UW Men’s Nordic Ski Team Just Misses First, Cowgirls Finish Third in First Race at National Championships

The University of Wyoming men's and women's Nordic ski teams impressed during the first day of the United States Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association National Championships Tuesday, March 10, at Lake Placid, N.Y.

The Cowboys just missed winning the 7.5km interval start classic race as they tied with Western Colorado University with the low score of 22 points each in the 11-team field. However, UW had to settle for second overall as the result of a complex tiebreaker rule. The Cowgirls raced first, taking third as a team with 33 points behind St. Olaf (Minn.) College, which won the race with 11 points, and Paul Smiths College, which scored 28 points, in the 14-team field.

With the interval start in both races, one skier took off from the start line every 15 seconds. The women went out first, with a wait of five minutes before the men entered the course.

"The men started as the conditions were deteriorating and the tracks were nonexistent in places," says co-head coach Christine Boggs. "The men skied well as a team, with some individuals feeling great and some feeling a little rough."

The men, who placed four skiers in the top 10, were led by Jack Jendro, a sophomore from Andover, Minn., in sixth place with a time of 21:58.3. Lander sophomore Diego Lobatos was only nine seconds back in seventh with 22:07; Kaleb Simonson, another Lander sophomore, took ninth in 22:10.6; and Austin Quillinan, a Laramie junior, rounded out the top 10 with a time of 22:16.2.

Other Cowboy finishers were Drew Crouch, a freshman from Salt Lake City, Utah, in 16th; Hunter Pickett, a Casper freshman, took 26th place; and William Blair, another Casper freshman, was 27th in the 74-man field.

"The conditions were super tough today, as it was icy when we arrived and they had to postpone the start an hour for safety reasons," Boggs says of conditions before the women's race. "Once the race started warming up, it went fast and we were soon skiing in slush, like a snow cone. It was tough for everyone, but our skiers really rose to the challenge."

Eleanor Veauthier, a Casper sophomore, led the way for the Cowgirls with an eighth-place individual finish in a time of 25:47.6. Leah Ines, a freshman from Holderness, N.H., skied to 13th place with a time of 26:35.7; Shayla Babits, a Lander junior, was 14th in 26:40.1; Gigi Mahood, a Jackson freshman, took 19th in 27:41.1; and Morgan Gelwicks, a freshman from Laramie, finished 26th with a time of 29:23.9 in the field of 66 women.

"They skied extremely well in a super strong field," Boggs says of the Cowgirls. "We had three women who raced to All-American finishes (top 15)."

"The good finishes today were a testament to both the Wyoming grit and the incredible support crew who waxed skis, had spare poles, brought the music, organized the bibs, took pictures, applied glitter, and helped acquire and prepare meals," says co-head coach Rachel Watson. "This crew of nine people include current athletes, UW Nordic ski team alumni and supporters who all took the week off work to provide support for these incredible student-athletes."

Both UW teams will be back in action today and compete in the skate sprint race.