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!