In November we decided to take a small team to US Nationals in Craftsbury, Vermont. This is the race where skiers qualify for World Cup, World Junior, and other teams. It's a big deal!

We only had 4 athletes ready for this event so we asked our high school associates if they knew someone who would benefit and be excited to join us. Thus Nathan became part of our team for this exciting adventure!

The racing at this level on these trails is adventure enough but we had additional challenges as we were laid over in Chicago for 24 hours and didn't arrive at our rental house until 2:30am on the day of the first race!

This is NOT a recipe for fast racing but our team went all jungle tiger and not only did we get everyone on the trails, on skis, but they actually RACED! It was awesome!

In our push to get registered, bibs, feed, glide & kick wax on the skis, and the hundreds of other details that are necessary to get racers to the start line we didn't have time to baby our junior skier. In fact, other than getting his bib, skis, and feed we didn't really talk to him much. Nothing like being in a huge race, in a completely foreign environment, with athletes you don't really know to cause high levels of stress.

If Nathan felt this huge stress we sure couldn't tell. He went through the process of his very first 15km, his very first feed, his very first chip timing, at his very first National Competition without even a slight waver. He skied and skied all week without showing any stress or weakness in any way. Three races with 100's of athletes later he was still standing and still smiling.

Nathan never complained, whined, nor cried and I am here to say that this alone was a MAJOR accomplishment!

Through it all Nathan skied his heart out, giving everything he had to every race!

We all hope this young man will come to Laramie after  his graduation and join the UW Team because he has got GRIT and he is a good skier!

For being such an incredible Jungle Tiger and skiing fast in adverse conditions we want to award Nathan the Skier of the Week!

You ROCK OUR WORLD!!!!

The first race of the year is interesting. Most people are not quite firing and struggle with just getting through the race. Every once in awhile someone comes out firing and ready to race. That is what happened in the first two races  in  on December 15 &16.

Trevor had his best year of training ever and was super jazzed to get into the race season. Just the week before Trevor had trained HUGE hours over Thanksgiving Break and dominated the team time-trial. Now it was time to see where he was for the season. This first race isn't important for qualifying for Nationals nor anything else but it is a good place to get the motor running and see where you are in your training.

Trevor had a fantastic weekend which started with a BANG! He skied well in the sprint qualifier placing 11th and getting into the rounds. After a great performance in the Quarterfinals he made it all the way to the 'B' final where he finally ran out of steam but finished strong and happy! Trevor crushed the USCSA racers in the field and set himself up as the man to beat for the season. The entire team was there to cheer him on through the entire process!

After such a long and demanding round of sprints we thought Trevor would be super tired for the 5km the next morning but he came out ready to fight again. Although not quite as snappy as the previous race Trevor skied very well, taking the top place in the USCSA again and posting USSA points that would have been his 2nd best from all the previous season! Not a bad place to start your senior season.

We also want to give Trevor this award for his incredible leadership of the team. As Team President of UW Nordic Trevor puts in extra time, energy, and emotion to make sure everyone has what they need, when they need it, and that they have a great time doing it! Trevor has lead the extremely young men's team forward and is teaching them what it means to be a UW Skier in ALL the ways!

We are super proud of the way Trevor has stepped up his training but especially how he has stepped up his leadership of the UW Nordic Club. He is giving his best to all his passions and it shows!

That is why Trevor is the first Skier of the Week!

YOU ROCK OUR WORLD!!!!

Starting the semester is hard for everyone. No matter what you did during the summer the change to classes, homework and training can be tough.

This especially true if you are a freshman. You have all the issues mentioned above PLUS being away from home for the first time, roommates, feeding yourself, classes and homework unlike anything you have done in the past, and many other difficulties.

This is what makes these two young women so phenomenal. They both have had a great deal to manage in the first month of the semester and in spite of this they have the highest practice percentages on the team!

Ella spent the summer working in two different labs in addition to making it to almost every single summer practice and ALL the adventure weekends! Despite what should have been a fairly easy transition to school one of her projects didn't end as planned and she was also left completely in charge of it. A project that really should have been managed by a staff member or graduate student fell squarely in her lap as a Junior in college. This in top of a difficult schedule with multiple hard courses and labs.

Ella is also the Vice-President of the team and as such is a strong roll model to the younger skiers. She takes this very seriously. This entire semester Ella has only missed practice when she was sick, which wasn't often. She has been an inspiration for the team in all aspects: school, training, volunteer work, and leadership. Always with a smile and a willingness to help she embodies the team.

Ella has stepped into the void left by her mentors, Elise, Sierra and Meghan, and has not disappointed. For this reason Ella is Skier of the Month for September. YOU ROCK OUR WORLD!!!!

Maddy has been around the team for so long that we forget she wasn't always here. She has attended multiple Memorial Day Ski Camps and fit in so well from the start that we looked forward to having her on the team. She has not disappointed. She is as wonderful and fits even better than we anticipated. I can't even tell you how many times she asked to help this weekend and better yet I found her just finding things to do, like dishes. She is already making her mark on the team with her smile, laugh and willingness to hurt and help!

I do not recall a time when a freshman managed to handle the transition to school and skiing better than Maddy has done. She has missed only two practices, one when she had a terrible week of exams and one when her alarm didn't go off. She is so dedicated that she is one of the faces that I expect every time I look up.

She also excelled in the hillbounding this weekend at FORO, finishing the workout with the older girls and looking good all the way through the end.

She has done a phenomenal job of school and skiing, managing to get enough rest to not get sick while still being successful in the classroom and training. She is a rock and she's only 1 month into her freshman year! We are super excited she is finally part of our family.

Maddy, you ROCK OUR WORLD!!!!