1954 NCAA Skiing Championships

The 1954 NCAA Skiing Championships were contested at the first annual NCAA-sanctioned ski tournament to determine the individual and team national champions of men's collegiate alpine and cross country skiing in the United States. This championships were held March 4–7 at Slide Mountain outside Reno, Nevada,[1][2] hosted by the University of Nevada.[3]

1954 NCAA Skiing Championships

Tournament information
Sport	College skiing
Location	Reno, Nevada
Dates	March 4–7, 1954
Administrator(s)	NCAA
Host(s)	University of Nevada
Venue(s)	Slide Mountain
Teams	10
Number of events	4 (5 titles)
Final positions
Champions	Denver (1st title)
1st runners-up	Seattle
2nd runners-up	Colorado

Slide
Mountain

Location in the United States

Slide Mountain

Location in Nevada

Denver finished ahead of Seattle to claim the team championship;[4][5] the Pioneers were coached by Willy Schaeffler. Nevada senior Pat Myers won the downhill, edging out Olympian Darrell Robison of Utah.[1][2]

Team scoring

Rank	Team	Points
	Denver	384.0
	Seattle	349.6
	Colorado	348.6
4	Idaho	348.5
5	Wyoming	347.6
6	Utah	343.5
7	Washington State	338.0
8	Nevada (H)	302.6
9	Washington	290.0
10	Stanford	157.8

Source:[3][5]

• (H) = Hosts
• Teams declared ineligible were Western State and Whitman.[6]

Individual events

Four events were held, which yielded five individual titles.

• Thursday: Cross Country
• Friday: Downhill
• Saturday: Slalom
• Sunday: Jumping

Event	Champion
	Skier	Team	Time/Score
Cross Country	Marvin Crawford	Denver	50:09.0
Downhill	Pat Myers	Nevada	1:46.40
Jumping	Willis Olson	Denver	213.3
Skimeister	Marvin Crawford	Denver	383.5
Slalom	John L’Orange	Denver	2:07.90

Source:[1][2][4][5][6][7]

References

1. "Nevadan wins downhill in NCAA ski test". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). United Press. March 6, 1954. p. A6.
2. "Cougars, Vandals trail in ski mix". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. March 7, 1954. p. 2, sports.
3. "NCAA Skiing Championships Results" (PDF). NCAA. NCAA.org. Retrieved July 2, 2016.
4. Bennyhoff, Robert (March 8, 1954). "Denver cops national ski tourney". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). United Press. p. B4.
5. "Denver ski birds win NCAA jump; Vandals fourth". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. March 8, 1954. p. 8.
6. "Slatter Crawford paces Denver to NCAA lead". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). Associated Press. March 5, 1954. p. 11.
7. ""Norway's gift" captures slalom". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. March 7, 1954. p. 3, sports.