Historical VTC Athletics: Vermont Skiing's Best-Kept Secret

THE SUNDAY RUTLAND HERALD

January 24, 1988

 Vermont Skiing’s Best-Kept Secret

VTC Quietly Builds a National Skiing Power

RANDOLPH CENTER – A group of collegiate athletics in central Vermont has been roping in national championships with amazing regularity without attracting much notice from the rest of the world.

The best-kept secret in Vermont sports may be the Vermont Technical College ski program, which has won 14 National Junior College Athletic Association championships – eight Nordic and six alpine titles – since 1979.

Considering that this two-year junior college nestled in central Vermont gives no athletic scholarship, and demands a rigorous academic performance from its students, that record is especially outstanding.

This year’s men’s cross-country team is riding an impressive wave of six consecutive NJCAA championships, while the men’s alpine squad is the defending national champion.

With a talented squad of five skiers (two returnees and three new members) and the help of enthusiastic eight-year coach Skip Distel, the chances of the cross country team winning a seventh straight crown appear to be good.

“This is probably the best team I’ve had since I’ve been the coach. We have good talent and, although our kids have limited practice time, they use it well,’ Distel said. “The team works very hard, both in the off season and when we have snow on the ground.”

This year, VTC has joined the NCSA (National Collegiate Skiing Association) which is an association of both two- and four-year colleges. The school is now scheduled to compete in both NJCAA (two-year colleges only_ and NCSA meets this season. Skiing in both leagues means expanded competition, as the Green Knights have picked up meets with the like of Syracuse University and Army for the first time.

They’re come a long way.

“When I first came here I had a tough time getting support – skiing didn’t have a high priority and the budget was absurd!” said Distel.

In 1979, the budget for the entire ski program was in the neighborhood of 4800. That covered everything associated with all ski teams – alpine and cross country, men’s and women’s. This year, Distel, who is the school’s athletic director, says that about $3200 has been appropriated for each team and that the administration has been very supportive of the ski team.

Distel says that most of the $3200 goes for food and transportation fees. The students supply all of their own equipment.

In the off season, skiers devote time to weight training, running, biking, roller blading and other conditioning activities. Formal practices begin in October.

Distel’s team is confident. Mark Weirich, a freshman from Rumford, Maine, is VTC’s only skier to compete on both the alpine and Nordic teams.

“I think we’re very strong this year. My personal goal is to win the Skimeister Trophy (given to the best combination skier in the NJCAA).” Weirich said. Should he pick up that honor, it would be a first in VTC skiing history.

Peter Pembroke, a returning Nordic Skier from Burlington, says that this year’s team has more talent than last year’s. He predicts that Adirondack Community College will be the Green Knight’s biggest challenger this year, but says he‘s confident that they will do well. Pembroke, Weirich, Robert Urquhart (West Newbury), James Tomlinson (Bradford), and Scott Korhonen (Bethel, Me.) comprise the men’s team.

Two out of the three skiers who make up the Nordic women’s team had never raced before coming to VTC. Neither Holly Keeler (Brookfield) nor Cara Cleveland (Orange, Mass.) had ever donned skies except for occasional recreational purposes.

According to Distel, Michelle Bean (Hinesburg), along with the new skiers are doing fine and improving with every run. VTC, with a predominantly male student population (80 percent), has not won a NJCAA women’s Nordic title since 1981.

Another important factor in VTC’s success is the generosity of Allan and Betty Geibel who run the Three Stallion Inn three miles down the road. The Geibels, who moved to Vermont from Utah four years ago, have offered their cross-country trails (known as the “Stock Farm”) free of charge to VTC skiers for training purposes. Allen Geibel sees it as a simple community gesture. “It’s nice to see happy skiers!” he said.

“We’re very lucky to have the Green Mountain Stock Farm. Not many two-year schools have the benefit of such an excellent facility so close by. The Geibels are awfully nice people and their trails are beautifully groomed,” said Distel.

Distel works around students’ schedules as much as possible. Most days he takes three to four trips down to the Stock Farm to shuffle people onto the course for an hour between classes. Distel says that it’s understood from the beginning that classes are a top priority, and that practices will be missed due to afternoon labs or big tests.

Chris Merck, VTC’s director of institutional advancement, agrees, “Skip does a lot of individual coaching because generally there aren’t any blocks of free time that people have in common. Things are tightly scheduled – that’s the nature of two-year technical programs. Academic come first here the kids accept that pretty well.”

On the downhill side of things, the VTC men are coming off their sixth national title, while Rutland native Jill Joyce, the school’s only women downhiller, was named an All-American after finishing second overall in the women’s slalom and giant slalom competitions at the NJCAA championships at Whiteface Mountain in Lake Placid, N.Y. last year.

Coach Joe Whelan, head of the VTC English department, has been involved with the VTC ski program for over ten years. He’s encouraged that his 1988 team will continue to be a major competitor in the NJCAA.

“I thought right along that we were going to do well; you can sense that attitude among the team members as well.”

“Many of the kids are already good skiers before they come to college, and there isn’t much I can teach them. We can work on discipline, conditioning and fitting in to the structure of college-level skiing.”

Whelan also has the benefit of a professional skier as an assistant. Transfer student John Bacon of Springfield works out with the team and directed its on-land training in the fall in addition to offering his coaching skills.

Joyce, who started ski racing at an early age at Pico Peak, is restricted to individual competition since a school must have three skiers to make up a team. The energetic architectural student says that while the male skiers offer a great deal of support, it’s still more difficult to get psyched for an individual race when your time is your own and doesn’t affect the overall picture of a team.

“Even though my score isn’t gonna affect the guys, they still really encourage me before my runs, But once I’m up there (at the starting gate), I’m all alone. It really takes mental confidence. Before a race I’ll watch the other skiers and it’s very easy to get intimidated, so I really need my own confidence,” said Joyce.

The alpine team normally practices on Sunset Hill, located on campus and accessible by a rope tow (the tow house was built by students enrolled in farm building class). Since there are no snow-making facilities, the group must travel to Bolton (a half-hour ride) or another ski area when Mother Nature doesn’t cooperate. Not only does this add logistical problems of time and travel to practice, but it also puts a strain on the budget.

“It’s difficult to keep track of the budget; it’s very easy to overspend between lodging, feeding, transportation and racing entry fees,” said Whelan.

The team gets discount lift tickets at local ski areas, but that still means a cost of $15-18 per person for each practice. Entry fees to races usually run $25 per team.

Practice usually run an hour-and-a-half and consist of time trials running the slalom course.

Whalen currently has 13 people skiing alpine. He says that he may keep them all, and let time trails before each meet determine which six skiers he is going to go with for each competition. VTC alpine skiers are Brian Nichols (Lyndonville), Ed Lyman (Colchester), Chris Gates (Grafton), John Comai (Readsboro), Allen Lemieux (Williston), Claude Tackett (Burlington), Walter Hellier (Waterbury), Rich Smith (Wilmington), Kevin Costello (Rutland), Joyce (Rutland), Chris Rondeau (Palmer, Mass.) and Weirich (Rumford, Me.).

Skiers are a hard-working breed willing to sacrifice huge chunks of time (attending a meet can mean leaving Randolph Center at 5 a.m. and not returning to campus until 9 p.m. that night) for the love of swishing down the slopes and the pride of a national title.

Simply put, Whelan said, “We have a championship to defend.”

By Stephanie Carter, Staff Writer