Completed Event: Skiing versus 20K Freestyle (M) on March 8, 2025 , , 1st
Final Score
Skiing
1st
vs 20K Freestyle (M)
2000 Skiing Squad Outlook
11/30/1999 12:00 AM | Skiing
Dec. 3, 1999
SALT LAKE CITY -- From a program that has produced skiing legends Spence Eccles, Jeane Saubert, Marv Melville, Margot Walters, Jim Gaddis, and Kathy Kreiner, tradition has been the cornerstone of Utah skiing since its inception in 1957. The tradition within the program extends to athletic excellence, academic achievement and community service. Each of these aspects will remain as the groundwork of the program as the Utes prepare to compete in the 21st century.
The Utes will begin the year with Kevin Sweeney as the interim head coach and Thom Morton as the alpine coach. Sweeney is in his eighth year at Utah and is the head cross country coach. He has coached several NCAA champions including two-time winners Havard Solbakken in ?94 and ?95, and Heidi Selnes in ?95 and ?96. His one-time champions include Luke Bodensteiner in ?94, Thomas Weman in ?95 and Rune Kollerud last year. Morton enters his first year at Utah and will head the alpine team. He returns to Utah after spending the ?99 campaign at Mt. Rose in Lake Tahoe as the head junior 1-2 coach. Previously, Thom coached for three years at the Rowmark Ski Academy here in Salt Lake.
During the 1999 regular season invitationals, Utah finished third at each one. At regionals, the Utes dropped to fourth place, just two points behind surging New Mexico. The Utah team entered the NCAA Championships having qualified a full team, and looking to cap the season's collection of podium results with a title. After two days at the Championships, and an amazing first and second finish by twin brothers Rune and Frode Kollerud in the 10K freestyle competition, the Utes found themselves in first place, leading defending champion Colorado by two points. The third day, Utah continued its hot streak finishing three skiers in the top 15 of the men's slalom, and Liz Sherry skiing into fifth place of the women's slalom. Going into the final day of racing, the Utes were in second place, trailing only Colorado. Both the men's and women's cross country teams couldn't repeat the second day's performance, and Utah slid off the podium, into fourth place. "A less-than-satisfying way to end the year, though the heart and soul of every athlete and coach was in it for the win, absolutely 100 percent. We were in the run for the title and that in itself, with the parity of the top teams in the country makes a fourth place finish very respectable. I'm very proud of the effort the team demonstrated all the way through," says Sweeney.
There will once again be great parity between the top teams across the country. Traditionally, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Vermont have been the kings of the ski hill, but in recent years Denver and Dartmouth have come on to challenge for podium finishes. To combat the newfound competition, the Utes have the remembrance of last year's disappointment. "The team is not a fourth place team," says Sweeney. "There is much desire in the returning skiers to get back into the title round and win."
This new season presents an opportunity for the seven returning skiers to redeem last seasons disappointments and for the newcomers to start a new era. Utah lost All-Americans Rune Kollerud, Frode Kollerud and Ryan Forsyth, while 14 new skiers hope to fill their shoes.
"This is the largest turnover I've experienced," states Sweeney. With such a young team, Sweeney and his staff will focus heavily on the returning skiers to provide ample leadership.
"Fortunately, the seven athletes returning are leaders," says Sweeney. "They will have to be to provide a foundation for the newcomers."
Fortunately, the ?freshman' label doesn't carry the same stigma that it does in other collegiate sports. In skiing, the ?freshman' skiers often outperform the upperclassmen and they are far from inexperienced. They have all competed at very high levels, including respective national teams, Junior Olympic Teams and international meets.
"We have brought in some very good young talent," relates Sweeney, "and this adds a lot of excitement to the program." Sweeney is enthusiastic and optimistic about the prospects of the combination of young and old. "Combined with the skier's competitiveness, the staff's challenge will be to turn this group into a cohesive team," adds Sweeney. "We can never lose sight of our focus of an NCAA podium finish."
The Utes also have the advantage of hosting this year's NCAA Championships. It will be a distinct advantage for the Utes to be able to train at the site of the championships. ""As a host, our expectations are a bit higher," says Sweeney. "They have to be in order to be ready to showcase our talent, the University of Utah as well as the Olympic venues at Park City Mountain Resort and Soldier Hollow."
The new millennium will certainly be decorated with the accomplishments of the new-look Utah ski team. "This stands to be a very exciting year for us and we are poised to uphold Utah skiing tradition," says Sweeney.
ALPINE TEAM
Team spirit and solidarity are the two elements key to success according to first-year Utah alpine coach Thom Morton. With so many newcomers, and himself in his first year with the program, Morton seeks to implement team cohesiveness as a guiding force for the team. "A key to our success on the alpine side with so many new faces is team unity and team spirit," says Morton. "Our sense of team spirit is growing weekly in our training and we need to make the team cohesion better then ever." Daily commitment is another factor on which Morton will focus. "Commitment to success is a daily progression. It happens each day in training, from the dry land to the hills," asserts Morton. "Success doesn't happen by chance."
Returning for the men's team is junior Peter Shaffer and sophomore Scott Woodland. Shaffer skied in all of the regular season invitationals as well as the Western Regionals. He will be the senior member of this year's team.
