Athletics & Recreation / Magazine Feature

Pioneers ski team to visit White House

The 2008 NCAA Champion University of Denver ski team will travel to Washington, D.C., to visit the White House on June 24, the White House announced June 20.

The Pioneers will join 19 other teams at the White House for Champions Day, celebrating championship teams from the 2007–08 season.

“Receiving an invitation from President Bush to the White House is a great honor,” says alpine head coach Andy LeRoy. “The student-athletes, coaches and administrators are very grateful for this opportunity to represent the University of Denver in our nation’s capital.”

The travel party is slated to tour the Capitol and meet with Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar on Tuesday morning. In the afternoon, the team will tour the White House, meet President George W. Bush and attend a ceremony on the South Lawn.

“Winning the national championship was a result of hard work and individual sacrifices for the sake of the team,” says David Stewart, Nordic head coach. “We are pleased that all members of the team will be honored by the president for their achievements.”

The 2008 University of Denver ski team claimed its 19th team title at the NCAA National Championships in Bozeman, Mont. Denver’s 19 team championships in skiing are the most in NCAA history, ahead of Colorado’s 16 and Utah’s 10. The 2008 title also marked the Pioneers’ fifth championship since 2000.

Along with claiming the national team title and two individual titles, nine Pioneers earned All-American honors.

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