2017 Nordic Preview
The 2017 EISA Nordic season is set to begin next week at the St.
Lawrence Carnival in Lake Placid, NY. Though the season is just beginning,
teams have already been on snow for well over a month training and racing all
around, and sometimes outside of, the country. For many teams, on snow skiing
began over thanksgiving at training camps in Foret Montmorency, QC, Craftsbury,
VT, and as far west as British Colombia.
Since then, many have raced at the opening Eastern Cups in Craftsbury
consisting of a classic interval start and a skate pursuit.
More recently, many EISA racers have made the trek out to Utah to
test their fitness against the best in the country at the 2017 US Cross Country
Ski Championships hosted by Soldier Hollow. Through two days of competition, an
interval start skate and a classic sprint EISA women have notched four top 30
results including Alayna Sonnesyn’s (UVM) 27th place in the 10k
skate and Lauren Jortberg’s (Dartmouth) 12th place in the 1.5k
classic sprint. EISA men have achieved seven top-30 results through two days
including Callan Deline’s (Dartmouth) 17th place in the 15k skate
and Cully Brown’s (UMV) 12th place in the 1.5k classic sprint. With
one day of competition remaining for qualification for junior championship
teams, many EISA skiers remain in the hunt for these coveted spots.
EISA skiers look to improve upon results from last season as the 2017 NCAA
championships return to the east and are hosted by the University of New
Hampshire at Jackson Nordic Center. Of the competitors at last year’s
championships in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, one lone EISA all-American
returns in Olivia Amber (Colby) in the 15k classic.
As usual, one team expected to be shooting for top results this
season will be the University of Vermont. On both sides, UVM has a young team
this season. On the men’s side, the top returner from last year’s NCAA regionals
is Ian Moore who will be looking to step up as a scorer for the team. For women,
the team is headlined by Alayna Sonnesyn and Iris Pessey who both notched a pair of podiums
at the regional championships last year and will look to improve upon their placement
at nationals.
Another undisputable favorite on both the men’s and women’s sides
will be Dartmouth College. For the women, Abigail Drach and Zoe Snow have both
notched strong performances thus far at Senior Nationals and will look to
extend their success into the EISA season. For the men, both Callan Deline and
Luke Brown placed into the top-20 on the same day and will hope to keep the
success rolling once they return east.
Various other skiers in the EISA look to lead their teams to
success at the carnivals and clinch NCAA championship sports for themselves
this season as several other NCAA qualifying racers from 2016 will return this
season. Other schools returning NCAA qualifiers on the women’s side include:
Bates, Colby, University of New Hampshire, and Harvard. On the men’s side,
these teams include Colby, Middlebury, University of New Hampshire, and
Williams.
Other EISA schools will look to progress in 2017 and earn
themselves a trip to Jackson in March. Teams such as University of Maine
Presque Isle and St. Michael’s College boast young rosters while schools such
as St. Lawrence University and Bowdoin College will look to season veterans of
their programs to take the next step forward.
The EISA Nordic season kicks of next weekend, Friday January 20th-Saturday
January 21st with a 5/10k interval start skate on day 1 and a 15/20k
mass start classic for women/men respectively at the St. Lawrence Carnival in
Lake Placid, New York. Good luck to all!