SA Athlete of the Week - Fredrik Sandell

Fredrik Sandell '15 - UNH Carnival 2012

Fredrik “Fredo” Sandell, a freshman on the Alpine Ski Team, is only 3 weeks into his first collegiate ski season and has already proved to be a powerhouse for the Purple Knights. At last weekend’s UVM Carnival, Sandell charged to a 13^th place finish in giant slalom and a 7^th place finish in slalom, the best finishes on the alpine men’s team.

Sandell trekked across the Atlantic Ocean from Oslo, Norway to be a Purple Knight. Why? Sandell said it is primarily because he wanted to be a student-athlete in college and studying in the United States gave him that opportunity. He said the biggest difference between Norwegian education and American education is his new ability to pick classes instead of having his four years laid out for him. His favorite class so far has been Chinese, which means he now speaks four languages. Despite his calm-cool-collected attitude, Sandell’s greatest challenge as a student-athlete is keeping up on schoolwork

“Whenever I get behind with school, I usually ski bad,” Sandell said. If Sandell has been behind this season, he certainly hasn’t shown it. Sandell brings his game face to every race and leads by example with his focus and determination, surely a result of 13 years of ski racing. His goals for the season include qualifying for NCAA Nationals in Montana, and if he qualifies he hopes to make the top 20 in both events. With more than half the season left, Saint Michael’s can definitely look forward to big things from him.

Written by: Gabbi Hall '13 on behalf of the Student Association

Winter Break - Part 1

Ashley, Kelsey, JD, Kerstin, Kevin, Ian, and Shannon

Old man winter has finally come through with enough cold weather and natural snow to get the season going for the SMC alpine team. The team is starting 2012 off with a great block of training. Everyone is working hard and having fun. It is shaping up to be a great season!

Ian and Beers go 1-2 at the VARA SL at Smuggs

We have had a solid week of training. Monday and Tuesday we could be found tearing up the slopes at Smuggler's Notch with two sessions of slalom each day. Wednesday we slept in and had a great afternoon of slalom at Cochran's. Thursday and Friday the team got some great GS training at Stowe. Everyone is making improvements each day and there is a positive attitude on the hill. We are prepared and excited to show some speed in competition. Today the team is racing a Vermont Cup slalom at Smuggs. Good luck to all the racers!

After today's race, the team will have a day off on Sunday. Monday we will train in the morning and travel to the eastern cup series (2 SL, 2 GS) in the afternoon. The men will be racing at Whiteface in Lake Placid, NY and the women at Stratton, VT. Keep up the good work!

Heidi Robbins - Captain
Graduate Student - Clinical Psychology

Learn more about the team here: Current Members
And don't forget to follow us on Twitter for immediate updates: @smcalpineski

A Work Day at Cochran's Ski Area

Happy October, Everyone!

Ian '14, JD '12, and Matt '14

Ashley '12, Kelsey '13, and Shannon '14

Hauling wood

Dryland is in full-force now and Gus is doing a great job getting us all into shape. However, last Monday we took a break from the usual dry land to do a work day at Cochran's Ski Area. As you may know, we train at a few locations including Smuggler's Notch, Stowe, and Cochran's. We try to give back to those who are great to us and part of that was assisting in the clearing of brush (or whole trees) in order to create a new ski run!

Gus broke out his chain saw to cut up the wood and Jimmy Cochran, along with other members of the Cochran family, started up the fires to burn the brush. Just consider the afternoon a mix between weight lifting and hiking, with some agility training mixed in as the team maneuvered around the brush.

The team worked for over 2 hours clearing off the top of the run and made some serious progress. They didn't leave the mountain until the sun was down. Just another day in the life of a skier, right?

We were excited, not only to assist with creating a new run, but at the prospect of getting to shred turns on it as soon as possible. We are all wondering: when will the snow fly?

Temperatures are starting to drop here in Vermont, so our fingers our crossed! We hope that you are enjoying that fall and remember to pray for snow!

