Josh Smullin

Position:
Nordic
Height:
6-0
Class:
Senior
Hometown:
Bend, Ore.
High School:
Mountain View

Top Career Classical Finish: 10th(15k) (2001 CU Invitational)

Top Career Freestyle Finish: 10th (15k) (2002 NCAA West Regional)

11th (20k) (2001 NCAA West Regional)

2003?Smullin raced in all but the Montana State Invitational and turned in top-15 finishes in all but three races his junior year. He got his lowest finish of the season over with in the first race of the season, a 22nd place freestyle effort at the Alaska/Utah Invitational. He bounced back a day later with his second best classical finish of the season, 14th. In CU’s first home meet in two seasons, he finished 15th and 21st, respectively, in the freestyle and classical. His best, combined weekend of the season was a 13th place classical and season best eighth freestyle finish at the Western State Invitational before he closed out the season with a ninth-place freestyle and 16th place classical effort in the West Regional.

2002? Smullin skated to three team-best finishes in 2002, including a team-best 13th in the 20k freestyle at the NCAA Championships, narrowly missing All-American honors. He opened the season 25th in the 10k classical at the Montana State Invitational, but climbed 14 places the next day in the freestyle to finish 11th. A week later at the Nevada Invite he would struggle in both disciplines, finishing 19th and 25th, respectively. What a difference a week, or so, as at Denver he would improve to 17th in the classical and turn in a season-best third in the sprint relay. He would maintain that pace through the completion of the regular season with a top-20 result in the freestyle and top-10 in the classical sprint at UNM. In the NCAA West Regional test, he tied for 10th in the 15k freestyle, matching his best collegiate finish. After finishing 21st in the 10k classical race, he arguably skied his best race of the season in finishing 13th overall (the fourth U.S. skier) in the 20k freestyle race at the national championships. He spent the summer working as a camp counselor on John’s Island in the San Juans where he was in charge of 15, 15-year-old boys for a month-long session of biking, kayaking, canoeing, sailing, hiking and mountain biking.

2001? Smullin struggled out of the gate in his first season as a Buffalo but got better as the season progressed, posing his best, combined results at the NCAA West Regional in Breckenridge, Colo. He finished 12th in the 10k classical and 11th in the 20k freestyle at the national qualifying race. After cracking the top 20 only once in his first four races, Smullin rebounded to finish 16th or better in his final six races, including a career best 10th place showing in the 15k classical at CU’s home meet in Eldora, Colo. After the CU invite, he finished 15th in the 10k freestyle and 16th in the classical pursuit events at the New Mexico Invitational. During the off-season, he earned All-American status with a third-place 10k finish at the Junior National Championships in Michigan in late March. At the same meet he finished sixth the 15k skate and was named the National Cross Country Ski Education Foundation Junior Regional Skier of the Year.

Other?He spent nine years with the Mt. Bachelor Ski Education Foundation from 1991-99. He also spent one season with IFK Mora in Sweden, while he was a foreign exchange student at Mora Skidgymnasium his junior year. He had a pair of fifth-place finishes at the 1998 Junior Olympics in both sprint and skate events. He was 10th in the sprint at the 2000 junior’s. He was a two-time All-American, determined by being within a certain percentage of the winner at junior nationals. He spent all of last season skiing in the Pacific Northwest Ski Association race circuit, consisting of Oregon, Washington and Montana. Smullin swept every 2000 PNSA race he competed in. He also has an 11th place sprint finish on his resume from the Lexus Sprint National Championships in Sun Valley, Idaho. He was a forward on the Bend soccer team that won the 2000 Oregon state championship and then went on to win the national championship tournament in Orlando, Fl. Unfortunately, he was unable to accompany the team because of orientation at CU.

Academics?Smullin is majoring in kinesiology and psychology and carries a 3.5 cumulative grade point average going into his senior season. He was named to the 2003 Division I National All-Academic Ski Team.