Harsh winter ahead for ski team

Author: Emma Gardner

While the rest of campus is bundling up for what promises to be a harsh winter, the Middlebury Alpine ski team faces a particularly daunting season ahead. It seems that as the temperatures have dropped, so have the number of Middlebury applicants recruited to participate in the College's prestigious ski program, and this year's roster represents a significant downsize.

Having graduated nine seniors last spring, the team's hopes of a new crop of first-year replacements have faltered as this year's class has yielded fewer athletes than expected, due in part to the lower rate of admission for the class of 2012.

"We only have four new first years, of which only one is a girl," said women's co-captain Tucker Burton '09. "Our team is definitely the smallest it has ever been, and we lack the depth we have had in previous years."

Changes in the team lineup will shift dynamics, but the returning skiers remain optimistic about the coming season.

"We still have a huge amount of talent and we are all working harder than ever to fill in what we lack," said Leah McLaughry '10. "There is no doubt that each athlete will have a greater responsibility than last year - but if anything that is better for our success."

Both the men's and women's squads have been hard at work to unify the team all semester. In addition to participating in the fall intramural soccer championships, the atheletes have completed a period of rigorous dryland training under the supervision of head coach Stever Bartlett, who is back for his third year at the helm of the program.

"The fall training block has been very productive so far," noted McLaughry. "Although the team is smaller this year, it makes for more efficient workouts and we've all been able to individualize our training even more that will hopefully translate on snow. We just completed physical testing, and were excited that our results showed much improvement across the board compared to last year."

The Panthers finished in fifth place in last year's NCAA Division I Championships, directly behind perennial rival Dartmouth - the team that also claimed the top spot at Middlebury's Winter Carnival in February in which the hosts placed second. While the team lacks in numbers this year, women's co-captain Mattie Ford '09 anticipates continued competition with such opponents as Dartmouth, UNH, and UVM.

"I think we have potential for this coming season," she said. " It may be a little more difficult to compete at the same level than in years past, but we are closer as a team, so hopefully that will help on the hill. We have some great skiers on our team; we just have to perform to our ability."

As Middlebury's only NCAA Division I program, the ski team has brought significant recognition to the College in past years in addition to being the focus of the annual Winter Carnival.

Though the Panthers' success on the mountain has long been a Middlebury tradition, the challenges the team will face this season as well as in years to come may prove difficult to surmount. Still, the athletes are determined to uphold the standard that previous generations of Middlebury skiers have set since 1934.

McLaughry is optimistic about her team's chances of capturing the national title this winter.

"We are working as a team and as individuals to make sure we do not lose our recognition as one of the best Division I ski teams in the country," she said. "I have no doubt that this season will be successful. "