In a series of profiles of female college Nordic coaches for FasterSkier, former Olympian Nancy Ingersoll Fiddler ’78 checks in with Becky Flynn Woods ’89.

Woods tells Fiddler that a big part of her job is to help her Nordic skiers meet the rigorous dual challenge of ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝-caliber academics and Division I-caliber skiing competition.

Becky Flynn Woods ’89 and her father Bob Flynn (second from right) accept the Chummy Broomhall Cup as the top Maine college ski team from then-Maine Gov. John Baldacci in 2007. The award’s namesake, Chummy Broomhall, is at left. Photo courtesy of Kris Dobie.

“Balancing their workloads is a challenge,” she says. “Academic schedules combined with daily, consistent training and racing is a tough combination but something that is so worth it.”

Among her former skiiers are four All-Americans – Sylvan Ellefson ’09, Justin Easter ’03, David Chamberlain ’98, and Justin Freeman ’98. Freeman is a former Olympian, and Ellefson ’09 has his sights set on Sochi, Russia, for 2014. “When skiers from ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ are skiing on the World Cup and at the Olympics, it certainly feels like we are having an influence at a level larger than just collegiate skiing,” Woods says.

Still, most ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ skiers will not continue racing after ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝, so Woods’ overall goal as a coach is to prepare all her athletes for “what is to come” in life, she says, “physically, mentally and emotionally.”

ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ plays host to the NCAA Skiing Championships, March 11-14. See a video preview of the Black Mountain Nordic course produced by H. Lincoln Benedict ’09.

ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ sophomore Natalie Ruppertsburger had another strong weekend at the Dartmouth Winter Carnival, placing seventh in the 5K Classic Technique race and 19th in the 10K Free Technique race.

Ruppertsburger (Plainfield, N.H.) led the ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ women’s Nordic team to third place out of 13 teams in the event, covering the Oak Hill course in 15:57.2 on Friday in the 5K Classic. It was her third top-10 finish of the carnival season and her best to date.

On Saturday in the women’s 10K freestyle race, Ruppertsburger was 19th in 32:05.9, right behind first-year teammate Beth Taylor (Norwich, Vt.), who was 18th in 32:04.6 out of 65 competitors. Ruppertsburger currently ranks 12th among women Nordic skiers on the EISA carnival circuit, putting her in strong position to become the first ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ women’s Nordic skier to compete at the NCAA Skiing Championships since Kaitlyn McElroy ’07 did in 2006. (ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ is the host school for this year’s NCAA Skiing Championships.)

ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝’ combined alpine and Nordic ski teams finished sixth out of 13 teams in the final standings in the carnival with 574.5 points, only half a point behind fifth-place Williams and 23.5 points ahead of rival Colby. ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ competes this weekend in the Middlebury Carnival.

Sam Evans-Brown ’09 completes a breakout weekend with his second consecutive fifth-place finish in the ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ Winter Carnival. In March, ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ hosts the 2009 NCAA National Collegiate Men’s and Women’s Skiing Championships and partners with two of Maine’s outstanding skiing venues: Sunday River in Bethel and Black Mountain in Rumford.

ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ senior All-American Sylvan Ellefson (Vail, Colo.) took first place in the men’s 10K Free Technique race on Saturday at the University of New Hampshire Winter Carnival, the third career carnival race victory for Ellefson and the first this season. He is the only ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ skier ever to win an EISA carnival race. Ellefson timed in at 25:03.3 to lead the ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ men to third place out of 11 teams in the event.

A day earlier, Ellefson finished sixth out of 82 competitors in the men’s classic sprints at UNH, timing in at 3:19.57, with senior teammate Sam Evans-Brown not far behind in eighth (3:29.47), his third top-10 performance in as many races this season.

In four races thus far in the carnival season, Ellefson has racked up finishes of 13th, 7th, 6th and first. The senior team captain is well on pace to make his fourth straight appearance in the NCAA Skiing Championships, which ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ will host this year on March 11-14.

While Sylvan Ellefson ’09 hasn’t banished sweets or Commons crispitos from his diet, he’s honed an understanding of what his body needs to perform at peak level.

“I was definitely not conscious of eating a balanced diet my first year here,” says Ellefson, a Nordic skier from Vail, Colo., who won All-America honors at last year’s NCAA Skiing Championships. “But in the past two years I’ve really realized what it means.”

Now, he and his teammates consider ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ Dining Services to be part of their team. “Commons does a great job of providing us with the food we need for how we train,” Ellefson says.

For example, when the Nordic team travels during carnival season, their van carries Commons-provided food like granola, breads, fruits, and yogurt. Not for the skiers’ major meals — they get meal money for that — but for quick post-race nutrition. “Your body recovers more quickly if you get food right after a race,” explains Sam Evans-Brown ’09, Ellefson’s teammate.

When it comes to establishing healthy food routines, the teammates support each other, says head coach Becky Flynn Woods ’89. “It’s about getting into the right habit. For example, the skiers racing later in the day will take time in the morning to prepare food, like PB&Js, for everyone to eat right after
the races.”

