Wowza! Welcome Back!

 Dear fans of the SLUSKI blog, old and new,

Hello!!! It has been a busy busy start to our school year at SLUSKI. So busy that this is the first time we are reconnecting. I missed getting to chat with you all and boy am I glad to be back. Where to start?

About a month ago, our Saints skiers started to come back home to Canton, NY for another fall of ski training. With a happy and healthy roster of 24 athletes, we have been a force to be reckoned with in the North Country: the trails and roads have a hard time dealing with so many fit athletes, while our classmates at Dana brunch have a hard time dealing with so many energetic (and loud) kids riding the high of a great Saturday morning interval workout. 

We have some lovely additions to the team, with eight true First Years and three Sophomores (either transferring from other schools or joining the team after a first year at SLU) hopping on the SLUSKI bandwagon. Watch out for some get-to-know-ya blog posts in the coming weeks to get a chance to "meet" the new members of the team.

And in the interest of keeping things lively for the blog, I am going to attempt to tell the rest of our first month at school with only pictures. Here we go!!

Serious family photo (L to R - Emma Strack '25, Etta Leugers '25, Amanda Vansant '24, Claire Wagner '24, Erika Looman '24, Jax Lubkowitz '24, Jack Hulsey '25, Lilli Thomas '25)

Smiles after a fun specific strength workout! 

Charlie Reinhardt '23 (L) and Lucas Jenkins (R) with local bike legends Alex Gehl and Banner Cole

Getting way too rowdy at Dana (L to R - Jax Lubkowitz '24, Jack Hulsey '25, Emma Strack '25, Etta Leugers '25, Marlia Richter '25, Erika Looman '24, Amanda Vansant '24, Steph Nicols '22, Claire Wagner '24)

Big tired and big happy after Run 4 Ryan/19th Annual CC Alumni Race
(Back L to R - Claire Wagner '24, Sydney Peterson '24, Charlie Brown '25, Erika Looman '24, Marlia Richter '25, Jack Hulsey '25)
(front L to R - Steph Nicols '22, George "GREG" Gowdy '23, Charlie Reinhardt '23, Jax Lubkowitz '24)

Surprise! More words!! Just a quick (but huge) thank you to the Men's and Women's cross country team for organizing the 19th annual CC Alumni Race/Run 4 Ryan this year! SLUSKI had a great time running their hearts (and legs) out on the home 5k/6k course on campus. To be honest, I don't think we ever got a sheet of results or times but we're not worried. The saints ran hard and had an absolute blast hanging out with our CC homies.

And that is all for now! The gang just got back home from a weekend smashing some big hours and big hills in Lake Placid, so look forward to a warm and cozy blog post about that soon! 

Much love no hate,

SLUSKI <3

Thanks Seniors!

 

Here's to the seniors, who are leaving the SLUSKI squad this spring:

This is dedicated to you and all of your hard work these past 4 years! It's been a pleasure to work with you. It's been even more awesome to see how far you have come as humans and as racers! You've taken a lot of time out of your lives to follow your ski passions, committing hours to practice and train, missing classes and school events just to race your hearts out on the trails. It hasn't been easy, but you've made it look effortless. Thanks for your leadership and dedication to the team- helping the younger members, leading captains practices, and representing SLU well. Know you'll always be apart of the SLUSKI family! We can't wait to see where your lives take you! Best of luck in everything you do and don't forget to visit!

See you on the trails,

Coach Hatton

All of these photos are of the seniors from this 20-21 season, taken from a variety of people:

Gabby

Jordan

Coach Hatton cheering on Tim

Tim and Coach Hatton on crazy dress day at practice

Tim during the 3K this fall

Gabby leading the girls in the 3K this fall

Tim, Coach ETown, and Gabby before the 3K
Looking sharp!

Gabby

Tim doing intervals

Tim!

Gabby!

Gabby

Jordan

Tim and Coach Hatton at the last EISA race
Sneaky Claire!

Coach Hatton and Gabby

Jordan

Gabby

Jordan

Tim

Gabby, Coach Hatton, Tim, and Jordan at NCAA's

Tim

Jordan

NCAA Post #3

Recap from George Gowdy '23:

I think going into the races I had very few expectations. I tried to keep my head clear and just focus on racing hard, taking a step back from school and everything else. On Monday, we skied some intervals at Great Glen; honestly, it was the best ski of the season! Looking up at the Presidential Range, I thought about how crazy it was to be racing in NH, my skiing had truly come full circle, all the work had brought me back to my home state. We were there mainly because of how the pandemic had affected skiing in the EISA; but when life gave us lemons, we raced NCAA’s! 

