Marquette, MI; Big Sky, MO

This weekend the majority of the team competed at the Marquette, Michigan FIS race at Marquette Mountain. Part of the team began the eight hour trek on Thursday afternoon to participate in Friday's national point GS competition. The highlight of Friday's competition was Connor Johnson's ability to nail down two solid runs and take home a much needed result.

The rest of the team arrived late Friday night to an unnamed luxury hotel (only the finest for the Olaf skiers) ready to compete in Saturday and Sunday's slalom competition. Despite the fact that we've all been ski racing for many years now, our team learned one very important lesson: basher bands are a good idea! Nick Stang spent 3 hours in the hospital after Saturday's competition getting 9 stitches, Connor Johnson went home with a fat lip, and Nate Hansen will sport a gaping wound across the bridge of his nose for the rest of the season.

But despite his bleeding wound, Nick Stang took home the gold medal and Mid-Am title in Saturday's slalom competition, making him the first male St. Olaf skier to win a Mid-Am since coach Kevin Cook (according to Kevin himself). Not only was this a great win for Nick, but it was also an honor as this race is a memorial for Shelley Glover, a US ski team bound racer who lost her life in a skiing accident. In case you are unaware, the team has written a song that must be sung to Nick Stang after each award he is given: to the tune of "Celebrate Good Times," we sing "CELEBRATE NICK STANG, COME ON!" Feel free to join in at the next event award ceremony.

(While Stang went home with the gold, it must also be noted that Joe Masciopinto went home with a hat and Laurie Taschler with new pole guards, each won in the event raffle.)

Both the boys and girls team took 3 of the top 15 places in Saturday's competition as well: Nick Stang, Jeff Stamp, and Nate Hansen for the men and Genette Sekse, Kayla Johnson, and Laurie Taschler for the women.

More of Saturday and Sunday's results can be found at: FIS results



Max Lund spent the weekend competing at the FIS-U in Big Sky, Montana. Despite some hip-checks and faults, Lund represented the team well at this high-stake, highly competitive competition. He raced against many Division 1 teams, US ski team bound racers, and national competitors. Congratulations to Max for his participation out West! Check out the results here: FIS-U Results