CCSA Skier Interviews
By Corey Coogan
February 10, 2005
JoAnn Winters | Oliver
Garrison | Lindsay Williams
Johanna Winters, University of Wisconsin-Green
Bay
- Where are you from?
Roseville, Minnesota.
- What high school or club did you ski for and what was
your best result in high school? What motivated you to continue
skiing in college?
I skied for Roseville Area High School and the Saukko Ski
Club. My best high school results were qualifying for Junior
Olympics my sophomore through senior years, as well as earning
fourth in pursuit at State as a senior. There was no question
whether or not I wanted to participate in athletics in college,
but I had to choose between either skiing or swimming. I
was motivated to compete and train at the collegiate level
because I wanted to see how much more I could develop as
a skier. In particular, racing at Junior Olympics for a
number of years opened my eyes to the incredible athleticism
of people my age, and I wanted to continue to challenge
myself as a skier to see where it might take me.
 You
still work with Saukko Ski Club in the summers, what has
this experience done for your fitness and technique?
I have great appreciation for the Saukko Ski Club. Training
with a fun group of coaches and athletes motivated me to
wake up early and get in quality workouts during the summer.
The coaches helped develop my technique through video analysis
and one-on-one feedback, and they also enforced good training
principles that I continue to practice now (keeping a training
log, completing strength and speed assessments, etc). Through
the Saukko Ski Club I began to understand what type of training
works best for me. - What are you majoring in at UWGB? What do you intend
to do after
college? Do you plan to ski after college?
I am majoring in studio arts and graphic design. I hope
to work for a publishing firm or advertising agency as a
designer, and ultimately I want my artwork to be exhibited
in a gallery or museum someday. I am considering the possibility
of skiing after college because I don't want to stop racing
after just four years, but I have no definite plans as of
yet.
- What do you like best about UWGB? What do you like
best about the ski
team?
Being an art major, I enjoy the relationships I have built
with my art professors and other students in the department,
and I also appreciate the uniqueness of the art "community"
on campus. As for the ski team, I like how each athlete
has the opportunity to work with our coach, Bryan Fish,
to build a training regimen that works best for them.
- Last year you had a strong beginning to the season,
but your results fell off as the season went on. This year
your results have been even better, and very consistent.
To what do you attribute this change?
Since my freshman year at UWGB I have gained a better understanding
of what I need to do to make me faster, and each year I
have progressively learned more. My training during this
past summer in particular has probably benefitted me the
most. I had a consistent and quality regimen, which helped
me return to school in the fall ready to train hard with
the team. For instance, during the summer months I incorporated
more long endurance and threshold runs into my training.
I also did a few running races and triathlons for speed
work. Another fun part of my summer was taking a two-week
hiking trip to Banff National Park in Canada. Putting in
three to four hours a day hiking up mountain trails helped
to build my aerobic endurance.
- Over the last two years you watched teammates Heidi
Hittner and then Rosy Walsh qualify for NCAAs, but this
year you are poised for your first NCAA qualification. How
does this feel? Was the past success of your teammates a
motivating factor for you?
I am excited to see how the benefits of hard training have
brought me to this dynamic point in my skiing career. And
training with teammates who have previously gone to NCAAs
has helped motivate me to keep my eyes on the goal of qualifying,
but ultimately my motivation to train and race well is internal.
- What goals do you have for the rest of your collegiate
career?
I hope to qualify for NCAAs and continue to develop my skiing
abilities. I want to make the best of the next few years
because it will be over before I know it!
Oliver Garrison, St. Olaf
 Where
are you from?
I have lived in Boxborough, Massachusetts since 6th grade.
I lived in Rhode Island before that. - What high school or club did you ski for and what was
your best result in high school?
I skied for Acton-Boxborough Regional High School. I was
never very fast in high school because of a lack of coaching
(my shop teacher was the coach). The only races we had were
skate races, so I also never developed very good classic
technique. The best race I had was senior year at the state
meet. I took 11th in the skate. (I doublepoled the classic
with my skate skis.) After high school I took a year off
and was an exchange student in Norway. I skied for my school
and also for the Byaasen Ski Club. I learned almost everything
I know about ski training from over there.
- What differences have you observed between skiing in
Midwest and skiing in New England?
High school skiing here is very competitive. Everybody in
Massachusetts is invited to the state meet and they still
have only about 120 male skiers and about 90-100 female.
Out there every school has indoor track, so it sucks up
the talent pool from skiing. Another difference is that
is usually a lot colder here in the Midwest. There are flatter
courses and the snow is colder. I was also surprised at
the Nordic lifestyle in Minnesota and how large the junior
support system is. I wish skiing were as popular at the
collegiate level as well.
