Jesse Knori

Photo by: Chip Bromfield, ProMotion Ltd.

Photo by: NM Photo

Height:
5-11
Class:
Senior
Hometown:
Jackson Hole, Wyo.
High School:
The Community School [Idaho]/Sun Valley

Career Top Classical Finish: First (2017 Alaska Anchorage Invitational)
Career Top Freestyle Finish: Sixth (2017 Seawolf Invitational)

Honors

2016 First Team All-American (Classic)
2017 Second-Team All-American (Classic)
2017 Second-Team All-RMISA
2017 Collegiate All-Academic Ski Team (3.5 GPA, Participation in Regionals)
2017 Clancy A. Herbst, Jr., Student-Athlete Achievement Award
2016 CU Ceal Barry Leadership Award
2014 Lucie Hanusova Memorial Award

Career at Colorado—She earned a pair of All-America honors in her Buffalo career, drawing first-team honors in 2016 in the classic race and second-team honors in the discipline in 2017. In 39 career races, she recorded 13 top 10 finishes.

2017 (Senior)—She earned second-team All-America honors after finishing eighth in the 5K classic race at the NCAA Championships. She also garnered second-team All-RMISA accolades on the season where she had seven top 10 finishes in 11 races. She won the very first race of her career at the Alaska Anchorage Invitational, beating out teammate Christina Rolandsen for first place in the 5K classic. She finished in sixth in three other races, two of which were in the classic discipline, including the last one coming in the RMISA Championships where she helped the Buffs win a 28th RMISA title. At the Seawolf Invite in the freestyle sprints, she placed sixth for her top finish in a freestyle discipline race. She was named to the 2017 USCSCA National Collegiate All-Academic Ski Team and also received CU’s Clancy A. Herbst, Jr., Student-Athlete Achievement Award given to athletes who overcome personal, academic or emotional challenges difficulties to succeed both academically and athletically.

2016 (Junior) – Knori pulled in two of the more clutch performances in recent memory after finishing fifth place in the classic race at the RMISA Championship, her first career top five finish, she followed that up with a fifth place finish in the classic race at the NCAA Championships and was integral in the Buffs comeback to finish second at the championships. She finished all nine of the races in which she competed with seven top 20s and four top 10 finishes, all in classic races. She earned first-team All-America honors for her performance in the classic race at Howelsen Hill at NCAA Championships and she was also one of four recipients at CU for the inaugural Ceal Barry Leadership Award.

2015 (Sophomore) – She competed in nine races, finishing them all with eight of them being in the top 20, three in the top 15 and one top 10 finish. She placed eighth at the CU Invitational in the 15k CL event.

2014 (Freshman)—Knori fell ill during CU’s preseason dryland training and never recovered to the point she could compete. Still, she served as one of two women’s Nordic captains despite those facts. She still had a great sense of humor about her situation, in her words, “I was able to hold first place in the Whooping Cough competition based on length and duration,” also saying that “six months of coughing is a great ab workout.”

Club—Knori skied for two years as part of the Sun Valley team in Sun Valley, Idaho, and prior to that for three years on the Jackson Hole Ski Club. For Jackson Hole, she was a three-time All-American and participated at the Junior National Championships in Presque Isle, Maine. For Sun Valley, she three podium appearances at the Junior National Championships, including second in the Sprint Classic at Soldier Hollow in 2012 and second in the Classic Relay in 2013 in Fairbanks, Alaska. She finished second in a 5K Classic Junior National Qualifier race and sixth in the 10K Freestyle race, also in Soldier Hollow in 2012 and in Alaska at the 2013 Junior Nationals she won her 10K Classic qualifier, was seventh in the Freestyle Sprint and ninth in the 10K Classic. She was awarded the Dave Quinn Award in 2012, which recognizes Junior Olympic athletes who best exemplify the ideals of cross country skiing. In addition to great results, the award honors attributes such as love of the sport, leadership and work ethic.

High School—Knori graduated from The Community School in Sun Valley, Idaho, in 2012. She was a three-year letterwinner in Nordic Skiing and also won three letters in swimming. In skiing, she was the 2011 Idaho State Champion in the 10K Classic race while the swim team there won three state championships as she competed in the 100-m backstroke and 50-m freestyle disciplines.

In the Classroom—Knori is interested in studying Environmental Design and Architecture at Colorado. After her ski career, she wants to work for a Landscape Architecture company.

Personal—Jesse Madeline Knori was born May 24, 1994, in Jackson Hole, Wyo., and her parents are Robert Knori and Kisa Francis. While in Idaho, she worked with the Sun Valley Adaptive Sports helping skiers with disabilities enjoy the sport and has also worked for a Rheumatoid Arthritis company doing social media. She is fifth generation Jackson Hole native. She was a competitive figure skater for five years. She enjoys baking, mountain biking, drinking tea, watching Saturday Night Live, making play lists and washing dishes. She chose Colorado over New Hampshire, St. Lawrence, Alaska Anchorage and Montana State and said Colorado was the perfect fit for her to focus on a career in Environmental Design and be part of a historically great team.

2015	CL	FS
Utah Invitational	20	20
Colorado Invitational	8	19
New Mexico Invitational	21	-
Alaska Anchorage Invitational	10	19
RMISA Championships	14	20
NCAA Championships	-	-

2016	CL	FS
Utah Invitational	10	14
Montana State Invitational	8	18
Colorado Invitational	-	25
New Mexico Invitational	-	-
RMISA Championships	5	15
NCAA Championships	5	32

2017	CL	FS
Utah Invitational	13	8
Montana State Invitational	6	22
Seawolf Invitational	1*	6
Alaska Anchorage Invitational	1	8
RMISA Championships	6	19
NCAA Championships	8	28