Sophomore Liv Moritz returned to college skiing by winning the women’s slalom at the RMISA Alpine Qualifier, held at Mount Rose-Ski Tahoe in Reno, Nevada. Representing the Denver Pioneers, Moritz posted a combined time of 1:34.59, nearly three seconds ahead of second-place finisher Louison Accambray from Colorado.
“I was just trying to put my foot into the groove because it did get a little bumpy,” said Moritz. “I think that really helped me.”
This victory marks Moritz’s third career podium and her first win in slalom. Her previous best in the event was ninth place at the 2024 Denver Invitational. She had redshirted last season and rejoined collegiate competition after earning All-American honors at the 2024 NCAA Championships.
Over the past two months, Moritz competed with the U.S. Ski Team on both FIS World Cup and Europa Cup circuits. She earned her first World Cup points with a 13th-place finish in slalom at Spindleruv Mlyn, Czechia, on January 25 and won a Europa Cup slalom race in Valle Aurina/Ahrntal, Italy, on December 20.
“It was super, super exciting. Honestly, I was not expecting that at all,” Moritz said regarding her World Cup result. “I just came down and was in such a shock. It was one of the best feelings ever.”
Denver’s Sara Rask finished fourth with a time of 1:37.83 and has placed within the top four in all five races this season. Freshman Cecilia Pizzinato took seventh for her third consecutive top-10 finish and first in slalom.
Other notable results for Denver included Josephine Trueblood finishing eleventh and Nicola Rountree-Williams placing thirteenth among women competitors.
On the men’s side, senior Christian Soevik achieved his season-best result by finishing fourth—his first top-five placement since last year’s NCAA Championships—while graduate student Eirik Kveno secured seventh place for his first top-10 as a Pioneer.
The event served as an individual qualifier for athletes seeking spots at March’s NCAA Championships; no team scores were recorded for this race format.
Lucas Ellis from Colorado Mountain College claimed victory in men’s slalom—the program’s first men’s individual win—followed by Utah’s Johs Herland and Westminster’s Alejandro Puente Tasias.
The RMISA circuit returned to Lake Tahoe for racing for the first time since 2010 when it was last hosted by University of Nevada.
Denver will continue competing at Mount Rose-Ski Tahoe with more alpine events scheduled through Tuesday.
