EISA’s Class of 2024 Reflects on a Unique Journey

Photo: Chauncey Morgan

Last weekend at the Middlebury Regional Championships, and next week at the NCAA National Championships in Steamboat, the EISA’s Class of 2024 wraps up the final college racing turns of their undergraduate careers. Thanks to the 2020 COVID pandemic, most of them had no college racing as freshmen, when Ivy League and NESCAC schools canceled their 2020/21 competition seasons. Instead, they scrambled to train and race through pandemic restrictions and strict quarantine requirements that forced athletes to pick a state and stay there.

Now, they are seniors. Like the three classes before them, all are eligible for a 5th year of NCAA eligibility if they choose and can find a spot in an EISA or RMISA graduate program. Their college racing experience has been unique regardless of what next year holds. Here, a few headed to the NCAA Championships in Steamboat look back at what made their journeys memorable and what they will miss.

THE FEARLESS LEADER

Olivia Holm, Dartmouth College. Major: Geography modified with Economics

Holm attended Stratton Mountain School and took a gap year at Burke Mountain Academy before starting college at Dartmouth. She had always hoped to go there. “I definitely expected to get better there… I’d seen how a lot of the Dartmouth girls had performed throughout their time at Dartmouth, and John (Dwyer) really likes to invest in athletes who he can see progressing throughout their time at Dartmouth.”

In her first year, she and her teammates lived off campus to join the Killington Mountain School program in VT for training and racing. In her first season racing for Dartmouth, as a sophomore, she qualified for the 2022 NCAAs but not for Dartmouth’s Champ Team of three seniors. The following year, she struggled with results but kept the faith. Four US Ski Team athletes joining the roster this season was inspiring and daunting. She rose to the occasion, consistently scoring for Dartmouth. Others, too, rose in that competitive environment. Five different Dartmouth women landed podiums, including two freshmen.

As the team captain, Holm’s job was to guide and encourage the younger athletes while also trying to raise her own game. Coming into the final carnival at Middlebury, Holm needed a win to make the NCAA team. “I wanted to walk away from skiing and college skiing having gone [to the NCAA Champs] one time…I realized, if I want this for myself, I need to leave it all out there this weekend.” She did just that, earning the win and the trip to Steamboat

THE PURPLE VIKING

Simen Strand, St. Michael’s College. Major: Business Administration; triple minor in accounting, economics and finance.

Strand graduated from the prestigious Dønski Ski Academy in Norway and took two gap years, working in property management while continuing his ski racing. He realized the US had great opportunities for combining skiing with a bachelor’s degree and liked the variety offered by the 12 EISA schools with Alpine ski programs. “I heard about St. Michael’s from friends and other Norwegians that were here, and it just seemed like a great fit.” When Coach Gus McLeod described the program, with training at Smugglers’ Notch five to six days a week, Strand thought it would be a way to improve his skiing and have fun.

His first lesson was time management, a critical success factor in college skiing. He thought weekends would include downtime but discovered, “you need those Sundays to catch up!” While he missed his friends at home during the school year, every summer, he was able to join forces with fellow college skiers in Norway for glacier camps or indoor sessions at SNØ, Oslo’s ski hall. Strand was the Purple Knights’ team captain for the past two seasons and qualified for NCAA Champs each of his three years, earning All-American honors in 2022. With one win and six podiums this season, he rides into Steamboat with confidence

THE LOCAL HERO

Hayden Dahl, UNH, Dual major: Data Analytics and Marketing

When Hayden Dahl finished high school, the three-sport athlete thought it very unlikely he’d ski for an NCAA team. After a gap year at Killington, however, he was surprised to get the nod from Coach Brian Blank at UNH. As a native New Hampshire kid who grew up in Franconia Ski Club and then attended Holderness, it was a great outcome. “I didn’t take ski racing too seriously before college. I loved to ski and was super competitive on the hill, but skiing wasn’t my main thing until college, so I was able to still have a lot of passion and put a lot into it during my years at UNH.” Dahl was happy for the opportunity to ski for four more years and had few expectations. UNH competed as a team during the 2020-21 season, and even though Dahl was not part of the scoring carnival team, he trained with them. “I watched them a lot to take in what I could, just seeing what little steps I could take to get closer to them.”

