St. Olaf Nordic Team

Just like that, the school year is over and our next season is started! After a hectic final few weeks of school, we're ready to do some serious summer training, relaxing, and traveling. Our team goes in all different directions in the spring, some racing in track or the cycling team, others focusing on schoolwork or doing some freestyle training, and yet we still find plenty of time to get together and enjoy some off-season shenanigans. The now-annual Challenge of Champions takes place during the spring and summer, including such honorable events as the backwards 800m steeplechase, the burpee 400, and the Evan Kendall Memorial Single-Stick 5k Race (don't worry, Evan is still quite alive). We also had our yearly Culver's rollerski - there's nothing like breaking out the rollerskis for the first time in order to go get some ice cream (sorry, Allie - frozen custard). The Culver's rollerski! Tom, back row: Jake, Amy. Middle row: Nate, Liza, Nora, Laura, Piper, Jerem...

Our final races of the regular season found us in the annual sardine-mobile to Marquette, MI. After a mix-up with some rental vans, we finally scrounged up enough vehicles to get us to regionals. Saturday featured a 5 and 10 k skate race at Al Quaal. Jake put in his highest placing performance of the season, finishing 4th, with Nels in 30th and Leif and Mitchell in 34th and 35th respectively. Piper showed how far she has come in her first year skiing since high school, finishing a strong 23rd. Amy also showed off her improvements in skate skiing this year, finishing 36th with Nora in 37th and Allie close behind in 38th. Laura and Shelby were 41st and 42nd out of 52. Sunday’s 15/20k classic mass start was a grueling test on the steep climbs of the Teal Lake loop. Jake skied to 11th place, securing his qualifying spot at NCAAs! Jake was St. Olaf’s second NCAA qualifier in two years, after Paige qualified last year. Nels, Leif, and Mitchell battled to 27th, 33rd, and 34th. In the wom...

We’re back with more results! It’s been a busy interim and start to second semester for us, especially as racing ramped up. After our first weekend at Wirth, some of us kicked off interim break with the Minnesota College Championships skate relay race up at Snowflake in Duluth. Our men’s teams took 2 nd (Nels, Leif, and Jake) and 8 th (Graham, Mitchell, and Jeremy) and the women were 3 rd (Piper, Laura, and Nora) and 5 th (Shelby, Allie, and Amy), and Liza was a champ and raced the scramble leg with unfortunately no team to tag off to – so really, she was the first across the line by over half an hour! Some of these skiers then headed up to Ironwood, Michigan for an intense four-day training camp to get on snow, since the cities were pretty bare.  Allie braving the cold at Conference (photo courtesy of Mrs. Brown) Amelia cruising over the top of a hill at Wirth (photo courtesy of Mrs. Brown) Teamwork! Amy and Shelby at Conference (photo courtesy...

This past weekend we spent racing The Mayor's Challenge in our own stomping grounds at Wirth Park! We brought a large crew of skiers, racing some or all of the Friday/Saturday/Sunday races! Temps dipped über-low, but the show had to go on (after some coercion and chanting from unhappy college coaches - no, Tom was not the ring leader, he kept his cool)! With "grace and grit" as Coach Tom would say, everyone had fun racing and enjoyed our last time racing at Wirth Park for the season! Laura holding up the pack in Sunday's heats of the sprint race. Shelby rounding the corner at the sprint race. Allie in Sunday's sprint heats. With regionals in Ishpeming, MI next weekend, we are gearing up for the third week of the semester, trying to staying healthy before Regionals and USCSAs! Racers for regionals are: Leif, Mitchell, Jake, Nels, Nora, Shelby, Amy, Allie & Piper. Racers for USCSAs are: Leif, Mitchell, Nels, Nora, Shelby, Piper & La...

Interim has been packed with monotonous days and lots of racing. Last weekend most of the team headed to Telemark, Wisconsin to compete in the first CCSA race of the season! Jake Brown placed 5th in the Men's 15K Skate Race. Jeremy and Stuart competed in the King Boreas and Marine O'Brien races in the cities. We all enjoyed getting out on some good snow and kicking off the race season. This weekend we brought a full crew to the CCSA race at Wirth Park in Minneapolis. Everyone battled tricky conditions with skis full of klister. Some didn't even wear sleeves. Nora Gilbertson placed 12th for the college girls, 14th overall in the 10K classic race on Saturday! Jeremy Storvick racing at the King Boreas race. Stuart Gordon racing at the King Boreas race. Senior Amy Wannanen working hard at the 10K Classic race at Wirth. Captain Nora Gilbertson beasting it in. The next Subaru models? Coach Tom & Allie... stretching? S...