Office FAX: (509) 527-5960
Email: schouwcm@whitman.edu
WALLA WALLA, Wash. – Calisa Schouweiler, a young coaching professional whose background includes a research stint at the Norwegian Olympic Training Center in Oslo, is the new men’s and women’s Nordic ski coach at Whitman College.
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Schouweiler replaces Nathan Alsobrook, who was recently named the new Nordic coach at his alma mater, Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine.
Schouweiler earned her bachelor’s degree in exercise science in 2003 at Minnesota’s Saint Cloud State University, where she served as captain of the Nordic ski team as a junior and senior. She completed her master’s degree in sports training and exercise physiology in 2006 at Saint Cloud. Her previous coaching experience includes one season (2004-05) as an assistant with the Nordic teams at Saint John’s University and College of Saint Benedict.
"Calisa is an exceedingly talented young coach who has much to offer in terms of her exercise science research and how that relates to coaching and helping young athletes train for competition in the endurance sports," Whitman director of athletics Dean Snider said. "We are very pleased with the opportunity to put our Nordic ski program in her hands. Her experience in the collegiate and international ski arenas will serve her well as she leads our program forward."
Whitman is the only NCAA Div. III school in the western U.S. that competes in NCAA skiing. As part of the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association, Whitman’s Nordic and alpine teams compete during the regular season against seven NCAA Div. I schools and two NCAA Div. II schools. Whitman’s Devon Spika, a Nordic skier, capped her first college season last winter by qualifying for the NCAA National Championships.
As an undergraduate research assistant, Schouweiler spent six months (August-December 2001) in Norway, dividing her time between the Olympic Training Center and the Department of Physical Education at the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences. After completing her bachelor’s degree in 2003, she spent six months as a research assistant at the University of Maastricht’s Department of Movement Science in the Netherlands.
Schouweiler, who was raised in northern Wisconsin, held research positions at the University of Wisconsin for the past two years. She was a research coordinator at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health from August 2005 through October 2006. She them moved into a project coordinator’s position at the UW Department of Kinesiology.
"I’ve been keeping my eyes open for a head coaching position in Nordic skiing, and I’m thrilled that Whitman has given me this opportunity," Schouweiler said. "When I look back on my experiences, I know that I have been the happiest when I was coaching and teaching."
While coaching the teams at Saint John’s and the College of Saint Benedict, Schouweiler said, "I had to remind myself often that I was getting paid to what I love to do. I am eager to share what I have learned over the years with a new group of athletes at Whitman. It is my ultimate hope that Whitman skiers will work hard and reach their goals in all areas of their college careers, and that they will leave college wanting to ski for the rest of their lives."
During her 2002 internship at the Norwegian Olympic Training Center, Schouweiler helped study the effects of moderate altitude on endurance performance in elite female Nordic skiers. That research, the first of its kind, paid dividends when Norwegian Olympians competed at altitude at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.
Schouweiler recalls having "watched with tears in my eyes" as Norway’s Bente Skari stepped to the podium at the Utah Games to receive her gold medal. "I knew her personal struggles ... her difficulty performing at altitude, and from my work with her and other athletes at the Norwegian Olympic Training Center, I felt I was part of their success. Helping athletes reach their full potential is what motivates me."
While at the Olympic Training Center, Schouweiler also enjoyed opportunities to work on a number of projects involving athletes in such sports as cycling, swimming and speedskating.
Schouweiler plans to combine her research background in exercise science with a willingness to tailor training programs to fit the needs and goals of individual athletes. "Some coaches use training methods that worked for them rather than look at each athlete’s individual strengths and weaknesses," she said. "I think each athlete needs to train a little bit differently, and I feel I have the background to help each athlete reach their short- and long-term goals in athletics, academics and life."
Schouweiler is a graduate of Tomahawk (Wisc.) High School, where she ran both cross country and track. "Our cross country team was very successful, and it still is," she said. "We went to state all four years I was there. It was fun to be part of a team that was successful." In track, she twice advanced to the state championships as part of the 3,200-meter relay team.
Because Tomahawk High did not have a ski team, she skied instead for nearby Lakeland High in Minocqua, Wisc. She also was an avid mountain bike racer for a time.
For Schouweiler, outdoor sports was a family affair. Her father Mark coached a number of youth sports, including a hockey team on which she played with her brother Chad. While she soon settled on Nordic skiing as her favorite sport, her brother eventually took up dogsled racing and competed in the 2006 Iditarod.
Schouweiler’s mother Martha is the outdoor adventure series coordinator at Nicolet College in Rhinelander, Wisc. "I was lucky enough to grow up with resources to dabble in any outdoor sport imaginable," she said.