The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Hannah Cryder named All-American
By Seth Mensing, Western Colorado University
Western Colorado University’s Mountain Sports Nordic team went to California last week looking to claim a title that barely slipped through their fingers last year. When they came home from Mammoth Mountain, they were National Champions.
But while the race brought out the best Nordic programs from around the country, it was the weather that served up the stiffest competition in Mammoth Lakes, CA, March 7-9. With an “atmospheric river” bringing historic snowfall and gusty winds to the event, the competition was moved up a day to accommodate the conditions.
“I have traveled all around the world for ski racing and have never seen as much snow as Mammoth had this year,” Western’s Nordic head coach Kevin Geisen said. “In the week leading up to Nationals, they received 10 feet of snow.”
And then the venues received a few more feet of snow just as the competition was starting and instead of beginning the week with a few days to train and acclimate, the conditions allowed athletes only one day to get ready. Still, the Western men came out with a strong start in the first event, the 7.5K individual start classic race, finishing second and just three points behind the reigning champs, Paul Smith’s College.
It was just the kind of scenario coaches Geisen and Spencer WareJoncas had been preparing for since the Nordic season started in November. The second race would yield a different outcome, however, with the Western men’s team taking top honors in the skate sprint. But the team remained just three points behind Paul Smith’s going into the final race: the 15K skate.
“The sprint day was very windy and snowy, but we managed to pull it off. There were a few moments where I couldn’t see more than 50 feet through the blowing snow,” Geisen said. “Overall, conditions favored us, as we are used to training on cold, dry snow, at altitude, with soft grooming conditions. The venue was at 8,500 feet in altitude, so that helped a bit too.”
After skiing what Geisen called “an inspired race,” with Mountaineer men coming in 1st, 3rd, 5th and 7th in the 15k skate, the Western Nordic Men’s team skied away with the U.S. Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association’s National Championship title with a seven-point advantage over Paul Smith’s College.
“The 15-kilometer race was another beautiful day, although we only narrowly escaped the stormy conditions that blew in that afternoon,” Geisen said.
The final race of the competition, the team sprint, was cancelled due to the accumulation of an additional 4 to 8 feet of snow on the course.
In addition to the men’s title, Hannah Cryder skied her way to an All-American performance on all three days, with an 8th place finish in the 7.5k individual start classic, a 12th place finish in the skate sprint, and a 10th place finish in the 15k. By the end of the week, she had finished in 8th place for the individual combined competition. To be named All-American, a skier needs to finish among the top 15 skiers.
In total, the Mountaineer team claimed seven All-American titles, 25 All-American finishes, seven scholar All-Americans and Albert Hesse, a junior from Bend, Oregon, was named Individual National Champion in the 15K Freestyle event.
For more information about the Western Nordic program or any of the Mountain Sports teams, find them on Facebook or Instagram
@WesternMountainSports.