George racing strong at NCAA's

NCAA crew getting hyped before departure!

Overall, our goal was to put our best foot forward and race hard. This paid off in the 10K, which felt pretty solid. I would say the 20K was the best race I have had in a long time! I stayed positive and just kept holding on! It was a special week for all of us, the seniors finished four years of hard work, Charlie and I got a taste of what’s to come, and Steph positioned herself for a strong season next year. I hope the next few years will see more skiers from SLU earning spots at NCAA’s, but we have a lot of work ahead of us. But if these past few months have taught us anything, change can hit like a cargo ship in the Suez Canal.  

 

Thanks for an unbelievable season everybody, 

Greg (George)

NCAA's Post #2

NCAA's from Coach Hatton

Coach Hatton here, providing my short take from NCAA’s. I’m so grateful we had the opportunity to compete this year and with a full team, nonetheless. With everything that has been going on and with so many unknowns this season, it was a bit of a miracle this all came together and went so smoothly. Many thanks to UNH and all of the other coaches. Very fortunate and proud to have led such a great group of skiers and had the opportunity to support them. Not only are they determined and hard working skiers, they are incredible individuals and I couldn’t have asked for a better time at NCAA’s. 

Here are some photos from the week that show just how awesome they are!

So rad

YEAH!

Yippeee!

Hello, Charlie!

PC: Gabby'21

We arrived on Sunday on a beautiful and sunny day. We were lucky enough to be Covid tested and get in some exercise before settling into our rooms. It was incredibly nice to have stayed right at the venue all week. It was great being able to get to our trailer and the trails whenever us coaches needed to without the extra time of driving or burdening the athletes. With the warming temps before the classic race, it meant some extra time waxing and preparing a lot of skis! I think ETown said it was the most skis he’s waxed at NCAA’s...We wanted to be the most prepared on race day; can’t ever be overly prepared, anything could happen on race morning and not having a course of action A-D shows how much or little you care.

Coach ETown preparing skis
PC: Coach Hatton

Both race days proved to have their own ups and downs for each athlete, but they sure represented our team and school well. It was a lot of fun to see them battling against some of the best college skiers out there. It definitely felt like a normal race season and environment on the trails with all of the western teams, despite there being no spectators. I can ensure that this opportunity, one that may not have come normally for this SLU group, has provided a lot of experience that will lead them to grow into better racers in the coming years! Thanks to all of the parents and alumni support from afar this season! I’m excited to continue to watch the team build, grow, and kick butt! 

Formal anyone?

L-R: Charlie, Tim, George, Gabby, Jordan, Steph

Until next time, all the best, Coach Hatton

NCAA Championships: Post #1

 Hi everyone, Gabby here!

To cap off a truly unusual racing season, SLUSKI was fortunate enough to send a full team (3 men and 3 women) to nationals at Jackson, NH the week of March 8^th. We stayed at the Eagle Mountain Hotel which overlooks the stadium of the race course, which completely eliminated drive time to the race venue! (In the two previous races at Jackson this season, we had a 1.5-hour drive time from the hotel in St. Johnsbury, VT to Jackson, NH).

Our home for the week, The Eagle Mountain House

PC: Coach Hatton

The “training” days leading up to the races followed a very 'lax schedule: get up early, eat our scheduled breakfast at 7:00 AM, sit in rocking chairs on the front porch, ski, eat lunch, hang out, eat our scheduled dinner at 5:50PM (M-W-F), hang out before bed, and then go to bed early. Compared to the constant bustle of life on campus, the quietness of the hotel life was really nice. We used some of the down time for all six skiers to get eyebrow notches and temporary tattoos. Jordan and I full sent it. We dyed some of our hair pink, for that full Kikkan Randall inspirational look! It was both a physical and mental break for us to get ready for the races.

 

Here we are getting ready for our first day of training at Great Glen Ski area!

 L-R: Steph, Charlie, Gabby (Me!) 

PC: Coach Hatton

Thursday’s classic race was quite possibly the hottest race I’ve ever experienced. It was super fun to be in that head-down-and-grind, but the combination of thawed snow and sun made for mushy conditions and sunburns. It was really great to see some strong performances on our team! It cooled down by Saturday for the skate races, which felt soooo much better. Again, we had some great finishes on the team, and I am super proud of everyone who raced their hearts out.

