1959 NCAA Championship Ski Team (2006) - CU Athletic Hall of Fame

1959 NCAA Championship Ski Team

Induction:
2006

CU's First National Championship Team
First Team Inducted Into CU Athletic Hall of Fame

The first national championship team in any sport in CU’s athletic history, the nine members of the team that won the title on March 29, 1959 in Winter Park were nominated as a group (seven skiers and two coaches). The ’57 team had the best finish, second, but the ’59 squad broke through for the first major win when it captured the NCAA West Region title. Two weeks later, head coach Bob Beattie’s Buffs were celebrating CU’s first of what is now 17 titles in the sport, winning the title at Winter Park in defeating rival Denver by 5.8 points. In addition to Beattie, members of the team included skiers Frank Brown, Dave Steed, John Dendahl, Norris Durham, Gary Gisle, Bob Gray and Harold Shaeffer and assistant coach Helge Gagnum. Steed claimed two individual NCAA titles, in the jumping and skimeister competitions.