Coaches World

Assistant Coaches Dan Weinberger and Jed Schuetze will post weekly diary entries to update Colorado ski fans on the progress of their training towards the 2006 NCAA Championships, to be held at Steamboat, Colorado, March 8-11. This week Dan fills us in on the jet setting times of the winter holidays that our team is enjoying.

The week began with our annual Christmas party on Dec. 11^th at Jodi Mossoni’s house. For those of you who do not know Jodi, she is our indispensable office manager. The party was an opportunity for the entire team to gather together one last time before everyone dispersed for the Holidays. From the people I spoke with, there was a general consensus that Coach Rokos ended up with the best gift from the secret Santa Exchange, although Sabrina Mocellin came in a close second with the 2006 Puppies Calendar!

Upon finishing finals, the alpine team traveled to Steamboat Springs for NorAm competition on the exact hills they will be racing on for the NCAA Championships in March. Coach Schuetze was excited about having the athletes train and race on the courses ahead of time. Moreover, there will be a number of other college teams from both the west and east regions out here competing, so it will be an excellent early season opportunity to see how our team stacks up against the competition.

On the Nordic side, I had the opportunity to travel with Coach Cranmer and two of our Nordic athletes, senior Jana Rehemaa and sophomore Kit Richmond, to Canmore, Canada for two World Cup races in which they competed in. The experience was truly remarkable. From a coach’s perspective, to think of two athletes from the University of Colorado ski team from two different countries, Estonia and Canada, racing at the sports highest level was amazing. To see the two compete with composure and maturity against the best skiers in the world helped me further realize that this team is in good hands with the athletes we have and the leadership they provide. On the plane ride back from Calgary, Jana summed up her week with these words, “It was a good experience to see where we stand against the best in the world.”

Furthermore, Lucie Zikova will be representing her country, the Czech Republic in World Cup alpine races over Christmas break. We all wish her the best of luck, and stay tuned for her results.

For all of our supporters reading this article, the CU Ski Team wishes you all a very Happy Holidays!

Colorado University Athletics