Nordic Skiers' Resolve Tested in Alaskan Journey

Author: Andrew Zimmermann

Skiing amongst the top programs in the United States, the Middlebury nordic team skated its way to an 11th place result in the 2002 NCAA Skiing Championships. Denver University, which won the overall competition, dominated the men's nordic events while Colorado and the University of Northern Michigan duked it out in the women's nordic races.

The competition took place at Kincaid Park, a world-class nordic skiing facility just outside the city of Anchorage, Alaska. Leading up to Thursday's classic discipline ski races, the Panthers had four days in Alaska to ski and get accustomed to both the four hour time difference and the difference in snow quality. Hillary Patzer '02 conceded that the approach to waxing and ski tuning must change, as the snow in western climes is usually drier and not as tightly packed.

With those adjustments in mind Patzer and the women took to the snow first in Thursday's five-kilometer classic race. The short length affair took Mari Storeng, the winner from Colorado University, just over 15 minutes to complete. As racers pored across the finish line, Kate Newick '04 was the first Panther to complete the race and did so in a time of 16:32.2, good enough for 22nd place. Patzer crossed in 28th place and Kate Whitcomb '04 cruised to 32nd.

Soon thereafter the men started their 10-kilometer race. Ola Berger of Denver won the race and his two other teammates joined him on the podium to give Denver a clean sweep. Before the race Middlebury coaches and staff told the nordic and alpine racers the importance of racing confidently and not thinking the stronger Western teams unbeatable.

The Middlebury men responded with a solid effort placing all three racers within the top 30 spots. Despite feeling under the weather, Shams Helminski '02 and Tim Weston '03 were able to help the Panthers to an eighth place team finish in the men's classic event. Colin Rogers '04 turned in Middlebury's best result of the day with a 20th.

In the final day of competition the men took part in the 20-kilometer freestyle race, one of the longest of the year. Helminski and Weston showed the fatigue of the sickness that had been plaguing them and finished out of the top 30. The going was especially tough as Weston made note that, "Kincaid Park is a more challenging and hillier course than we are used to skiing." The men's captain also conceded that the result was a bit disappointing and that a longer, tougher course was not the sole factor in the finish.

Rogers turned the 20-kilometer freestyle into a 19th place performance. His result was the best among Middlebury nordic skiers on the weekend, and he was one of many that simply could not catch Berger who left the field in his wake to the tune of a 26 second win.

The women's 15-kilometer freestyle marked the last event of the competition and by day's end Denver would lay claim to another national title. This distance event was also dominated as in the men's race.This time it was Katerina Hanusova of the University of Nevada who undercut the field by over two minutes. Whitcomb led the way as she has for much of the year for Middlebury by finishing 23rd. Patzer and Newick finished 33rd and 34th respectively. Patzer,skiing in her final race with Middlebury and having family in the crowd, admitted that given the circumstances, "I felt a little pressure." She went on to add, "It is very unpredictable how your body will perform in a race like this."

In the end Middlebury was 11th out of 23 teams that competed. At 296 points the ski team was just 14 behind the hosts of the championships, the University of Alaska-Anchorage. In retrospect, Patzer and many others had "no regrets." As one of two seniors making the trip on the nordic side, Patzer said, "I wasn't alone in being disappointed but as a team I think we remain mentally strong after Alaska." And as the winter ends and summer fades into fall it will be that mental strength that will drive and motivate the nordic team for next year's season.