FARMINGTON, Maine - The University of Maine at Farmington snowsports program returned to campus recently after a historic week in Lake Placid, New York, at the USCSA National Championships. In total, the Beavers had 20 athletes qualify and compete in the USCSA National Championships across women's nordic skiing, men's snowboarding, men's freeski, men's alpine, and women's alpine.
The event was highlighted with a pair of individual national championships, a team national championship, 26 All-Americans, and 12 Academic All-Americans.
Women's Nordic
Sophomore
Ayla Bodach-Turner (East Montpelier, Vermont) and first-year
Cora Treiss (Berlin, N.H.) were the two women nordic skier representatives for the Beavers. Bodach-Turner and Treiss showed very well for themselves both individually and as a team during the National Championship week in Lake Placid.
The week opened up with a 7.5K freestyle event that began as an interval start. Bodach-Turner finished inside the top ten with an 8th place finish in the event. With the 8th place finish in the event, Bodach-Turner earned All-American status in the 7.5K Freestyle. Treiss finished in 37th place overall to help the skiers combine for an 8th place finish as a team.
The next day, Bodach-Turner and Treiss competed in the 1.5K classic sprints. The event was set up where all 61 of the competitors competed in time trials and then the top 30 skiers were ranked and advanced into the quarterfinals. After the time trials, Bodach-Turner was seeded 7th while Treiss placed just outside the top 30 with a 36th place finish. Bodach-Turner comfortably advanced through both the quarterfinals as well as the semifinals en route to the A finals. In the A finals, Bodach-Turner finished with a time of 4:17.5 to place 6th overall in the event and earn All-American status for the 2nd time in just two days at the Nationals. As a team, the Beavers placed 9th overall in the classic sprints.
In the 15K classic that took place later in the week, Bodach-Turner continued her impressive week, placing inside the top ten for the 3rd consecutive time. Bodach-Turner posted a 10th place finish en route to claiming All-American status for the 3rd time in as many events. Treiss also showed very well for herself, placing 40th overall in the Nation.
In the final nordic event of the week, Bodach-Turner and Treiss teamed up with a skier from Clarkson University to have a 3rd skier contribute to their score in the team sprint relays. The three skiers combined for a 13th place finish in the event.
Overall for the week, the team combined to place 8th overall. Bodach-Turner claimed 6th place combined for the week to earn All-American status overall to add to her three All-American awards in the three individual events prior.
Women's Alpine
The women's alpine team competed in three events at the USCSA National Championships: slalom, giant slalom, and dual slalom. The Beavers took home 10th place in the giant slalom, 12th place in the slalom, were upended by Rocky Mountain College in the dual slalom quarterfinals, and placed 11th overall for the full week-long event.
The athletes battled against difficult course conditions with warm weather, rain, and a lack of snow. The week started out strong, however, as the Beavers grabbed 10th place in the giant slalom thanks to strong performances by first-year
Elanore Robb (Woodbury, Minn.), sophomore
Lauren Kessen (Sussex, Wisc.), and junior
Grace Mahmood (Oxford, Conn.). Robb secured 24th place overall, Kessen claimed 44th, and Mahmood was on Kessen's heels in 46th place.
Two days later, in slalom, the women's alpine team continued their strong efforts to secure 12th place as a team. In giant slalom,
Hokulani Caroselli (Temple, Maine), and
Fallon Smith (Nelson, N.H.) each fell on the course and registered DNFs. But that was not the case in the slalom as all five Beavers were able to cross the finish line in each of their runs. Once again they were led by Robb who placed 38th overall. Caroselli was not far behind in 44th place and Kessen was the 3rd Beaver to contribute to the team's overall score, placing 59th. Smith placed 76th and Mahmood was 79th but did not contribute to the team's score.
The dual slalom was a different style event that the Beavers had not competed in this season where they went head-to-head against another institution as the five skiers from each school raced one another through the course one at a time. The Beavers had no issues dispatching the University of California Davis in their first-round matchup to advance to the quarterfinals but bowed out at the hands of Rocky Mountain.
Men's Alpine
Similarly to the women's alpine team, the men's alpine competed in three events at the USCSA National Championships: slalom, giant slalom, and dual slalom. For the week, the men's alpine team took home 5th place overall with a 4th place finish in giant slalom, a 6th place finish in slalom, and a 3rd place finish in the dual slalom.
The giant slalom event was cut to just one run due to persistent weather. But the Beavers found a way to battle through the conditions and have a historic day on the mountain. The team was paced by sophomore
Lake Lindelof (Belfast, Maine) who put together one of the best runs in UMF history. Lindelof finished 8th overall in the event and 5.25 seconds out of 1st place. Lindelof received All-American status in the giant slalom with his 8th place finish. Sophomore
Sam Roy (Frenchville, Maine) also received All-American recognition after placing 15th overall in the giant slalom. Senior
Colgan O'Keefe (Westchester, N.Y.) was the third Beaver to contribute to the team's overall score in the event, finishing 44th overall. Sophomore
Lance Dolan (Coplin Plantation, Maine) finished 53rd in the event but did not score.
