An Update on the 2020-2021 Racing Season

Hi there!

I’m sure you loyal followers of the blog have been dying to know the answer to the one question we’ve been asking since NCAAs (half of it!) last spring: Race? Here at SLU we’ve been asking ourselves the same. The constantly changing world of a pandemic makes for a constantly changing upcoming race season. For now, here is an update on what the EISA racing circuit will likely look like for SLU.

PLEASE NOTE: this is unofficial! We are just athletes reading league updates around the circuit and speculating what we’ll be able to safely do while abiding by local, state, and national COVID guidelines. The information in this blog post is likely to change throughout the coming weeks and months. 

New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC)

On October 8th, the NESCAC announced they are cancelling all winter season sports competitions. This announcement still allows for practices and individual institutions to organize outside competition at their discretion. What this means for Bates, Bowdoin, Colby, Middlebury, and Williams skiing remains dependent on their institutional, local, and state guidelines on travel and competition. That being said, with almost half of the EISA schools’ other sports not competing, a traditional EISA carnival season is already not looking promising. 

Ivy League

Similarly, the Ivy League (governing Dartmouth and Harvard) announced they are cancelling all intercollegiate winter sports competitions. Based on the announcement, it appears that athletics practices would be permitted, but travel for races seems to be out of the question for these schools. If the EISA is able to put together races (even unofficially), it seems Dartmouth and Harvard would be sitting these out for the year.

Liberty League

On November 9th, the Liberty League (in which most St. Lawrence University athletics competes) cancelled all winter sports competition and championship events. While this announcement does not specifically cancel the nordic ski season (as we compete in an outside league, the EISA), it does mean that holding athletic events will require stricter guidelines. Also important to note in this announcement is that smaller scale and unofficial events are not prohibited by the Liberty League so long as they are sufficiently safe. Within University guidelines, staying overnight for races will likely pose too much of a COVID exposure risk. For SLU Skiing, we will likely be limited to racing within realistic day driving distance (New York State and Vermont).

Vermont State

With a recent rise in COVID cases, the state of Vermont is implementing stricter guidelines that prohibit all recreational sports activities, likely impacting UVM, Middlebury, and St. Mike’s ability to practice or race for the foreseeable future. A stricter 7-14 day quarantine rule will also prevent out of state schools from travelling into Vermont to race and prevent UVM, Middlebury, or St. Mike’s from travelling out of state to race. Looks like we will have to get by without Craftsbury or Rikert this year :(

New York State

New York State recently relaxed travel restrictions regarding entering and exiting the state. Now, travelers from contiguous states (Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania) are exempt from quarantine and testing rules according to Forward NY guidelines. In theory, this would allow schools from these states to come to New York to race. However, as we’ve already mentioned, these schools are under restrictions of their own to prevent this from happening.

Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association (EISA)

With all that said, the EISA has yet to make an official decision regarding this season’s races. As of now, the EISA plans to hold five single-day races starting later in the winter season. These races are scheduled for Fridays to avoid some of the weekend-warrior crowds. Based on what we have discussed, there are some clear quarantine and travel issues given current guidelines, but the current EISA schedule is as follows:

1/29, St. Michael’s/Sleepy Hollow, VT: 5k/10k classic

2/5, Colby/Quarry Road, ME: 10k/15k skate

2/12, St. Lawrence/Lake Placid, NY: 5k/10k classic

2/19, UNH/Jackson, NH: 15k/20k skate

2/26, UVM/Sleepy Hollow, VT: 5k/10k classic

3/10-3/13, NCAA Championships/Jackson, NH

National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA)

The NCAA has yet to make a formal decision on winter sports. NCAA national championships are still on, with UNH picking up the bid to host at Jackson (as Middlebury, by new Vermont restrictions, will be unable to host at Rikert). Given the current COVID-19 climate, it will certainly be a smaller affair, with talk about how to qualify (with most schools unable to participate in standard EISA races) still underway. Saying anything more than this feels like gambling, so I’ll stop. See the NCAA’s Covid page for more resources and information.

“Final” Verdict

So, where does all this leave us? For SLU, with other winter sports teams on hold for competition, and many EISA schools looking at limited participation, it is looking like local racing is most likely. For the beginning of the season, we will likely be doing some local time trials at Higley Flow. It is our hope to be able to race/time trial with Clarkson University and Paul Smith's College ski teams during the early season, or travel to Mt. Van Hoevenberg for other open race opportunities should they arise. In the late season, we hope to follow the currently scheduled EISA and NCAA races during late January, February, and March should travel restrictions and institutional guidelines allow it. Within the coming weeks this prediction may change drastically. Regardless, as we said when we arrived in the fall, we’re going to keep crushing hard workouts and preparing for racing, if only to be thankful to participate in this sport we all know and love so well.

That’s all for now. For more reading on collegiate skiing across the country, see this great article written by Minnesota man Luke Brown. Thanks for tuning in and we will talk again soon!

Until then, keep those hips forward,

Charlie Reinhardt ‘23

COVID Thanksgiving 2020

Hello Again!

It’s been quite a while since our last blog post. We have been busy training, doing schoolwork, and sanitizing our hands since we last talked. For Thanksgiving break this year (last week), SLU students were allowed to either go home for break and stay home to finish the remainder of classes online from home, or stay strictly on campus and finish online classes from campus (no on-snow thanksgiving camps allowed). Many of our athletes flocked home for warm home-cooked meals and warmer hugs from family, so here is a small update on how each of our athletes is doing from across the country!

