Ski and Snowboard Club Vail alumnae earn All-American honors at NCAA Ski Championships
Liv Moritz and Allie Resnick competed for DU and Dartmouth, respectively, at the NCAA Ski Championships last weekend in Steamboat Springs
C. Morgan Engel/NCAA Photos via University of Denver Athletics
Former Ski and Snowboard Club Vail Alpine skiers Liv Moritz and Allie Resnick each claimed top-10 finishes at the NCAA Ski Championships last weekend in Steamboat Springs, earning All-American honors.
“I am feeling pretty good about it!” said Moritz, who came in fifth to lead the University of Denver in the day 1 giant slalom. The top-five athletes earned first-team All-American honors while places 6-10 earned second-team recognition. Moritz also placed 12th in the slalom on day 3 of the four-day event.
“I am proud of my first GS run as I thought it was strong and clean,” the freshman said. “I know I didn’t ski my best in the slalom, but it was a super fun event, and it was awesome to spend the week with the team.”
Resnick finished 17th and and 10th in the GS and slalom, respectively. It was the second time the Dartmouth junior has earned All-American second-team honors, as she placed sixth in the GS at the 2023 NCAA championships.
Moritz knew a top-3 finish was possible coming into Steamboat. At the Westminster Invitational in Park City on Jan. 19, she picked up her first-career NCAA podium, placing second in the GS. The next day, she took the win.
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“So, I had confidence going into the race series,” she said of her first NCAA championships. “But I was so nervous. I think skiing in these championships was the most nervous I have ever been because racing for a team is a whole new set of pressures.”
Moritz said she may have put some “unnecessary pressure” on herself going into the second GS run, mostly because she was sitting in fourth. “I wanted to try and snag a podium,” she said. “My second run was not my best and was a little dirtier, but I think it was because I’ve never felt these types of nerves before.”
The night slalom brought additional excitement with Moritz’s DU soccer teammates in attendance. This fall, Moritz scored seven goals and tallied four assists for the Pioneers — second most on the team for both categories.
Wearing bib 31, Moritz skied “passively” in the first run, finishing 21st. She rocketed back for the fourth-fastest second run, moving up to 12th.
“I just tried to focus on good skiing,” she said of her second effort. “It was definitely cleaner.”
Moritz, a first-year U.S. Ski Team athlete, said the balance between her collegiate and national team coaches has “worked really well” this year.
“I love that I can get two different types of feedback, even when I have to sort through (it) all to focus on what’s most important,” she said. “But, it’s cool to have access to two talented coaching teams with different perspectives.”
She said she’s “definitely improved as a skier” being on the NCAA circuit.
“The field is deep, and there are a lot of good, fast girls that I am always learning from,” she said. She also appreciates encountering grooves and ruts more often, “which is so useful if you want to win first runs,” she continued.
“Also, training with the boys on our team has made me a lot better. They are so impressive to watch — how they push on the ski to generate power, and ski through rough snow.”
In addition to NCAA soccer and skiing, Moritz’s banner year has included NorAm and international successes. The Vail Mountain School graduate is currently eighth in the NorAm overall standings and has finished in the top-10 in four of her last five NorAm races. She also earned a team parallel bronze medal at the World Junior Championships in France in February.
“We definitely weren’t one of the favorites and beat out some of the stronger European teams under the lights in front of a large crowd,” she said of the latter event, which she chose as her season highlight … so far. She’ll return to Sun Valley for U.S. nationals at the end of the month.
“My goals for nationals are to have fun and be proud of my skiing, especially slalom,” she said, adding that when ski season wraps up, soccer starts again.
“But I will probably ease in slowly,” she said. “I am hoping to use this time to decompress, maybe travel a bit, and feel like a normal college student.”
But Moritz has proven this year to be anything but normal. The talented student-athlete admitted juggling her passions can be stressful. She “tries to stay in the moment as much as possible” and searches for tiny morsels of time each day to “unplug and recharge.”
“Sometimes it feels like I’m being antisocial, but I’m not,” she said. “I just need those moments to myself so that I can put my best foot forward at school, skiing and soccer when it really counts.”
