University of Vermont Athletic Hall of Fame
Knut Nystad 1994 - Cross Country, Skiing, Track and Field
The 1994 winner of the J. Edward Donnelly Award as the top male senior athlete and 2004 UVM Hall of Fame inductee, Knut Nystad was an All-American nordic skier who also a standout runner in cross country and track. A native of Fauske, Norway, he earned 12 varsity letters at UVM and was a two-time captain of skiing and cross country.
He was a two-time All-American skier for the Catamounts and with his brother, Trond, helped the Catamounts to two NCAA titles (1992, 1994) and two runner-up finishes (1991, 1993). As a senior in 1994, he came in fifth in the NCAA individual classical championship race. He also posted top carnival finishes all four years on the ski team.
Nystad also was an outstanding cross country runner earning the team's most valuable player award all four seasons. He led the Catamounts to the program's best-ever finishes in the conference championships during his four years. In 1994, he came in fifth in the NAC Championship and fourth in the New England's. That year with a 20th place finish in the IC4A Championship, he became the first UVM men's runner to earn a spot in the NCAA Championship meet where he finished 55th.
On the track, Nystad was UVM's top steeplechase runner for four years and was the team MVP in 1991 when he qualified for the IC4A's. An excellent student, he was a four-time member of the NAC Academic Honor Roll for cross country and track. Twice he earned GTE/ Cosida Academic All-Region honors and once was on the Academic All-American squad.
Nystad graduated magna cum laude in Business Administration from UVM in 1994 where he earned the business school's 1994 M.I.S. Achievement Award. He also earned a master's degree in management information services from Denver in 1994.
Nystad also was the head Nordic coach at Denver from 1994 to 2006 and his efforts turned the Pioneers into one of the most dominating ski programs in the NCAA. While at Denver, his Nordic skiers have had 60 All-Americans, 10 NCAA individual champions, nine individual runner-ups and three straight NCAA team titles from 2000 to 2002.
He also was an advisor to the U.S. National teams in 2003 and 2004. Starting in 2006-07, Nystad joined the staff of the Norwegian National Nordic Ski Program.
