Photo Courtesy: Christine Boggs
The University of Wyoming Nordic Ski team recently competed on the global stage at the 2013 Universiade games in Trentino, Italy. The team fared well against athletes of comparable ability.
December’s Universiade brought a heightened level of competition. Universiade’s rules differ from U.S. standards and allow athletes competing at the Universiade games to be enrolled only in one collegiate course. Those competing in the U.S. national competition must maintain a full-time student status. This difference alone forced the UW team to race against professional athletes with more training and experience.
Nations such as Canada, Korea and Japan brought teams similar to the Wyoming team’s level. Wyoming competed well against these teams. With the upcoming 2014 Winter Olympics right around the corner, even more professional athletes from around the world came out to compete. Scoring in cross-country skiing is determined on a point system rather than time due to variations in snow and weather conditions. In the case of 2013’s delayed Universiade games, more athletes came out to score points and make a bid for Olympic qualification.
Coach of the Nordic ski team and Outreach Credit Programs Lecturer Christine Boggs says she is proud of what the team accomplished so far and anticipates the coming season.
“We have a bunch of small town athletes who are going to school full time and they go and just don’t get freaked out and have poise and know what they’re doing and they get out there and just race so hard and so well,” Boggs says.
UW’s team qualified for the games by claiming the first place position at the national championship in Sun Valley, Idaho. The men’s team came in first and the women’s team placed second to combine and take the overall national championship.
On the men’s side, three members placed in the top five. Junior Kyle Bochanski claimed the first-place title.
Boggs says that after the national championship, the team was “beyond stoked.”
“They were able to keep that level of excitement and channel it into the best training year I’ve ever seen from them,” she says.
Over the summer, skiers used workouts designed by the their coaches, as well as training on their own. Athletes worked individually and also attended a few summer camps.
Upon returning to the University for Fall semester, the team wasted no time to prepare for their rigorous season. Some team members trained over 12 hours a week on top of their full class loads.
Boggs says the coming season, which holds no free weekends for the elite skiers, looks promising. The team consists of the elite and competitive teams. Elite teams compete in Division I and II events, while the competitive team only participates in Division II races.
None of the point scorers from last year graduated, leaving the team feeling confident in this semester’s season.
The women’s team is strong but small, while the men’s team is large but recovering from bronchitis.
“Their success is due to the fact that they genuinely care more about the team than themselves,” Boggs says. “I’m really proud of their team spirit as I am of their racing.”