On campus squad post HARD L4 workout

Kai Oakley ‘23, Cam Brochu ‘23, Charlie Reinhardt ‘23, Lizi Barsness ‘24; Canton, NY: The on-campus squad, staying in Canton to finish out the semester until after finals. Managed to get on a mix of snow, dirt, and asphalt at Higley Flow State Park once last week. Still waiting for more snow, so we’ll be patiently logging hours running on the trails, roller skiing on the roads, and studying in the library!

Jada Balmer ‘24, Honeoye Falls, NY: Weather has been relatively warm-ish, so I’ve been sticking to roller skiing and running. Hoping to get some snow soon!

Amanda Vansant ‘24, Holderness, NH: Been frolicking around in the Whites and spending lots of quality time with my parents:) I’m patiently waiting for some white stuff on the ground so I can ditch the rollers for some real skinny skis! Ate some yummy pie on thanksgiving and hoping everyone else did too!

Gabby Wangler ‘21, Rochester, NY: Currently training and finishing out the rest of the semester at home. I've been enjoying our spicy late fall weather of 40's and rain, but rolling along until the snow starts flying. Can't wait for winter snow and racing to start!

Tim Cunningham '21 during his mountain OD run

Tim Cunningham ‘21, Springfield, NH: (Summary from a separate blog post worth reading, Changes, by David Bowie) Things are going well in Tim Land. I’m healthy, glad to have been around people who can make going to school during a pandemic fun, and getting totally fired up to destroy, erm, compete passionately with some Clarkson skiers every weekend this winter. 

Sydney Peterson ‘24, Cable, WI: I have been living up at the cabin, entertaining myself by skiing around a 1.3 Km snow loop. It’s been fun seeing family and especially the dog again!

Graham Branch ‘22, last spotted in Sedona, AZ: Living the road trip life from my new van (with a sick Ghostbusters sticker). Enjoying the warm weather and spending time on the mountain bike, looking sexy in the cowboy hat and Hawaiian shirt.

Brian Beyerbach ‘22, Bozeman, MT: Absolutely chilling in Bozeman after a brief trip to Truckee, CA. Training and racing with BSF college/pro team for the winter (taking the year off from SLU). Lots of on snow time so far which I am super thankful for. Looking forward to coming home for the holidays!

Kai Frantz '24 and his brothers at Mt. Van Hoevenberg

Kai Frantz ‘24, Lake Placid, NY: Had the chance to get on snow for a few days at Mt. Van Hoevenberg until my knee started acting up again (semi-injured from running this fall). Resting the knee up by spending quality time with family and getting jacked doing strength workouts through Volt by Gatorade!

Ben Carnahan ‘21, Williston, VT: Returned home for break. I have been running and mountain biking because I refuse to rollerski past Thanksgiving. I’ve been spending most of my time training and applying for grad school. I appreciated eating an unhealthy amount of stuffing on Thanksgiving.

Sammie Nolan ‘24, Richmond, VT: Thanksgiving break for me was refreshing, seeing my family for the first time in a while and having a couple days of no school work was great! The day before Thanksgiving I got to go on my first ski of the season and I saw so many friendly faces from my old team. On Thanksgiving day, I made lots of pies and had a very nice time with my family.

Robyn McIntosh ‘22, Chelsea, QC: I have been doing some training, some studying, and a whole lot of chilling since I’ve been home, which has been really nice! Luckily, we have snow up in the great white north, so I have been able to ski!! Can't wait to be back with the team for some fun racing/training!

Team JEPH in West Yellowstone

TEAM JEPH (Jordan Schuster ‘21 and Steph Nicols ‘22), Bozeman, MT: (Summary from a separate blog post update worth reading, The Chronicles of Team Jeph) Rather than returning to SLU for the fall, we decided to take the semester off (online school for Steph, ski bummin’ for Jordan) and spend the fall in Bozeman, MT. While the snow hasn’t been plentiful in Bozeman, we’re lucky to be a mere 2-hour drive from the world-class Rendezvous Ski Trails in West Yellowstone. We’ve logged many hours in the car, but they’re well-worth the mid-winter ski conditions. Last week we got to spend a couple nights in West for a mini Thanksgiving camp (complete with a 20lb turkey), and even donned a race bib for a time trial with the other college skiers.

Jaden Phillips ‘23, Evergreen, CO: I’m on snow in Frisco and Breckenridge enjoying beautiful skis with my dog and family. I will be out in Vermont soon and excited to be back and training with the team! 

Claire Wagner ‘24, Edina, MN: At home, currently skiing in 1.3km circles at Elm Creek and seriously procrastinating studying. Hoping for some cold weather and bigger circles soon!

Colton Martin ‘24, Erie, PA: Recently I have been roller skiing from home. There has not been enough snow to ski on quite yet. So In my free time I have been fly fishing for steelhead!

Coach Dana Hatton, ‘18, M’21: As I write this on Monday 11/30, I am currently in Lake Placid, NY quarantining after a potential exposure to Covid for another few days, but I am healthy and will be back in Canton to finish the semester with the four skiers we have still on campus..that is if we are allowed to have practices resume. It’s been a very uncertain journey this fall, but our skiers have handled it all so graciously and I couldn’t be more lucky to be working with such an easy-going group of student-athletes. We are all patiently waiting for the snow; it would certainly bring us some joy!