A glimpse into the Alpine Ski Team that waves Northeastern’s flag at Nationals.
Written by Catherine Heo. Photo Courtesy of Northeastern Alpine Skiing.
While the wintertime snow may not excite every student on Huntington Avenue, one group of Huskies thrives in it — the Northeastern University Alpine Ski Team. Dating back to 1971, the NU Ski Team has proudly represented Northeastern with their sharp turns and quick speed. As part of the Thompson Division of the Eastern Region of the US Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association (USCSA), this pack of Huskies compete fiercely in six race weekends each year vying for a postseason presence in the USCSA National Championships.
Although the team competes wherever they are called, they have established camp at their home mountain, Ski Bradford in Haverhill, Massachusetts. Albeit unified by competitive spirit, the 31 passionate skiers that comprise the NU Ski Team hail from all across the nation and represent all seven of Northeastern’s undergraduate colleges.
Competition races divide athletes into women’s and men’s categories, and the team’s leadership reflects this. Allie McConnell, a third year bioengineering major hailing from Windham Mountain in New York, leads the women’s team, while the men’s team is led by Jes Sauereisen, a third year therapeutic recreation major from Camelback in Pennsylvania. Aside from the two presidents, each roster is also supported by secretaries, treasurers, public relations chairs, fundraising managers, and athletic chairs, all of whom ski for the team. Despite a diverse student body, the team shares a core identity in their dedication to racing across the east coast.
The team has demonstrated remarkable performances in past years. Season results in both the women’s and men’s categories from 2018, for instance, portray the scale of their accomplishments. In the last regular season races of 2018, then senior Hana Saydek struck silver, followed closely by then junior Elyse Dinan, who placed 5th. Then freshmen Liddy Rankin and Maggy Skaugen closed eighth and ninth, respectively, to put four total Huskies in the top 10.
Athletes from the men’s division did not hesitate to prove their flair for the sport either. Then sophomore Romain Astie posted an impressive win and his teammates Damian Kozak, Peter Sugar, Carter Bourassa, and Charlie Denhard all placing in the top 10. Ultimately, both teams clinched first overall in the final season standings.
A new generation of champions is built each year as the team holds their tryouts in late September at nearby Fens Fields. Only a select few athletes make the final roster each season, making the process extremely selective.
Athletes are selected in part by previous racing experience and their dedication to the sport. There are two organizations that athletes typically compete in before college, the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA) and Federation of International Skiing (FIS). Through these competitions, skiers are able to obtain points, and these points allow the team to get a sense of each athlete’s competitive history.
“The USSA league-assigned point system makes it quite easy to gauge a person’s skills with past records,” explained Men’s President Jes Sauereisen.
In addition to past records, the team utilizes a baseline athletic test based on the USSA standards to help determine which skiers are fit for the team. The test is a circuit of exercises including a 20-meter timed sprint, a broad jump, one legged squats, a long jump, and push ups.
This past year, following a highly competitive tryout season between almost twenty competitors, the team officially made nine new additions to their rosters. The reason so many cuts are necessary is, in part, due to a simple lack of team resources.
“The more people we have, the more we have to fund,” explained McConnell.
With such limited funds, as well as the need to pay for lodging, transportation, skiing tickets, and competitions for each of its members, it is crucial that the team balances out their budget as carefully as possible.
Once the roster is set, the team’s training becomes a bit unpredictable. There is no regular practice schedule, and, according to Sauereisen, “the team does not have a set coach.”
Moreover, there is no guarantee of on-snow training. On the weekends that the team does have access to a mountain, they ski at Jay Peak, Whaleback, and Dartmouth. However, with such limited time to practice, the team’s success hinges on each individual athlete keeping fit year-round through personal training.
“It all comes down to trusting one another and making sure we’re in good shape,” McConnell explained.
The lack of practice has never stopped the team before, though, and Sauereisen is confident that the team has what it takes to be successful in spite of these logistical challenges.
“The team is powered by talent,” Sauereisen said.
This year, the team has set their sights on two main goals. Firstly, the athletes yearn to win the USCSA Thompson Division. The group was close to this mark the previous year, but when a weather call took them out of a race, they were left with a second place finish and a chip on their shoulders.
“[It was] a scoring opportunity taken away,” Sauereisen recalled. “This year, we’re gunning for that top step. … We’ve done so in the past; we know we can do it.”
Additionally, the team looks to make it to nationals for the second time in their history. The meaning of such an accomplishment is not lost on Sauereisen.
“[We want the opportunity to] show the Northeastern flag and our Northeastern pride on the national stage.”
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