- What do you like best about St. Olaf? What do you like
best about the ski team?
There are a lot of things to love about St. Olaf. It is
a great community with good people, and the campus is beautiful.
The best part is probably the people you will meet while
you are here. The ski team here is really fun. We got some
great freshmen this year who are really improving every
week. It is a young team that is very promising.
- What are you majoring in at St. Olaf? What do you intend
to do after college? Do you plan to ski after college?
I am majoring in Economics here at Olaf. After school, I
will work for a couple of years and then maybe go to business
school. As for skiing, Iwould like to keep racing after
college, but at that level it takes up so much time. On
the other hand, I don't know if I could stop if I wanted
to.
- How have you and fellow Oles overcome the challenge
of recent low snow years?
Well, we train hard in the fall like every other team and
we managed to get out to West Yellowstone this year for
Thanksgiving. When we got back we had enough snow on campus
for another week of skiing. The next weekend we skied at
the Breadsmith Relays at Hyland. It seems since I have been
at Olaf, January has been a rough month for snow accumulation.
What I have done personally has been to take an independent
study in January so I can travel early to the races on my
own. Unfortunately, for some others, the only option is
getting up at 6:00 am and driving to Hyland before classes.
But those are only the worst days; there are places around
Northfield that keep the snow longer than others after a
snow storm...you just have to know where to look. With the
current weather patterns it has been frustrating at times,
but you don't need snow everyday to be fast.
- How do you feel about your season thus far? Have you
met your goals?
This season has already had its ups and downs for me. I
started out feeling very strong winning the Breadsmith Relays
with Jake Boyce, a teammate. The next races I had were out
in Utah and it seemed like no matter what I did, I could
not ski fast. I did not feel like I was racing up to my
fitness until the Telemark Supertour skate race. I left
the course totally spent with an 11th place collegiate finish.
My original goals were to qualify for NCAAs this year, but
it seems that they have slipped through my fingers. To qualify
this year you have to beat out the top 3 NMU or AUF skiers
and both programs are as strong as they have ever been this
year. I really began to race fast at the end of last year
and I am feeling that same strength right now, so I hope
I can keep it rolling to the Division III nationals out
in McCall, Idaho (USCSA Championships). I hope that in these
next few weeks, I'll start picking off the top-10, because
I am starting to have a lot of fun out there.
Lindsay Williams, Northern Michigan
University
- Where are you from?
I am from Hastings, Minnesota.
- What high school or club did you ski for and what
was your best result in high school?
I skied for Hastings High School and the Minneapolis Ski
Club. In high school, my best race was first place in
the state meet (pursuit) in 2001. I also had a bunch of
good Junior Olympic races in high school...I won the sprint
at JO's in 2001, 2002 and 2003.
- I know that you still ski with Kevin Brochman and
Minneapolis Ski Club in the summer, what role has this
played in your success as a skier?
Summer training is very important, and working with Kevin
in the summer has kept my summer training focused, and
has kept me motivated and tough.
- What are you majoring in at NMU?
My major is sports science.
- What do you intend to do after college?
Ski of course! Work on my masters... I want to get a job
where I can work with athletes.
- What do you like best about NMU?
The ski team...I love all my teammates and coaches. And
we get LOTS of snow here in Marquette !!!
- What do you like best about the ski team?
Everyone is awesome and they bring something unique to
the team. We are all competitive and supportive of eachother
at the same time... It's a very close-knit team.
- You won your first National Championship in the Sprint
this winter. How long have you been dreaming of winning
Senior Nationals? Was winning the sprint one of your goals
for 2005?
I've been dreaming of winning a national sprint title
for a few years now. I knew I was a good sprinter, and
it seemed like a challenging, but not unattainable, goal
to set for myself. I wasn't putting too much pressure
on myself...I was just feeling strong and fast, so I went
for it.
- By placing in the top-three in the SuperSeries standings,
you have earned yourself the right to start in some late
season World Cups, will you be taking advantage of this
opportunity? If so, which ones can we expect to see you
at?
I am going to be competing for Northern Michigan University
at NCAA's in Vermont during the second week in March.
Then from there I think I'll be heading to Sweden for
a week and competing in the last World Cups on the 19th
and 20th. One of the races is a duathlon, and another
is a relay. I am very excited for the rest of my season!
It's going to be tons of fun!!!
- What are your long-term goals as a skier?
To be competitive with the best in the world, and to have
fun with it.
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