Skiers shake off slow start going into Championships

Last week, America beamed with pride as U.S. skier Picabo Street stood atop the medal stand, listening to the national anthem after her gold medal-winning performance at the Olympic Games in Nagano, Japan.

However, on the eastern side of the Pacific Ocean, the 1997-98 ski season has been problematic. The tragic deaths of Sonny Bono and Michael Kennedy, coupled with unseasonably mild, El Niño-influenced weather, has made this winter on the slopes worth forgetting.

But this weekend, the Penn State Downhill Ski Team will be aiming to make 1998 a year to remember.

On Saturday, the ski team will head to Vernon Valley/Great Gorge, N.J., to compete in the United States Collegiate Ski Association's Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships. There it will meet with teams from across the region to decide who will advance to the USCSA's National Championships, held in March at Loon Mountain, N.H.

The trail leading to the regional championships was hardly a smooth run. The season got off to an auspicious start when warm weather and poor slope conditions forced the team to cancel its annual January training camp at Tussey Mountain, the second consecutive year it had to do so. Team member Ryan Church said the lack of practice was visible.

"It had a detrimental effect," he said. "We started off slow, we weren't skiing the way we should have."

Things got worse when the team's first meet, also scheduled to be held at Tussey Mountain, was canceled. Again, mild January weather and lack of sufficient snowfall were the culprits.

"It was disappointing," team president Shari Kepner said. "Tussey is a great place for us to start. It's our home mountain, and we always ski well there."

Despite the initial setbacks, the team, led by Church on the men's squad and Julie Winkler and Heather Kogelmann on the women's side, has rolled like an avalanche. Penn State blanketed its competition in the Allegheny Collegiate Ski Conference, which includes the likes of Penn, Pittsburgh-Johnstown and the Naval Academy among others.

The team has won three of its last four meets, including the overall combined championship of its conference, which was held last weekend at Seven Springs Ski Resort in aptly named Champion, Pa. The victory allowed the team to advance to the regional championships.

In addition to superb skiing from Church, the men have had terrific outings from their other leaders -- Ted Janus, Greg Null, Matt Green and Steve Charron. Likewise, the women have had solid performances from not only Winkler and Kogelmann, but also from Courtney Scott, Paige Williamson and Kelly Stocker.

Approaching the regional competition, head coach and ski team director Bill Ketrick, who helped start the team in 1973, is confident in his team.

"Across the board, we have no weak skiers," he said.

However, he expects stiff competition from some of the schools which, unlike Penn State, offer athletic scholarships to their skiers.

"I expect that at least one of our teams (men's or women's) will qualify for nationals. We'll do well as always," Ketrick said. "Luck is always involved, and the slope conditions and weather will play a large part."

With weekend high temperatures in Vernon Valley/Great Gorge expected to top off in the mid 50s, come Friday night, the ski squad may not be listening to the anthem, but instead to "Let it Snow."