St. Olaf Nordic Team

Last week, Gustavus College cut their varsity nordic skiing program with no warning, claiming that because the sport is not sponsored by the MIAC (Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference), the school has decided to allocate funds and resources toward the sports that do compete in the MIAC.  For those of you that aren't from Central Region, the nordic ski teams compete in a conference called the CCSA (Central Collegiate Ski Association) which was formed once the MIAC discontinued its sponsorship of nordic skiing in 2004-05 due to low numbers of schools with nordic teams. Competing in the CCSA is what qualifies us for NCAAs, just like the MIAC for other sports in Minnesota.  With Gustavus choosing to cut their nordic program, there are now only two colleges in Minnesota with varsity nordic programs (St. Olaf College and the College of St. Scholastica), and only seven varsity programs in the Central Region. After the performances put on by Central...

Well, I left Utah two weeks ago today, but I'm pretty sure I'm still up in the clouds somewhere, because I definitely haven't come back down to Earth yet. First off, I'd just like to acknowledge the fact that this entire season was a dream come true, and my experience at NCAAs was just the icing on the cake. It's nearly impossible to try to put this season (and my ski career at St. Olaf) into words, but I will try my best. Honestly, it wasn't until Thanksgiving camp out at West Yellowstone that I felt mentally prepared for the racing season ahead of me.  Until that week, I had spent the fall going through the motions, showing up for the workouts, and following the routines I had created throughout three years of college training, all because it was what I was supposed to do.  After the lack of a racing season last year due to injury and illness, and a summer of putting training on the back burner for an absolutely amazing internship opportunity, I had legitima...

First, we now have a Twitter account! Follow @StOlafNordic on Twitter! Rather than offer a race-by-race account of everything that has happened from CCSAs until the end of the season, here is a quick recap of some highlights from the end of the regular season. CCSAs, Al Quaal, Ishpeming, MI. More cold temps, extremely demanding course but with some fast times. Paige earned her second podium of the season in the 15k skate race, finishing 3 rd , and Jake finished 5 th in a bunch sprint for the line after pushing the pace hard on the last two laps. This was also Shelby’s first race back after an early-season foot injury, so it was great to have her back on the road and racing her way back into shape. Women finished 6 th on the weekend, only two points down to Green Bay, and the men finished 5 th .  Results for all races are here: http://mobile.raceresult.com/ details/index.php?page=4& eventid=24797&lang=en . NCAA Regionals, Michigan Tech, Houghton, MI. Surprise! More ...