Dahl got bigger and stronger that year. He didn’t race carnivals his sophomore year and half of them his junior year. This season, Dahl was a regular on the tour and surprised himself by landing on the podium at the Harvard Carnival. He backed that up with a fifth place at Middlebury and achieved his goal of qualifying for the NCAA Nationals.

THE FIGHTER

Megan Olsen, Colby, Major: Global Studies

Originally from Pennsylvania, Olsen transitioned to Aspen (AVSC) as she moved into FIS racing. She chose Colby based on the advice a coach gave her: “Sit on a campus bench, and you’ll feel it, you’ll know.” When she met the Colby team and felt their excitement about meeting her as a person, “I knew immediately from my first visit meeting the team that this was where I wanted to be.” That said, joining a fast-rising team (Colby scored male, female and team podiums this season) wasn’t easy. During her first season, which was also the first for Coach Eric Harlow, the team could not leave the state of Maine to ski. It was essentially a year of training. After scoring her top result in her sophomore year, she had to sit out races with Covid and then spent her junior year fighting for carnival spots. “I would not have been able to predict how impressive and strong our team has gotten,” says Olsen.

While she is grateful for that improvement, the step-up came with growing pains. Unlike in the West, where entire rosters race at UNI events, the number of rostered athletes in the East makes that impossible. She and teammate Hannah Soria had never raced a carnival together until this season. Olsen scored fourth in the season’s opening GS, while Soria won the second. Both will compete in the championships.

THE ROAD SCHOLAR

Elsie Halvorsen, Harvard. Major: History

Elsie Halvorsen swore she was not going to take a gap year. “I was so done with the individual competitiveness of skiing,” she says. That was until Harvard Coach Scott MacPherson offered her a roster spot on Harvard’s team if she did so. “My goal was always to ski at the best school academically and do both.” She was torn, however, and couldn’t see how she could improve at a school where mid-week training meant four hours of driving, on top of travel to carnivals Friday and Saturday.

She took a gap year with her home program at Steamboat, then started Harvard. Because of the COVID restrictions, she spent most of that season in Colorado, then really joined her team as a sophomore. “It was definitely a shock of how competitive and deep the fields are compared to anything I’d ever done.” It was also shockingly fun. She remembers thinking, “This is so much better than everything I’ve been doing.” Juggling academics and ski racing is a challenge at any school (“study or sleep” are the two options for any downtime), and nowhere more so than at Harvard. It was a challenge made possible by MacPherson’s energy. “I try to picture the program with any other coach and there would be no chance at all. He’s flexible and a good planner, but he’s such an encourager, which I don’t think is necessarily the most common trait for coaches.”

Because of that schedule, Halvorsen only raced the Holiday Classic in Steamboat and the carnival races during her three years racing for Harvard. Nonetheless, she improved her points yearly, performed consistently on the tour, and qualified for the NCAA Champs this year

THE COVID FACTOR

Even for schools that could compete in 2020/21, COVID-19 created a fragmented first year for the ’24s. Max Martin (DAR) stayed in Norway, where he had already spent a PG year abroad. Halvorsen took classes remotely but would go back to campus a bit. “I was trying to have a little bit of a freshman college experience. I wouldn’t say it was all that successful. It was pretty strange.” However, COVID-19 also created unique bonds for students across teams. Current seniors Preston O’Brien (DAR), Charlie Lang (MIDD), Diego Holscher (UVM) and Nina Reichhelm (MIDD) were among the athletes from four different schools who shared a house in Burke and trained together that year.

TRAINING CHALLENGES IN SEASON AND OUT

Summer and fall training is a constant challenge for college skiers, who, by NCAA rules, are prohibited from training as a team out of season. Athletes need to be proactive, using personal and team connections to find high-level training opportunities. That means joining academy programs, working for camps or manufacturers at Mt. Hood, or joining with other college athletes to create training groups. Dahl did not ski at all in the off-season. Instead, he relied on early-season training camps to get up to speed, and in-season training reliably delivered 4-5 weekly training sessions. However they managed it, carnival scoring athletes across the board slashed their World Ranks, sometimes by half or more during their college years.

