The SLUski blog is staying alive! This week, hear from Kate Andy, another freshman, and from Lucy and Jackie on the weekend adventures from the Climb to Castle Race! They are writing like blog pros already and did I mention..skiing like ones too?!
Hi everybody!
My name
is Kate Andy and I am a freshman on the team this year. I’m from Concord, New
Hampshire and I am super excited to be a part of this group, and so far,
training has been great. I started
skiing when I was in eighth grade, mainly because Erin Waters, a fellow SLU
skier, convinced me to pick up the sport! Now, I absolutely love to ski, and cannot
believe I get to compete in a college uniform (something that has been my dream
since I started).
This summer, I mostly stayed in Concord doing a lot of Nordic
training and working. I worked at an
animal hospital, taking care of the boarded pets and helping with patient
appointments. There was always an
adventure going on in the hospital, so that kept me plenty busy. On the side, I did some volunteering at the
Audubon Society, studying the bluebird boxes that were around the complex. Aside from being dive-bombed by the angry
parent birds, it was really interesting to watch the babies grow and eventually
fledge from the nest.
As I started getting into the New York mood, I visited
Niagara Falls for the first time and it was absolutely beautiful! I travelled
into Canada for a little bit, and swam in Lake Ontario, which felt just like an
ocean. At the end of the summer, I
visited New York City before heading out to the rural campus of SLU.
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| Niagara Falls |
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| New Hampshire Sunset |
With a few weeks of captains’ practices under my belt, I am really looking forward to what the season has to offer. It feels so great to be training with a big group of people because I did most of my training on my own this summer. Thank you to the upperclassmen and the six other freshmen that have done such a good job welcoming me onto the team! Go Saints!
-Kate
This weekend was the infamous Climb to the Castle! For
those who don’t know, it is a 5-mile rollerski race up Whiteface Mountain in
Lake Placid. Racers are sure to be greeted with inclement weather, strong winds,
a grueling morning, and one very long hill. It averages an 8% grade, and according
to Whiteface the road has 2300’ of climbing in all. Needless to say, that is a lot of up!
The Saints had a strong day on the climb, with multiple age
group podiums and a large showing. The girls went off first and the boys chased
us up the mountain (eventually catching us and giving some good mid-race
encouragement!) The finish line was surely a welcome sight, though with the
extreme fog it was hard to know when it was coming. Overall, it was a great
time, a good indicator of fitness, and a preview of the time we will spend
together this winter. I think everyone’s highlight may have been the sandwiches
at the Lakeview Deli after the race.
Now for some pictures:
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| Team post race! |
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| Pretty cool moment to see both former assistant coach, Adam Terko and current assistant coach, Liz both podium in their age group!! |
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| Men's Start (NYSEF Photo) |
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| Women's Start (NYSEF Photo) |
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| Calvin '17 leading the SLU men to a 6th place finish! (NYSEF Photo) |
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| Anna under the one slice of blue sky! She powered through to 23rd place (NYSEF Photo) |
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| Dana '18 and Kate '20 working together to come in strong with 11th and 12th |
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| Jackie '20 hanging tough after leading the first 3 miles, finishing 4th overall |
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| Asst Coach Liz hopped in, crushing a 7th overall (NYSEF Photo) |
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| Lucy '20 seen here working her V1, finishing 6th overall |
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| Madi '20 skied strong for an 18th place (NYSEF Photo) |
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| Ryan '20 gutting it out for 17th (NYSEF Photo) |
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| Ruben '19 flying around the Lake Placid turn, finishing in 10th (NYSEF Photo) |
Race Results here
Thank you to Dave and Nick for manning the camera all day. Thank you to Marge and NYSEF for putting on this race for the 10th year in a row! And lastly, thank you to you all for your continued support!
-Lucy and Jackie
This coming weekend is Family weekend and we are looking forward to spending some quality time with our families and meeting new faces as well. The alpine and nordic teams are having a ski sale on Saturday 10am-1pm in Leithead Fieldhouse- be sure to stop by and say hello!
Thanks!-Dana
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