LAKE PLACID, N.Y. – The Lees-McRae Ski & Snowboard team captured six national championships at the 2026 U.S. Collegiate Ski & Snowboard National Championships on Whiteface Mountain in Lake Placid, New York last week.
At the USCSA Nationals, the Bobcats compiled 18 individual podiums, 11 team podiums, six national championships, and one individual champion on the week. Lees-McRae has been dominant on the slopes with 18 national championships in the past five seasons.
On the men's snowboarding team, the Bobcats took home multiple titles and earned the Alpine Team Combined championship with team wins in the Slalom and Giant Slalom events. Lees-McRae recorded a runner-up finish in the Boarder Cross to kick off the week-long championships on March 10.
Owen Gordon and Luke Koch tallied second and fourth-place finishes in the Men's BoarderCross National Championships. Nathan DeVito (25th), Spencer Gibson (27th), and Luke Elting (29th) rounded out the Bobcats in the individual discipline.
DeVito led the Bobcat men in the Slalom discipline with a second-place individual finish. Koch followed in fourth and Gordon rounded out the Bobcats in the top ten with a sixth place.
Koch collected second place in the Giant Slalom individual event and DeVito followed close behind with a fifth-place finish. Gordon claimed seventh in the discipline and Gibson registered 11th. Elting placed 21st in the Giant Slalom.
The Lees-McRae women's snowboard team captured the Alpine Team Combined title in Lake Placid. Nicole Yoos paced the Bobcats with second place overall in the combined disciplines. Abi Byrd followed in fifth. Sophie Young (16th), Anna Craver (17th), and Shelby Knaak (19th) joined Byrd and Yoos in the top 20.
In the Boardercross National Championship, Byrd led the Bobcats with a sixth-place finish. Yoos earned a top-ten spot in ninth. Young (16th), Craver (17th), and Knaak (36th) compiled points for Lees-McRae also.
The Bobcat women claimed the first national championship of the week in the Slalom event with a combined time of 4:10.65. Yoos led the Bobcats with a runner-up finish in the discipline. Byrd claimed fourth in the event. Knaak (16th) and Young (19th) claimed finishes for the Bobcat snowboarding team.
On Saturday, Lees-McRae placed first in the Giant Slalom event with a combined time of 5:49.34. Yoos captured third for a podium finish and Byrd followed in seventh. Craver (13th), Knaak (15th), and Young (26th) completed the course for the national team title.
In the Freestyle events, Yoos led the Bobcats with a seventh-place finish in the combined disciplines of Rail Jam and Slopestyle. Young followed in 10th place in the combined events.
In the Freeski men's event, Max Ligman led the Bobcats with an individual finish of 13th place in the Big Air National Championship. Ligman also placed 25th in the slopestyle event. Ligman earned 19th in the overall rank of the Freeski men's competition.
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