BY KAREN BOSSICK

John Steel Hagenbuch said he was going to give it his all or die trying in his effort to win back-to-back Individual national Championship in the 20-kilometer mass start.

But, in the end it was Joe Davies of Utah, who won the gold medal, finishing the course in the woods of New Hampshire in 43 minutes, 33 seconds. Hagenbuch won the silver medal, crossing the line in 44:44.1., adding to his gold medal from earlier in the week. And Brian Bushey of Utah finished third at 45:11.3.

Hagenbuch was only 0.8 seconds out of first place at the halfway point of the race with hundreds of Dartmouth students and faculty members cheering him on.

Hagenbuch won the 7.5K Classic Individual Start by 16 seconds earlier in the week. It was his second straight individual championship in the 7.5K at the NCAA Ski Championships.

Joe Davies, who won the 2025 Boulder Mountain Tour in early February, finished third in the 7.5K.

Hagenbuch, a Sun Valley Community School alum who grew up racing with the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation, was named Dartmouth College’s Richards Group Athlete of the Week following his performances at the NCAA Skiing National Championships.

Hagenbuch, who skis for the U.S. Nordic Ski Team and Dartmouth college, also collected two First-Team All-American honors with his performances. They were his fourth and fifth career First-Team All-American awards.

The championships were hosted on Hagenbuch’s home turf at Dartmouth College. Dartmouth College finished third at the championships.

The University of Utah Utes won their 17th national title all-time and their fourth in the last five years once scores for Nordic and alpine races were tabulated.