Roy, O'Keefe, and Lindelof combined for a combined time of 5:21.66 in the team's 6th place finish in slalom. Roy placed 19th overall after a pair of solid runs. O'Keefe also placed inside the top 30 with a 29th place finish. Lindelof finished just outside the top 30 with a very respectable 33rd place finish. Dolan also finished just outside the top 30 and less than a second behind Lindelof, finishing 35th place.
The men's alpine team brought home the bronze medal in the dual slalom. The Beavers dispatched Colorado Mesa in the opening round of the dual slalom to set up a quarterfinal matchup with Reynolds Division opponent Saint Joseph's College. Farmington trailed the Monks 2-1 after the first three skiers, but O'Keefe and Dolan edged out their head-to-head opponents to send the Beavers into the semifinals. In the semifinals, Rocky Mountain College got the better of Farmington to send the Beavers into the consolation round against Northern Michigan. The Beavers topped Northern Michigan with relative ease to claim 3rd place.
Overall for the week,
Sam Roy was the 10th place skier to earn combined All-American status. Lindelof was the 13th overall skier to also earn combined All-American honors. O'Keefe and Dolan each finished inside the top 30 combined for the Week. O'Keefe placed 26th while Dolan was 28th.
Men's Freeski/Snowboard
The men's snowboard team kicked off their week at Nationals with a bang as sophomore
Caelan Billings (Sullivan, Maine) became the first UMF snowsports athlete to capture a gold medal at the USCSA National Championships since Whitney Lemay '19 won the snowboard giant slalom in 2019, doing so in the boardercross. The boardercross event commenced with 49 athletes participating in time trials with the top 32 finishers being seeded and grouped into heats based upon their rankings. Billings was seeded 3rd after the time trials. In the event, the snowboarders raced down the mountain against three other competitors with the top two finishers moving on to the next round. Billings buzzed through the first two heats to secure himself a top-eight finish in the event. With two heats remaining to determine the final standings, Billings continued his impressive run, leading the field in the third heat to move into the A finals and guarantee himself a top-four finish. Billings continued his phenomenal run in the final heat, securing the gold medal and etching himself in UMF history.
Each of the freeski and snowboard teams competed in the rail jam event the next day. The event was highlighted by junior
Zach Chaisson (Scarborough, Maine) becoming the first male freeski athlete to win gold at USCSA Nationals. Chaisson topped the judges' board, landing a variety of tricks on his way to receiving the storybook gold medal. Chaisson was the most consistent skier on the hill, staying on his feet in difficult snow conditions through his numerous runs. In total, the freeski team placed three skiers inside the top four with
Arden Weaver (Surry, Maine) taking home silver, and
Carson Theriault (Fort Kent, Maine) earning 4th place.
Maxwell Hamilton (Brunswick, Maine) finished 6th overall while
Dominique Richard (Lewiston, Maine) was 9th. As a group, the team captured the National Championship in the rail jam. All five skiers were also named rail jam All-Americans.
On the snowboard side in the rail jam, Billings,
Ezra Mathieu (Lewiston, Maine), and
Blue Lagoda (Syracuse, N.Y.) took home 3rd place as a team. Billings, Mathieu, and Lagoda all placed inside the top 20. Mathieu placed 10th overall to claim All-American recognition. Billings finished 13th overall and also received All-American honors. Lagoda placed 20th in the event.
In slopestyle, the freeski team was once again crowned National Champions after placing four skiers inside the top six. Hamilton received the bronze medal, Theriault placed 4th, Weaver finished 5th, and Chaisson was 6th. All four of them were named slopestyle All-Americans after their performance in the event. Richard placed just outside the top 20 with a 21st place finish.
The snowboard team took 2nd place in the slopestyle event with Mathieu, Billings, and Lagoda once again each placing inside the top 20. Mathieu grabbed 9th place to earn his 2nd All-American award of the week. Billings grabbed 13th place to receive his 3rd All-American recognition. Lagoda placed 19th overall in the event.
For the week, Chaisson finished 3rd overall combined to be named an All-American, Weaver placed 4th overall and was named an All-American, Theriault placed 7th to be named an All-American, and Hamilton was 8th place overall to be named an All-American. Richard was the 16th-ranked freeskier. For snowboarding, Billings placed 8th place combined overall to be named an All-American, Mathieu was 13th combined overall and was named an All-American, and Lagoda placed 24th overall.
The snowsports program also had 12 student-athletes receive Academic All-American status. Academic All-American status is earned by student-athletes with a GPA of 3.30 or higher. Bodach-Turner, Billings, Lagoda, Theriault, Weaver, Lindelof,
Jacob Roy (Frenchville, Maine),
Sam Roy, O'Keefe, Smith, Mahmood, and Robb were named USCSA Academic All-Americans.
The USCSA National Championship concluded a fantastic year for the UMF snowsports program, one that they hope is a sign of things to come.