Woodland returns after an All-America freshman campaign. His best performance was at the regionals, where he placed second in both the slalom and giant slalom. Woodland was one of three freshmen qualifiers from Utah for the NCAA Championships and never finished below tenth in any race last year.
On the women's side, All-Americans Sabrina Lawrence and Liz Sherry return for the Utes. Lawrence is a junior and a two-time All-America and all-conference honoree. She had a strong year in ?99, posting nine top ten and three top five finishes. Last year, Sherry was selected to represent Utah at the World University Games in Slovakia. Morton expects more of the same this year from Sherry, Lawrence, and all of the veteran skiers. "All four returning skiers have told me that they are looking for a taste of redemption this year," he says.
The newcomers to the alpine team include Jernej Bukovec, Jed Schuetze, Annik Boulva, Petra Svet and Christina Babalis. "All of them are strong and can pick up where the others left off," states Morton. "There are skiers with several years of national team experience and strong collegiate backgrounds in the group. Jernej brings a strong European skiing experience to the team. Jed is in his first collegiate ski season and he sees it as being a piece of his complete career rather than the final chapter. Annik is a transfer student so she brings a strong collegiate background that will be helpful with the young skiers. Petra is returning from an injury she sustained while skiing for the Slovenian National Team and has made great strides in her conditioning. Christina is coming for the winter term after training for several weeks in Sweden."
CROSS COUNTRY TEAM
Back for his eighth year at Utah, Kevin Sweeney sews common team focus, hard work and a championship spirit into his cross country team. "This year's outlook is really no different than it has been during my tenure here," says Sweeney. "Our goals have not changed. We want to be competitive during the season, but our focus is on the NCAA Championships." By the looks of the amount of talent and experience on the team, Sweeney's expectations are high. "We have a tremendous amount of new talent," Sweeney says. One of his central themes for this year will be team unity. "The team concept has been very strong here in the past and I still firmly believe that is where our success comes from," asserts Sweeney. "The biggest challenge is taking all the new talent and individuals and directing them into a team concept."
Seven skiers make up this year's men's team that is looking to fill some big shoes vacated by three-time All-Americans Rune and Frode Kollerud. "It will hard to replace their force on the track," admits Sweeney. The Kolleruds' stellar careers at Utah included consistent top five finishes and dominance at national competitions. The only remnant from last year's squad is junior Pat Casey, who himself, is a two-time NCAA Championship competitor. Casey has skied for two seasons at Utah and learned a great deal from the twin tandem. "Pat is the team leader without question," asserts Sweeney. "All the other players will look to him for his collegiate experience."
Perhaps the most highly publicized newcomer is sophomore Robert Whitney. Whitney comes to Utah after transferring from Alaska-Anchorage. Outside of his collegiate career, Whitney skied at the ?99 World Championships in Ramsau, Austria and was an alternate for the U.S. Olympic Team at the ?98 Nagano Olympics. It is his international experience that is so valuable to the Utes. "Rob has raced for the U.S. Ski Team at the Junior Worlds and World Championships," says Sweeney. "He should be an outstanding addition to this team."
Two more additions to this year's team are Marco Stevanoni and Petter Svendsen. Along with Casey and Whitney, they will go a long way in filling the void left by the Kolleruds' departure. "Marco has race experience comparable to Whitney's," Sweeney says. Svendsen, a native of Tromso, Norway, brings his Scandinavian experience to Utah. "Petter will be another front runner," says Sweeney. "In fact, he has trained and is friends with Ute alumnus and two-time NCAA Champion Havard Solbakken. In training, he has shown equivalent potential."
Sweeney brought in three more recruits to give the Utes depth and development. Torin Koos, Ryan Quinn and Zack Simons are all qualified skiers and have a chance to qualify for Junior World Championships. Koos joins Ute ski team alumni John Aalberg and Torry Kraftson as dual-sport athletes. Koos will compete for both the cross country ski team as well as the cross country running and track teams. Quinn trained with teammate Whitney in Alaska and Simons is a Park City native.
"The men's group is getting to be extremely competitive," remarks Sweeney. "It has really provided a great training atmosphere."
On the women's side, the Utes return two NCAA qualifying skiers in Kristina Joder and Lene Pedersen. Joder had reconstructive knee surgery two summers ago and has fully recovered. "Last year," says Sweeney, "she was never skiing at 100 percent. She will be one of the top scorers for the team." The Utes also look to Pedersen for leadership and results. "Lene had a solid season last year and competed at the NCAA Championships," says Sweeney. "We are looking for her to step up, consistently finish in the top 10 and return to the NCAA's."
Sweeney is also counting on incoming junior Markia Engstrom from Mora, Sweden, for results. "I'm looking for her to make an immediate impact coming from her national team," Sweeney says. "She is proficient in both techniques and is adjusting well to the program here. She is on track to be an immediate leader."
Much of the Utes' success is contingent upon combining returning experience with incoming talent. "The outlook is good," says a confident Sweeney. "Though parity among the top teams is greater than it has ever been, so coming away with a title will be very difficult." Only time will tell how the Utes will respond to such a challenging season ahead, but the coaches and skiers alike have set their sights on finishing atop the podium when the season is over.
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