These days, the Nordic team’s training is especially motivated, what with For Ellefson, a Colorado-raised skier not recruited by any Division I schools out West, his competitive cup runneth over. “I’m proud to race as a Bobcat,” he says. “I love it in Maine.”

An alpine enthusiast growing up, Ellefson and his Vail Mountain School soccer buddies took up cross-country skiing to stay in shape during the winter. As a high school sophomore, he won skimeister as the best performer in Nordic and alpine events. By then, he knew his forte was Nordic so he dropped alpine, comparing it to choosing soccer over baseball when, as a little kid, he “couldn’t hit the ball off the tee.” But as a relative latecomer to Nordic skiing, Ellefson came East for college when Division I schools passed him up.

Highly competitive by nature, Ellefson describes his mother, Tashina, as a “tremendous” athlete. His late father, Lyndon, who helped found the sport of skyrunning — high-altitude, long-distance running — died in 1998 when, on a training run near Cervinia, Italy, he fell into a hidden snow crevasse, dropping 75 feet to his death.

Sylvan Ellefson is well-aware of his father’s reputation as a highly motivated competitor who pushed himself hard. “I feel that if I can do something really well, I can carry on his legacy,” he says. “In my case that’s Nordic skiing.” Looking ahead to his post-ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ racing career, he wants to “get to that level,” referencing the accomplishments of Nordic alums like Justin Freeman ’98, a 2006 U.S. Olympian, “and then do better.”

Ellefson’s specialty is freestyle, like skating on skis, and he earned trips to the NCAA Championships in both 2006 and 2007. Last year was a breakthrough season, as he won freestyle races at the season-ending carnivals at Williams and Middlebury, the first-ever wins for a ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ Nordic skier on the Eastern Collegiate Skiing Association circuit. At the 2008 NCAA Championships, Ellefson finished fourth in the 10K freestyle, one of only three Americans, and the only Division III skier, in the top 10.

While Ellefson targets another top-five finish, teammate Evans-Brown, a Spanish major from Gilmanton Iron Works, N.H., is so eager to qualify for his first NCAAs that he spent last summer in Argentina, living with a government official who’s a cross-country enthusiast, so he could train on snow. “I had easy access to skiing and was well-fed,” he says. “Lots of meat, for breakfast, lunch, snacks.”

There, he earned a reputation as “the kid who always eats,” and Evans-Brown estimates that he and Ellefson will take in 6,000 to 9,000 calories a day while training hard. That’s more than triple the typical daily diet of 2,500 calories — if not quite the famous 12,000-a-day regimen of Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps.

While the Nordic team tends to frequent Italian restaurants on the road for a good balance between protein and carbs, “what you eat right before a race is not so important, I think,” Evans-Brown says. What’s critical is “fueling yourself well while you’re training.”

At a recent campus meal, Ellefson and Evans-Brown are joined by Nicole Ritchie ’09 of East Dummerston, Vt. Twice an All-American rower as well as a skier, she has begun to avoid processed food. “A friend is doing a thesis that focuses on corn syrup,” she says. “I’ve been reading over her shoulder. The amount of energy going into producing corn syrup is pretty disgusting.”

In the new dining Commons, Ritchie gravitates toward local products: apple cider from Greenwood Orchards, chocolate milk from Oakhurst Dairy, and hamburgers from grass-fed, Cold Spring Ranch beef (see page 16) for her training fuels. She also frequents the vegan bar.

“Making your own food choices takes a lot of different economic and environmental issues into your hands,” says Ritchie. “It’s really cool that Commons supports us in making these decisions.”

(For race results from the World Championships, go to the site and scoll down to “Cross Country.”)

Classmates Justin Freeman ’98 and Dave Chamberlain ’98 are members of the U.S. cross country team competing in the World Championships Feb. 18-March 1 at Val di Fiemme, Italy. Freeman and Chamberlain join Nancy Ingersoll Fiddler ’78 as the only ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ alumni to represent the United States at a Winter Olympics or World Championships.

“This is incredible for our program and for collegiate skiing,” said Nordic ski coach Becky Woods. “Justin and Dave were standout student-athletes here at ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝. They are humble, down to earth and set great examples.”

The World Championships team, in many respects a precursor to the Olympic team, comprises eight men and five women and all but three have international competition experience. Chamberlain, a Rumford native, competed in the 2001 World Championships while Andover, N.H., native Freeman will be making his first appearance for Team USA, He joins his brother, Kris, who competed in the 2002 Olympics and the 2001 World Championships.

Although being named to the World Championship team does not guarantee selection to the 2006 Olympic team, there is a high probability of seeing Freeman and Chamberlain in Turin, Italy, in three years, Woods says.

“We are so proud to be represented on the World Championships team by Justin and Dave,” said Director of Athletics Suzanne Coffey. “These two men are shining examples of what can be achieved when you combine the rewards of a ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ education with the hard work and dedication it takes to be a world-class competitor.”

At ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝, Freeman, an honors major in mathematics and physics, and Chamberlain, a mathematics major, earned NCAA All-America honors and participated in NCAA national championships. “It was at ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ where Justin and Dave got to compete and succeed against other colleges that have predominantly foreign rosters,” said Woods. “That gave them the realization that they could take it to the next level.”