Three Lobos Earn Top RMISA Honors

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — Three Lobos picked up half of the year-end awards distributed by the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association.  Ricardo Izquierdo-Bernier was named Male Nordic Athlete of the Year, Vegard Busengdal was named Male Alpine Athlete of the Year, and Christian Otto was named Nordic Coach of the Year.  All of the league’s awards were voted on by the league’s membership. 

Izquierdo-Bernier won the 20-km classic title at the NCAA Championships and finished fourth in the 10-km freestyle. His win was the first men’s Nordic classic NCAA title for New Mexico. Izquierdo-Bernier was the only men’s Nordic skier to earn first-team All-America honors in both events at the championship. He won two races and finished on the podium seven times during the season.
 
Busengdal, who was also the men’s alpine MVP (which is selected through NCAA qualification points), closed out his career with a third-place finish in the men’s slalom at NCAA’s for first-team All-America honors. He finished on the podium four times during the year and led the league with 11 top 10 finishes. Busengdal is a two-time All-American for the Lobos, he also finished fifth in the slalom in 2018.
 
Otto is in his first season as head Nordic coach at UNM after previously serving as an assistant. He helped lead Ricardo Izquierdo-Bernier to the 20-km NCAA classic title and a fourth-place finish in the 10-km freestyle while Kornelius Grøv finished second in the freestyle. New Mexico had the top men’s Nordic team at both the Montana State and UAA Invites this season.

The other league awards went to Julie Richter of Utah as the Female Nordic Athlete of the Year, Tuva Norbye of Denver as the Female Alpine Athlete of the Year and JJ Johnson of Utah as the Alpine Coach of the Year.