The Williams alpine and nordic ski teams head into the 2009 season with a combination of depth and youth that should bode well for success on the carnival circuit and at the NCAA’s in March. Despite losing four time All-American Charles Christianson ’08, a solid freshmen class on both squads and improved fitness from returning members are both signs of a promising year for the Ephs.
“The alpine team had a very successful fall of training under the guidance of captains Kelly Kirkpatrick ’09 and Jim Whitledge ’09,” said head alpine coach Ed Grees. “They are certainly stronger and have come together well as a group.” Pre-season camps at Sugarloaf during Thanksgiving break and Sunday River following exams showed improved performance by both men’s and women’s teams. “[Assistant coach] Evan [Barrett ‘08] and I were very pleased with the progress the team made during these training situations,” remarked Grees.
The men’s alpine team has the benefit of a large, experienced senior class to lead the team this season. Whitledge has brought the group through a season of fall training with the help of fellow seniors Eirik Burrass, Jake Koshland, Eric Mann, and Ian Simmons.
Junior Alex Dyroff joins Mann as one of two returning NCAA qualifiers for the men’s team this season. Mann, a three-time qualifier, and Dyroff who competed for the first time at the NCAA’s in 2008, will be counted on for their talent and consistency in producing top results for the team. Classmates Adam Carman and Taylor Goller can also be looked upon to provide depth, experience, and promising results for the team this season.
After losing only one senior to graduation this past year, Kirkpatrick, the lone senior on the team, embarks upon her second year as captain of the women’s alpine team and has guided the team . Kirkpatrick will rely upon juniors Liz McClure, Kelsey Levine, and Emily Porter, each recently returned from the fall semester abroad, to continue the solid string of results they produced during their sophomore year to bolster the women’s team performance.
Levine and Porter, NCAA qualifiers in 2007 and 2008, respectively, have been consistent performers since the beginning of their college careers and will be assets to the Eph squad this season. Both spent their semesters abroad in Norway, where they had the opportunity to get on-snow training this fall. McClure stepped up during her sophomore year and proved herself a consistent carnival racer and will look to establish herself amongst her classmates as a core member of the women’s team.
Alex Reeves and Annie Hanson will headline the sophomore class for the team and look to classmates Geoff McCrossan, Jeff Putnam, and Aimee Weber to step up and solidify the Williams lineup. A large and talented class of freshmen will be a welcome addition to the team. “Laurel Carter, Amy McLaughlin, Sean Cummiskey, and Will Hadden should contribute, Hannah Mangham, Katy Kirkpatrick, and Jen Morrison have also invested themselves into the group, as well.”
In early FIS races this winter, Cummiskey, Dyroff, Hadden, Mann, Reeves, Whitledge, and Carter have all posted top ten results or single runs. “I have a lot of confidence that these results an indication of the speed that these athletes posses,” said Grees. “We have great training on a tough venue at Jiminy, and I feel that we will be well prepared going into the first carnival at Bates [at Sunday River].”
The Ephs are glad to have Evan Barrett ’08 return to the team as an assistant coach this season. “Evan has done a great job as an assistant this year,” said Grees. “His knowledge of our team and Williams College has proved invaluable to the younger members of the squad.”
The nordic team has a motivated and fit sophomore class, returning upperclass veterans, and a talented group of freshmen working in their favor this year. “We have a men’s team with good upperclass leadership in senior captain Sam Kapala and junior Alex Taylor, who seem certain to be carnival contributors,” said head nordic coach Bud Fisher. “The women have a bit more experienced team with captain and senior Liz Kantack and seniors Fiona Worcester, Emily Olsen and junior Alice Nelson.”
Consistently the top women’s skier since her freshman year, Nelson, who placed in the top ten nine times in 2008, looks to return to the NCAA Championships and improve upon her results from last season. Worcester, who, along with Nelson, just returned from the US National Championships in her hometown of Anchorage, Alaska, has been a consistent team contributor and can be counted upon for impressive results. Taylor was the top Williams finisher at the UNH Criterium in New Hampshire last weekend, just edging out an All-American racer from Bates for third place and appears fit and ready to go this season.
The sophomore class makes up the bulk of the Williams nordic team. Evan Dethier, Caleb Lucy, Keith Kantack, and Kirsten Johnson all found themselves leading the team at various points during the 2008 season and have already stepped up and proven their fitness in early season time trials and races this year. Johnson qualified for the 2008 NCAA’s as a freshman and impressed with two top-25 results at the championships. Lucy, Dethier, Johnson, and Kantack will have a large group of classmates backing them up this season and vying for spots on the carnival squad. Maddy Wendt ’11, Sarah Tory ’11, Gabby Joffe ’11, Amy Nolan ’11, Robby Cuthbert ’11, and David Hansen ’11 all have the potential to make an impact this season.
A freshmen class of five talented racers should add strong results for the team this season. Erik Anderson of Montana, Nick Fogel of Williamstown, Dimitri Luthi of Switzerland, Hannah Hausman of Colorado, and Holly Whitney of Maine have all shown their strength and extensive high school experience early in the season and will be welcome additions to the team this year. In a preseason time trial, the freshmen class made their mark early, with Luthi winning for the men and Whitney and Hausman covering the course in the exact same time to tie for third.
Following a productive semester of fall training, the Ephs headed to Pulaski, NY on the shore of Lake Erie for a Thanksgiving break trip in search of lake effect snow, and just prior to the beginning of winter study, the team also spent a week training in Mont Sainte Anne, Quebec.
During the first weekend of January, the nordic team traveled to Jackson, NH to take part in an early season criterium-style race hosted by UNH. The men’s team turned heads by skiing aggressively and at the front of the race in a large pack. While Lucy, Dethier, Kantack, Luthi, and Taylor each led at various points in the race, the Ephs ended the race by packing six men in the top 12 in a field that included top racers from Bates, UNH, Middlebury, and UVM. “ I thought the race in Jackson was the perfect start to the racing season.” said assistant nordic coach Aubrey Smith. “ A mass start is a good way for the athletes to find out how they stack up to their competitors and practice tactical racing. The men had a great day, and won the race by skiing in the front pack the entire time. Sophomore Sarah Tory, new to the team this year, had a fantastic first race as well as our second finisher overall in the women's race."
After compiling two seventh place, two sixth place and two fifth place finishes as a team last year in six carnivals, the Ephs look to improve upon their team score and work towards more consistent top five finished. The alpine and nordic teams will open their season together at the Bates Carnival on Friday at Sunday River and the Chisholm Ski Club in Maine, the site of the 2009 NCAA Championships.
