WALLA WALLA, Wash. – Never underestimate the power of a little snow to lift the spirits of an alpine coach and his skiers.
After enduring two years of relatively dry Pacific Northwest winter weather, Whitman College alpine coach Tom Olson was thrilled when early snows started falling last month. Ski Bluewood, located 52 miles north of campus in the Umatilla National Forest, opened Dec. 2, which gave the Whitman ski teams time for nine days of snow training before the semester ended.
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“It’s amazing what a big difference a little snow can make,” Olson says as he preps for his 16th season at Whitman. “It’s been a few years since we’ve had the chance to ski together before the semester break. We had a great time at Bluewood. We did some free skiing as well as some giant slalom drills. At this point I think we’re all headed into the NCAA season with a great outlook.”
Following the holidays, Olson and his alpine teams reconvene on campus in early January and depart for the first four races of the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association (RMISA) schedule. The University of Alaska-Anchorage Invitational is set for Wednesday and Thursday, Jan. 11-12 in Park City, Utah, to be followed on Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 14-15 with the Montana State Invitational at Big Sky, Mont. All of those races come before Whitman classes resume on Tuesday, Jan. 17.
The RMISA season continues in February with three additional weekends of skiing – two in Colorado and one in California. Each of the 10 RMISA schools can qualify as many as three alpine men and three alpine women for the NCAA National Championships, set for March 8-10 at California’s Sugar Bowl.
Competition for national berths is fierce, however. RMISA is allotted 18 alpine women and 17 alpine men for the national championships. And Whitman, an NCAA Div. III school, is by far the smallest college or university in the western ski conference. Seven NCAA Div. I schools, including the universities of Utah, Denver, New Mexico, Nevada and Colorado, tend to dominate the team competition. The group also includes two NCAA Div. II schools, Western State College and the University of Alaska-Anchorage.
Whitman’s best bets for the national championships are Hannes Zirknitzer, a senior from Bright, Victoria in Australia, and Rachel Walker, a junior from Whistler, British Columbia. After qualifying in each of his first two seasons at Whitman, Zirknitzer just missed the mark last season, finishing as an alternate. Walker, who qualified in her first season, also fell just short a year ago.
Both Zirknitzer and Walker missed early qualifying races last season while competing for their respective countries at the Winter World University Games in Innsbruck, Austria. After returning to the U.S., instead of having 10 races in which to score qualifying points for the NCAA championships, Walker was left with eight and Zirknitzer six.
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Zirknitzer made the most of his limited opportunities, placing fifth in one slalom race and cracking the top 15 in three other events. “That still wasn’t good enough to make nationals,” Olson says. “That shows the strength of the competition in our ski conference.”
Walker was remarkably consistent last winter, placing between 14th and 22nd in the seven races she finished. “Rachel was facing the same problem as Hannes,” Olson says. “Extremely tough competition.”
Two winters ago, competing at nationals for a second straight year, Zirknitzer earned All-American honors in the slalom, placing 10th. He also placed 25th in the giant slalom. Competing that same week in the women’s races, Walker was 29th in the giant slalom and 34th in the slalom.
“We’re expecting both Hannes and Rachel to have excellent seasons,” Olson says. “Both are very talented and experienced.”
The Whitman men’s team also includes senior Nate Johnson (Mukilteo, Wash.), sophomore Matt Bingham (Seattle, Wash.), and freshmen Marc Nabelek (Corvallis, Ore.) and Andy Erickson (Kirkland, Wash.) .
Johnson returns after missing last season with injuries. “Nate is back and healthy,” Olson says. “He’s a solid skier, and he’s been a good leader for us. There’s no reason he can’t finish in the 15 to 20 range in every race.”
Two years ago as a sophomore, when he also was slowed by injuries, Johnson placed as high as 18th in one RMISA race. He also had a 20th-place finish as a freshman.
Johnson and Nabelek, one of Whitman’s freshmen, saw some early competition last month when they dominated a pair of Northwest Cup races at Oregon’s Mt. Bachelor. Johnson won one race and was the runner-up in the other. Nabelek was right behind, finishing second and third.
“Marc is going to be our No. 3 guy,” Olson says, “and he’s not that far behind our top two.”
Bingham had has best races last season in the slalom, placing as high as 24th and 26th. “Matt’s going to do better this season,” Olson says. Bingham and Erickson, Whitman’s second freshman, will be the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds for Whitman.
Joining Walker on the Whitman women’s team are senior Victoria Amorello (Sutton, Mass.) , juniors Renee Thibodeau (Fort Kent, Maine) and Maria Corcorran (Bellevue, Wash.) , and sophomores Charlotte Gourlay (Ketchum, Idaho), Nicole Wolf (Littleton, Colo.) and Meredith Riley (Park City, Utah) .
Amorello is on the comeback trail after losing the past two seasons to injury and illness. Three years ago in her first season at Whitman, she placed as high as 27th in the giant slalom and 28th in the slalom, and she finished all but two of her 10 races. “There were times when Victoria was our No. 2 women’s skier that season simply because of her consistency,” Olson says.
Whitman’s two juniors, Thibodeau and Corcorran, have spent the fall semester studying abroad. Thibodeau, who might miss the first few races this season, placed as high as 18th a year ago as a sophomore. Corcorran finished all 10 of her races last winter, placing 29th in her best performance.
Gourlay is the best of three sophomores on the women’s roster. She also finished all 10 races last season, breaking into the top 30 five times. Her best efforts came on the final weekend of the regular season, when she was 23rd in the slalom and 25th in the giant slalom.
Olson expects Wolf, who had trouble finishing races last winter, to bounce back with a strong season. “We’re expecting good things from Nicole,” Olson says. “She’s worked very hard this fall, and she’s provided some good leadership, too.”
Riley, after missing the first six races of her rookie season last winter, rebounded by placing 25th in the final slalom event. “Meredith is a solid skier, and she’s put in the work to get better,” Olson says.
The women's squad made its best showing at last year's RMISA regional championship, placing fifth in a field of 10 schools.
Both Whitman teams, men and women, are stronger this season compared to last year, Olson says. “You can see the improvement all across the board. It’s going to be a good season.”
Dave Holden, Whitman Sports Information,
(509) 527-5902; holden@whitman.edu