Hyncicova, Ketterer Named USCSCA Skiers Of The Year

BOULDER — University of Colorado skiers Petra Hyncicova and David Ketterer have been named by the United States Collegiate Ski Coaches Association (USCSCA) as the 2017 Collegiate Skiers of the Year for women's Nordic and men's alpine, the USCSCA announced Tuesday.

Hyncicova has also been named as FasterSkier's 2017 Collegiate Skier of the Year for women's Nordic.

The USCSCA started announcing its selections for the national collegiate skiers of the year in 2015. Hyncicova and Ketterer join Mads Stroem (men's Nordic, 2016) as the second and third Buffs to win the national honor. The honors are voted on by ski coaches within the USCSCA.

"On behalf of all ski team athletes and coaches, congratulations to Petra and David," head coach Richard Rokos said.

Hyncicova became the 15th woman to sweep the Nordic races at the NCAA Championships this winter, and was the fourth CU skier (first since Maria Grevsgaard in 2008) to do so.

"She had an obviously fantastic year and I couldn't be happier for her," head Nordic coach Bruce Cranmer said. "She did have a little bit of a setback just with a foot injury, so even on top of that to be able to come back to win both races at NCAAs is great."

She won five of the eight races she competed in during the season; her most dominate discipline was in the freestyle where she took first place in 3 of 4 races on the season.

"I think she had an awesome year and I always felt like she had that kind of potential in her," Cranmer said. "To be able to put it together at NCAA's, I think was fantastic."

In 28 career races, she has finished fifth or better in 20 of them with five victories. She has claimed five All-America honors in her career, three as a first-teamer and two second-team honors. She has competed at the U23 World Ski Championships in each of the past two seasons.

Ketterer, the men's alpine selection of the USCSCA, dominated the collegiate circuit this season. He won seven of the 13 races he competed in during his first winter with the Buffs. Those seven wins tied the CU alpine record (men's and women's) for most race victories in a single-season. Of his seven victories, five were in slalom races and that also tied Lucie Zikova's school record for slalom wins in a season (Zikova did so in 2006).

"David had without a doubt the best year of his life," Rokos said. "To his comment, even he was surprised, but it was not as much of a surprise to his coaches. David's success is well supported by some outstanding athletic qualities. He has a strong engine with a light chassis, he is a 'Ferrari.' David is a perfect build for a technical skier."

He swept the men's alpine races at the NCAA Championships, becoming the fifth skier in NCAA history (and third Buff) to sweep the giant slalom and slalom national titles in the same year.

In his awards-filled season, Ketterer was also named the RMISA Skier of the Year and the RMISA MVP after earning the most points prior to the NCAA Championships. In addition to his success on the collegiate circuit, Ketterer also captured the 2016-17 NorAm Cup slalom title. He won the event by 275 points, the second-largest winning margin in the cup in the last 20 years. He won 5 of 8 slalom races on the NorAm series.

"The team had a very good preseason preparation and presence of equally well equipped teammates in daily training; confrontation was no question a positive element," Rokos said. "Another positive is the academic diversion. It is almost a universal phenomenon, athletes coming from a national team to school perform suddenly better. The athletic performance becomes equal or secondary to academic pressure. This helps athletes to relax mentally with positive impact on athletic performance."

The even better news for CU is that both skiers return next season. Hyncicova and Ketterer will lead the charge for the Buffs as they will be shooting to end a two-year drought of not winning a national championship (last was in 2015). Colorado has won 20 national championships in its illustrious history.

Colorado University Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Petra Hyncicova

David Ketterer

Mads Stroem

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