WALLA WALLA, Wash. – Laura Valaas of Whitman College has been named women’s Cross Country Skier of the Week by the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association (RMISA).
Valaas, a junior from Wenatchee, Wash., was honored after finishing third and fifth last weekend in RMISA’s final regular season races, the Western Regional Championships at Bohart Ranch near Bozeman, Mont.
“Laura works hard all season and has aspirations of becoming a national or international level competitor,” Whitman nordic coach Melody Scheefer said. “Her belief in herself paid off this season at the regional championships. She has an intense drive to become the best. We’re very inspired by her.”
In last weekend’s races, Valaas placed third in the women’s 5-kilometer classic, her strongest discipline, and added a fifth-place showing in the 15-kilometer freestyle. Those are the top finishes posted by a Whitman cross country skier in the school’s three years of NCAA competition. It was the first time this season that Valaas registered a top 10 finish in a freestyle/skate race.
“Other coaches were astonished by Laura’s finish in the skate race,” Sheefer said. “One coach told me, `Laura can’t skate.’ All I said was, `If you believe in her, she certainly can.’”
Those on hand to cheer for Valaas included her parents, Susan and Peter Valaas and her younger sister, Kirsten. “The Valaas family went skiing after Saturday’s race,” Sheefer said. “We could see it was a very enjoyable weekend for all of them.”
Peter Valaas, an anesthesiologist in Wenatchee, Wash., graduated summa cum laude from Whitman in 1975. Laura's older brother, Ryan, is a recent graduate who competed on the Whitman men's nordic teams from the fall of 1999 through the spring of 2001.
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| Flanked by two opponents, Whitman's Laura Valaas competes earlier this season at the University of Denver Invitational. |
With the conclusion of last weekend’s races, Valaas and Whitman teammate Emma Lohr became the first Whitman cross country skiers to qualify for the NCAA National Championships, slated for March 9-12 in Stowe, Vt. Valaas qualified in eighth place among RMISA skiers. Lohr, a sophomore from Anchorage, Alaska, picked off the region’s 22nd and final berth at nationals.
"We are very proud of Laura's accomplishments this season,” Whitman director of skiing Tom Olson said. “Laura has come a long way in her three years as an athlete at Whitman. Her maturity and athleticism have risen to a national level, and it’s great to see her receiving the recognition she deserves."
Whitman joined RMISA three years ago, becoming the only NCAA Div. III school in the western U.S. that competes in NCAA skiing. Other RMISA members are two NCAA Div. II schools, Montana State University and Western State College, and seven NCAA Div. I schools -- the universities of Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Denver, New Mexico and Alaska, as well as Boise State University.
Valaas is the first Whitman cross country skier to win one of RMISA’s weekly honors. Rachel Walker, a Whitman sophomore from Whistler, British Columbia, was named women’s alpine Skier of the Week last February after she placed second in the giant slalom at the 2004 regional championships.
Dave Holden, Whitman Sports Information,
(509) 527-5902; holden@whitman.edu