The melt out...
PC: Coach Hatton

To the readers who tuned into the races, I want to say thank you for all of your support! I was able to talk with Peter Graves, the announcer, after the races on Saturday and he said that was the most amount of people that tuned in to watch the races both days.  Also, thank you to our coaches, ETown and Dana for making that week smooth sailing and for getting our skis ready to rip!

I am so proud of this team, both the ones that raced at NCAA’s and the ones who finished their seasons earlier. They have worked through highs and lows, and it has been so much fun training and ripping up races together! As an official retired SLUSkier, I am confident when I say that this team will continue to excel next season and for years to come. Watch out EISA!

L-R: Coach Hatton, Charlie, Gabby (Me!), Steph, and Jordan
Missing from photo: Tim, Charlie, and Coach ETown
PC: flyingpointrd.com; thanks Steve!

Look for more blog posts in the coming days from the others who also experienced NCAA's alongside me!

Peace out,

Gabby W '21

SLUSKI at Sleepy: Regionals Carnival

 Hello readers,

Our favorite Nordies were able to travel to Sleepy Hollow, Vermont to race this past Friday at Regionals! Typically for regionals, the races land on Middlebury's Carnival at Rikert in Ripton, Vermont, but they are not hosting any races this year due to COVID-19. A big thank you to the St. Michael's College Ski Team and coaches for opening up your home course for us and making this race happen! 

When we arrived Thursday evening, we were lucky enough to have enough daylight to preview the course. Parts of the course were marked and others parts were not, so some of the women's team, Dana and I had a nice tour of some of the back trails that we thought was part of the course. Conditions were icy and fast, but the views were amazing and we were able to catch a glimpse of the almost-full moon. 

Hard to tell, but the moon was so bright! (PC: Gabby '21)

Some of the ladies previewing what we thought was the course (PC: Gabby '21)

We stayed at the Best Western Plus Windjammer Inn in South Burlington, Vermont Thursday night. Our dinner was conveniently ordered from the adjoining restaurant and eaten in our rooms, and it was nice to eat with metal utensils and real napkins for once! Normally when we order dinner food, everything is in plastic takeout containers with plastic utensils. After a Zoom team meeting, we tucked in and prepared for another exciting day ahead of us.

On Friday, we woke up to bright sunshine and blue skies. Both men and women raced 10k classic on the 5k course with the men at 10:00 AM and the women at 11:30 AM. The course started in Molly's Meadow and looped through the back woods, which consisted of a long gradual climb and rolling hills that circled back to the stadium. The downhill going past the lodge was wicked fast, and that brought the skiers back into two long gradual climbs (the second climb was the longest climb in the course, it didn't seem to end!). Right before the skiers lapped through the meadow, there was a sharp climb with a quick "S"-turn downhill that finished at the start of the meadow. This version of the course was both parts fun and physically demanding; it seems as though every time we race here, it changes based on the weather and how much snow they have. Luckily for us, they had a solid base and it was a beautiful day to race.

Steph '22 (PC's: Cam '23)

Gabby '21

Claire '24

Sydney '24

Sammie '24

Jordan '24

Lizi '24

Jaden '23

Tim, Charlie, Gabby, George, and Jordan

Men's results: Here

Women's results: Here

Off for a team cool down! (PC: Cam '23)

That's some speedy lads and ladies right there (PC: Dana)

For the majority, I think our skiers had a good race and had some fun on the course. Classic skiing always produces variant results based on the wax and snow conditions, but most everyone was pleased with their efforts. A big thank you to Dana and ETown for the speedy skis and having to deal with klister all day. When the races finished up, all of the teams gathered for an awards ceremony right outside the lodge. Our very own Steph Nichols '22 earned 5th in the First-Team All-East! We are very proud of her, and of all of our skiers who completed this unusual season with such gusto and determination. As an (emotional) senior, I can confidently say that this team will bring the fire next season. From not knowing if a season was even possible to racing almost every Friday at EISA races, I witnessed my teammates step up and give it their full efforts. (To be honest, if they completed a race season through a pandemic, that's a sure sign they are capable of anything!). They continue to amaze me and it has been an honor to race with them for my last season on the team.

We are headed down to Paul Smith's College this Saturday for a skate time trial against the Paul Smith's and Clarkson teams. We haven't raced at their facility yet, and it should be exciting to race somewhere new! On Sunday, our NCAA skiers, (Tim '21, Charlie '23, George '23, Jordan '21, Steph '22, and I) as well as Dana and Etown, are headed out to Jackson, New Hampshire for the week. We race on Thursday (5k/10k classic, individual starts) and Saturday (15k/20k skate, individual starts). Live streaming can be found here.

Here we go, Saints! 

-Gabby W. '21