Beginning on March 8, the St. Olaf Alpine and Nordic ski teams competed at the United States Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association (USCSA) Championships in Lake Placid, N.Y. They competed against teams from across the country for five days, skiing in 14 events, and placing in seven of them.
Led by Julia Everest ’24, Lily Hubanks ’25, and Erica Meyers ’22, the women’s Nordic team turned out the most impressive result, sweeping all four events they participated in. The team came in first in the 7.5K freestyle, classic sprint, 15K classic, and team sprint relay.
Speking about the 15K classic, Meyers said, “[it] was our most exhausting race, with lots of hills and a long race to repeat these over and over. I can remember all the men’s teams cheering on one of the hills, and it was one of the coolest things I have ever experienced…I really appreciated getting to feel that energy even through all the pain from the race.”
To form the team score in the 15K classic, the places of the three fastest skiers are added together. Therefore, the lowest score wins. Hubanks came in first, followed by Meyers in second, and Everest in fifth, for a team score of eight points. The Oles won in a landslide, as the next closest team still had a whopping 28 points.
Individually, these three skiers also made the top five overall in women’s Nordic skiing. Meyers tooks first, while Hubanks and Everest placed third and fourth, respectively.
“At nationals I had fun getting to know skiers from other teams across the country and liked exploring a new race course even though some of the hills were gigantic. I really enjoy cheering for my teammates who always make an effort to cheer for each other. I especially loved the team sprint relay because usually a race is an individual event, but this time we got to work together,” said Hubanks.
The men’s Nordic team also did quite well. Led by Kieran Mullen ’22 and Nacio Levey ’25, the Oles beat out a closely matched Paul Smith’s College by just one point to come in first in the classic sprint. The men’s side also came in second in the 7.5K freestyle and third in the 15K classic.
The field was more difficult for the Alpine skiers. The men’s Alpine team pulled off a top ten finish, coming in 9th out of 26 in both the giant slalom and slalom, while the women came in 12th out of 26 in both the giant slalom and slalom.
However, the success of the women’s Apline team, combined with the scores of the women’s Nordic team, earned them the President’s Award. This award is given to the team with the best combined results from the Alpine and Nordic events.
Despite this being a national championship event, the Alpine ski teams will compete at one more meet in Lutsen, Minn. beginning on March 24. However, this does mark the end of the season for the Nordic team, who certainly finished on a high note. Reflecting on her experience at nationals, Meyers said, “The national competition, alongside our entire season, was cancelled last year due to COVID, so getting to compete at this year’s nationals meant a lot to me, because it was the perfect week to finish up my season and Nordic skiing career as an Ole.”
