By Terry Leonard, Alpine Ski Team Head Coach
With finals just around the corner and the competition season just completed, here is a quick rundown on the season. Most sports coaches can look at the season and try to sum it up simply with wins and losses. Ski racing works very differently. A big day for one person can be something very different for another. The best way to analyze a season is based on individual improvement in rankings.
With that said I am happy to report that all members of the team had nice improvements in the rankings. The reason everyone was able to improve in the rankings is rather simple: they all improved as skiers. Funny how the “simple things done well” always works. That has been the key to success for all team members this year. No matter what the adversity, keeping things simple and following the plan gets you to the finish line quickly.
Our conference racing started at home with good results on both women’s and men’s sides. As the season continued on we saw both ups and downs as the team traveled around the west. Even if we were a bit off the mark we always came away with a team desire to move forward and improve next week. With this positive attitude everyone on the team qualified for the USCSA Western Regional Championships. The event was held at Snow Basin Utah, one of the Salt Lake Olympic venues.
After the first day we were in a solid 5th position poised to put the pressure on the two teams just ahead of us. Good first runs in GS made for an exciting possibility at the end of the day. Unfortunately the racing luck stayed in the base lodge and our team missed qualifying for the National Championships by one spot. Needless to say we were very disappointed yet all were keeping their heads held high. What I thought would be a very long quiet ride back from Utah was very spirited, and we were looking forward to what was yet to come.
The old saying about “one door closes and another door opens” was true for the CMC Ski Team. One week later we were invited to compete in the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association Western Regional Championships. This is the Div I schools in the West. Having this opportunity really excited everyone on the team, particularly with the event being hosted by University of Colorado here in Steamboat. Plus, the slalom race would be held under the lights on Saturday night.
Things were looking better and better. Our first race was giant slalom and everyone held their own against the best college ski racers in the country. Everyone finished just out of the top 30. Eryn was 31st, Kevin 37th, Brendan 36th, Chris 38th. Then Saturday night came along. After enjoying their performances from the day before all were looking to “step it up”. Step it up they sure did. Eryn fought her way to 32nd on the very steep and icy Howelson Hill. She just missed making the top 30 after first run, fought her way down and finished very well.
On the men’s side things were about to heat up big time. After the first run all of the CMC men were in the top 30, Vince 30th, Chris 27th, Kevin 24th and Brendan 22nd. This had more than a few Div I coaches scratching their heads asking, “Who are these guys”? At the end of the night Vince was sitting in 20th place and Kevin sitting on the first page in 14th. This was a big bounce back after the disappointment of the previous week. I feel it safe to say that the team was so excited to have skied so well against such a strong field that all disappointment was gone and long forgotten.
This one event set the stage for the remainder of the season. The team trotted about the west, Utah, New Mexico and home in Colorado to a variety of events. Wherever the team competed they were scoring and improving their rankings. All of these races were against the same top college competition they faced at the RIMSA races in Steamboat. Race after race CMC skiers were having the best results of their careers. Top 5, top 10, top 15, everywhere we went CMC skiers were in the top of the heap. Every day was a good day.
With all said and done I feel it very safe to say that CMC skiers had an outstanding year. Disappointment brought us the new realization of the possibilities and all stepped up and took a big chunk of success home with them. Well done all.