Drum Roll Please......Nationals Recap!

Hi all, Sorry about the delayed posting of our slalom results! The team got back from nationals Sunday, March 13th, had a quick week trying to catch up on classes, and then turned around for a week of spring break. Most of us spent the week relaxing in Florida, visiting family in Minnesota, Michigan, or Wisconsin, or skiing for fun or competition. We are now back at school, grinding out the last few months of tests, papers, and reading. Without further ado, here is our Nationals recap: WOMEN'S SLALOM: The girls had an exciting day of Slalom at Sun Valley. The course wasn't particularly difficult, but due to rain the night before, conditions varied from soft snow to rock hard ice. First run pumped out three respectable runs from Katie Ulvestad, Genette Sekse, and Laurie Taschler, but unfortunately claimed both Maddey Mclachlin and Alex Anderson as DNF's (interestingly on the SAME gate). McLachlin and Anderson both started solid runs, but Maddey caught her tip on a gate losing a ski, while Alex sadly booted out without reason. Ulvestad, Sekse and Taschler however, were ready for their second runs. With finish positions from the first run (respectively) in 12th (Ulvestad), 25th (Taschler) and 27th (Sekse) the ole girls knew they needed strong, fast runs for a team place. Sekse and Ulvestad finished with fast times and clean runs moving them up to 4th and 21st. Taschler however, struggled with stop starts in the gate, actually starting and being physically pulled back, and finally starting, skiing, and straddling. Due to the huge competitive disadvantage, a re-run was granted, and she finished cleanly putting her in 27th. Girls came in 4th for the day--hanging on by a thread! MENS SLALOM: Similar to the girls, yet more extreme, the St. Olaf men faced incredibly difficult conditions consisting mostly of sheer ice-- the kind that does not allow you to hold an edge! The course, set by someone crazy-- formed a 'Z' as it zig zaged across the entire hill starting at skiers right, moving to skiers left, and finishing again at skiers right. This course took out both Nick Stang (who fell, got back in the course, fell, got back in the course, and fell again) and Jeff Stamp (who also made an impressive effort to finish-- but just couldn't do it). This left Max Lund, Paal Proitz, and Nate Hanson to finish cleanly, and with speed. Second run was set by a more familiar Mike Dzubay from the Midwest USCSA division and was a fast but straightforward course. With first run finish places of 11(Lund), 17 (Proitz), and 31(Hansen) the boys were in good shape for some second wicked second runs. Luckily all three men pulled through (and moved up in their places) with finishes in 9th (Lund), 15th (Proitz) and 29th (Hansen). This put the men's team in 5th for the day! OVERALL: Overall both the Men's and Women's teams came in 4th-- the best St. Olaf has done in a long time! Combined with the Nordic Teams, this was good enough to win the Presidents cup in both divisions! All in all-- it was a great way to end the year, with a great week competing in beautiful Idaho. We had a blast with all the parents and fans, celebrating Nick's birthday, making meals together, playing cards, tuning skis, training, (sometimes) throwing raw eggs, bickering, and of course, competing. Thanks for all the support! A few pictures will be up soon! Start training for next year everyone! It’s just around the corner!