- Gabbi

Greg McClallen '64 To Be Inducted Into Vermont Ski Hall Of Fame

From '64 Yearbook

Source: SMC Athletics - Skiing
COLCHESTER, Vt. - Saint Michael's College graduate Greg McClallen '64, a four-year member of the Purple Knights' ski team and one of the state's top high school ski coaches for more than four decades, will be inducted into the Vermont Ski and Snowboard Museum (VSSM) Hall of Fame, it was recently announced. McClallen, along with three other skiing legends, will be inducted into the Hall of Fame, based in Stowe, in October.
McClallen was a four-year member of the Saint Michael's ski program, and captained the squad as a junior and senior. Following graduation, he became a teacher at Otter Valley Union High School in Brandon, Vt. in 1966, where he organized the ski team for six seasons. In 1972, McClallen moved to Rutland, Vt., and became an English teacher and ski coach at Rutland High School. While at Rutland, his ski teams won 17 titles, as well as a New England championship in 1976.
McClellan, who retired as a teacher in 2008, also coached high school soccer, cross country, and track and field during his highly-successful career. In all, his teams won 30 state championships. His daughter, Lori, graduated from Saint Michael's in 1993.
To purchase tickets to the October Hall of Fame dinner and cocktail reception, or for additional information on the VSSM, visit www.vtssm.com.

Block M Varsity Dinner 2011

Alpine and Nordic Team

 I just wanted to share some photos from the Block M Varsity Dinner because everyone was all dressed up and it is our last official get together of the year. Congratulations to Christina Billotti, the Coach's Award Winner!

Julia and Kerstin

Kelly and Gabbi

The Men

Christina Billotti (Coach's Award Winner) and Kelsey Redden

NCAA Eastern Regional Championships - Sunday River, ME

Julia and Kelly at the Banquet

It's hard to believe it, but the college season is over. This Saturday and Sunday was the Eastern Regionals hosted by Bates College at Sunday River. Amongst the competing colleges were, UVM, Dartmouth, Harvard, Boston College, and, of course, your Purple Knights.

Despite several inches of snowfall over the two days, snow conditions couldn't have been better! They allowed everyone to attack from the back and put it in some fantastic finishes.
On day one, it was SL down Monday Morning. Sunday River ran a great race and we even got to see sunshine for most the day. Here is an excerpt from the press release on day one:

Saint Michael's College sophomore Gabbi Hall (Incline Village, Nev./Forest Charter School) had a strong 16th-place finish in the women's slalom, leading the ski program to 10th place on Saturday at the EISA Championships, hosted by Bates College and held at Sunday River and Black Mountain.
In the men's slalom, junior Nathan Bryant (Lee, N.H./Oyster River) had Saint Michael's best finish, placing 33rd.

Women's SL Results:
 - Hall 16th
 - Middleton 39th
 - Langlands 45th
 - Billotti DNF
 - Redden DNF
 - Waddle DNF

Men's SL Results:
 - Bryant 33rd
 - Levine 34th
 - O'Brien 39th
 - Spangler DNF
 - Keating DNF
 - Bredengen DNF

Kerstin, Christina, Molly, and Gabbi

Day two brought wind and clouds to Sunday River, not to mention a lot of new snow that needed to be pushed off the course. Thanks to coaches and course workers, we got through to the rock hard surface on bottom! The team took advantage of the conditions and Kevin O'Brien and Christina Billotti had stand out performances!

Junior Kevin O'Brien (Ridgefield, Conn./Ridgefield) led the Purple Knights on Sunday with a 30th-place finish in the men's giant slalom. Sophomore Gabbi Hall (Incline Village, Nev./Forest Charter School) was tops for the Saint Michael's women with a 32nd-place giant slalom finish, while sophomore Christina Billotti (Massapequa, N.Y./Green Mountain Valley School) was right behind in 33rd.

Women's GS Results:
 - Hall 32nd
 - Billotti 33rd
 - Redden 35th
 - Middleton 48th
 - Waddle 49th
 - Langlands 51st

Men's GS Results:
 - O'Brien 30th
 - Levine 38th
 - Bredengen 40th
 - Keating 49th
 - Spangler DNF
 - Bryant DNF

The team

A special congratulations to Nathan Bryant and Gabrielle Hall for making the All-Academic Team along with several of the Nordic team members!
The racing will continue this week with Eastern Alpine Championships at Stowe.

Middlebury Carnival 2011 - Day Two (Giant Slalom)

Hey Superfans!

Here is another video compilation with some insight into conditions on day two of the Middlebury Carnival. It was snowy, but the snow was hard and the course held up wonderfully. This may have been the team's best carnival this season with the boys putting down some of their top results. Many of the boys scored in Giant Slalom. Yay!
Our next and final college race of the season is: Eastern Championships in Sunday River, ME! I hope to see you there!

To see full results: Middlebury Carnival Results