THE TEAM ADVANTAGE

Every athlete names team spirit and camaraderie as a significant bonus of their college racing experience. “It’s just been a lot of fun,” says Dahl. “I wasn’t expecting the team aspect to be as profound as it is.” For Strand, team spirit was one of the things he most enjoyed about college skiing: “If you have a bad day, your teammates can do well, and it turns into a good thing after all.” Holm, as captain, enjoyed the opportunity to pay forward the mentorship that helped her navigate college skiing. “You’re brought into this group of really high-level athletes that inspire you to be better as well and put down the work, whether it’s in the gym, in the classroom, or during our ski camps and training.” The very gregarious Olsen stresses that friendships are critical to surviving and thriving in a competitive environment. “It’s so hard in college; you’ve got to make sure you’re doing it with people that you really enjoy being around.”

GAME TIME IN STEAMBOAT SPRINGS

As for the pressure of competing for individual and team honor in collegiate-level pinnacle competition, the seniors are taking it in stride and ready to thoroughly soak in the experience with their teammates. Holm is sticking to the approach that got her here through the qualifying gauntlet. “I’m really excited to go and just try to enjoy the moment and ski as fast as I can for Dartmouth.” For Halvorsen, skiing on her home hill brings special meaning: “Skiing under the lights at Howelson Hill is my favorite part of ski racing every year. To be able to have that also be my last race, with fireworks and all the things — I don’t think I’ll be able to help but enjoy it.”

For all the info on the NCAA Championships and how to watch them live, go to https://www.ncaa.com/news/skiing/article/2024-02-27/2024-ncaa-skiing-championships-schedule-how-watch-results

Below are the graduating seniors in the EISA, 60 skiers who were able to stay in the sport at an elite level for four years than otherwise possible, thanks to the EISA. Hats off to you all and good luck in your next chapters! (This list was updated to include the eight St Michael’s seniors. So sorry s’Mikes!)

*going to NCAA Championships

**First appearance at NCAA Champs

GR graduate students using their 5^th year of eligibility

Bates College (3)

• Rob Gillis
• Avery Leonard
• Bo Underhill

Boston College (7)

• Ben Charleston
• Morgan Ellis
• Lauren Geary
• Sam Naples
• Andrew Rusis
• Zach Simmons
• Matthew Smallhouse

Colby College (4)

• Paul Ferri
• **Meagan Olsen
• Ella Spear
• Tucker Strauch

Colby-Sawyer College (2)

• Jared Marshall
• Chesley Smith

Dartmouth College (4)

• Olof Hedelin
• **Olivia Holm
• **Max Martin
• Preston O’Brien

Harvard University (2)

• **Elsie Halvorsen
• Liam McNamara

Middlebury College (7)

• Tatum Coutu
• *Alexandra Cossette
• Emma Hall
• **Charlie Lang
• Holden Parazette
• Nina Reichhelm
• Will Trudeau

Plymouth State University (6)

• Dan Harrison
• Dawson Hill
• Franny MacDonald
• Claire MacDonell
• Camryn Metzger
• Fredi Schneider

Saint Lawrence University (3)

• Bella Amico
• Victoria Cubina
• Helen Hume (GR)

Saint Michael’s College (8)

• Alex Abdow
• Gigi Kelsey
• Teegan Lowe
• Max Noddings
• Nikolai Riiber
• Elliot Ryan
• Nikolas Selvaag
• Simen Strand

University of New Hampshire (5)

• **Hayden Dahl
• Shamus McKim
• Peder Nersnaes
• **Cassie Lieblein (GR)
• **Hunter Brayton (GR)

University of Vermont (4)

• *Justine Clement
• Diego Holscher
• Ella Renzoni
• **Declan McCormack (GR)

Williams College (5)

• Blake Bathum
• Scott Bocock
• Peter Dohr
• Chris Golden
• Elena Zipp