Minimal funding, Division I competition, youth and somewhat relative obscurity may all plague the Gustavus Men’s and Women’s Nordic Ski team, yet the Gustie ski teams are a spirited group in a very difficult sport.

Both the Men and Women’s teams combined have one senior, Women’s Captain Erin Eppler, and a much larger class of underclassmen. “In general the teams have done pretty well. The women are developing because we have a larger class of [first-years] and sophomores. We are still in that development stage and primarily young and inexperienced. It will be exciting how the team develops in the next two years though,” Eppler said.

After a strong team last year, the Gustie women graduated three seniors and are much more focused on developing the younger skiers this year. Therefore, the goal for the Women’s team was simply development. “We were just looking at where we stand with the rest of the MIAC schools and trying to stay competitive,” Eppler said.

“[The team last year] came in fourth at Regions last year. We want to pass down the knowledge and help the younger skiers get some race experience under their belts.”
This past weekend the Women’s Nordic Ski team finished in seventh place at the CCSA Ski Championships at the Al Quall Recreation Area in Ishpeming, Mich.

First-year Erica Hett led the Gusties as she placed tenth in the 5km classic race on Saturday. “The course was probably the hardest we have seen yet this year, as it was extremely rigorous, and our race on Sunday was a little longer than usual. Everyone did really well and pushed their bodies because it’s not our typical race length,” Eppler said.

Cross-country skiing is another one of the unique college sports that is an individual but also team sport. “To put it into perspective, it’s a dedicated sport that requires hours and hours of training. It takes time to learn how to compete both as a team and an individual,” Eppler said.

Despite the youth on the Gustavus Men’s team, they have still posted high results. “We only graduated one senior so we are a young team. We have really stepped up our performances from last year, which is good to see,” Junior Captain Andrew Poffenberger said.

Junior Captain Jens Brabbit has been the standout performer for the Men’s team but is equally proud of the team’s success. “The team is probably the best we’ve ever had. We had three guys almost in the top 15 last weekend and [Sophomore] Anders [Bowman] skied one of the best races in his career,” Brabbit said.

Needless to say with such a small team, the results on the course reflect the team chemistry. “The guys always want to make sure we are all on the same page. We don’t want any clicks because we only have 11 guys on the team. I want to make sure everyone gets along, and that’s the biggest factor to start with because we spend a lot of time together,” Brabbit said. “If we can do that, we can ski faster and improve throughout the season.”

The Gustie men have definitely improved over the course of the season thanks in part to the training plan. “I’ve been excited with how our younger guys have been skiing. There have been guys stepping up, which is fun to see, and racing better than they did earlier this year. I think this is due to changing our training plan to peak later in the year,” Poffenberger said.

The Gustavus Men’s Nordic Ski team also competed in the CCSA Championships this past weekend in northern Michigan. “It was probably the hardest course we’ve skied all year, and there was a lot of elevation change. Overall, we did really well because there were eight teams and there aren’t any divisions, so we ski against Division I schools, but we were still relatively competitive,” Poffenberger said.
Brabbit led the Gusties with two top-ten finishes, including a fourth place finish in the 20km freestyle and a ninth place finish in the 10km classic. Bowman also had a great weekend with a fourteenth place finish and a sixteenth place finish. “[Bowman] skied probably the best races of his life. The course was so hard that if you weren’t fit you struggled. It’s such a steep learning curve you have to get experience to race at this level,” Brabbit said.

Both the Men’s and Women’s teams are looking forward to the most important and last meet of the season for most of the skiers at the NCAA Central Region Championships in Houghton, Mich. this weekend. The Gusties are hoping to finish the season strong as a team.

However, the season won’t end there for Brabbit as he will be the first ever Gustie to compete in NCAA Division I Nationals held in Steamboat, Colo. on March 13 and 14, 2010.