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An 11th national team championship was within reach for Utah's skiing team, thanks in large part to Austrian freshman Veronika Mayerhofer, who placed first (5K freestyle) and second (15K classic) in the women's Nordic events.
One or two more top-10 finishes in Saturday morning's slaloms might have done it: Utah trailed Colorado by just seven points, 388 to 381, entering the final day of competition in Lake Placid, N.Y.
But the Buffs placed six finishers in the top-19 of the men's and women's races to Utah's three, and storied Denver had five of the day's top eight finishers to snatch away second place.
"I think we found ourselves in a difficult situation," head coach Kevin Sweeney told The Tribune by phone. "On one hand, I think we were trying to be defensive and not do anything to lose our second-place position. We wanted to attack, but we didn't want to make any mistakes."
Still, Sweeney had felt from the team dinner Friday night that his team had the right blend of confidence and humility. It stings, he said, "but then I start looking in the eyes of my athletes, and we're giving each other hugs, and I realize what we've been through this season. ... So I have to take a step back and go, 'OK, we were a threat for that title. It was just darn close.'"
Colorado finished with 505 points for its 20th team title, followed by Denver (478), Utah (471), Vermont (443) and New Mexico (402).
All-Americans for Utah include Mayerhofer, Sloan Storey (fifth in both 5K and 15K), Anna-Lena Heynen (ninth in 5K, 10th in 15K), Niklas Persson (10th in 10K, fifth in 20K), Kristiina Rove (fourth in GS), Chloe Fausa (fifth in GS), Endre Bjertness (sixth in GS) and Andy Trow (eight in GS, seventh in slalom).
The women, in both alpine and Nordic, accounted for three-fifths of Utah's total points. Said Sweeney: "I think, combined, the women carried us. The truth is, in most cases when you come to the championships, things don't change a whole lot from how they've been going during the season, and I think that held true here this week."
It's the sixth consecutive top-5 finish for the Utes, whose worst finish since the inception of the NCAA skiing championships is eighth. Sweeney said recruiting will be as important as ever this offseason, when Utah will have to replace Trow, Rove, Ana Kobar, Tim Hribar and, if she decides to finish her schooling in Austria, Mayerhofer.
It now falls to the No. 4 women's gymnastics team, beaten at Georgia on Saturday, to snap Utah's team NCAA title drought.
The ski team was the last Utah team to win a title in 2003. Utah won 18 NCAA team titles (and one more AIAW team title) between 1981 and 1997 — all earned by the skiing and women's gymnastics teams.
Twitter: @matthew_piper