5, Vermont 330, Montana State 293, New Mexico 277, Middlebury 248, Alaska-Anchorage 194, and Northern Michigan 179.
Press release courtesy of Tom Shulz – Montana State Sports Information.
Photo courtesy of Andrew Pedersen – Montana State Sports Information.
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